Based on the above and a lot of other input. I've added the last paragraph to the "Caveats" at the end of the Reilly history on p.45.

Caveats:
-- Reilly did not serial number guns he did not make.
-- When 001 was numbered or if there were a 001 is unknown; 1825 was chosen as a start date because he may have joined the London Proof House at that time (not confirmed). In addition Reilly is NOT on a list of London gunmakers published in 1825. The earliest Reilly advertisements for guns alone so far found began in the London papers in 1827. The first existing gun is SN 162.
-- Reilly originally serial numbered pistols; that ended circa 1837.
-- The number of guns numbered per year are estimates based on date markers - the addresses on the ribs/barrels based on specific events such as moves to new addresses or change in address numbers which are historically proven.. Obviously numbers actually made each year varied. The curve has been smoothed as much as possible to eliminate wild swings and verified by sanity checks."
-- There is a huge uptick in numbers in 1881-82. Reilly apparently made the business decision to stock guns and sell ready-made/off-the-rack. If so he may have numbered them when sold, accounting for some discrepancies. His bespoke guns were probably numbered when ordered per general London practice
-- Patent numbers on guns can help date a gun;
. . . . . . . - but many guns were modified/up-graded; one Reilly (SN 10354) built in 1857 was originally a muzzle loader turned into a breech loader in 1895.
. . . . . . . - And patent use numbers were rarely chronological. Manufacturers bought blocs of numbers in some cases.
. . . . . . . - In addition the relationship of patent use numbers to gun Serial Number cannot be ascertained so easily. For instance Henry patent rifling would be stamped on tubes - but when these were selected in relationship to when the serial number for the gun was entered on the books is not clear.
. . . . . . . - So patent numbers can be sanity checks but no proof of date of manufacture.
-- Reilly prided himself on delivering bespoke guns in 3-6 months vice the 2-3 years of other makers. The guns would have been serial-numbered upon order. However, the SN chronology is dated based on rib/barrel-addresses from 15 or so key date-marker guns. These addresses would have been engraved and the barrels blacked/browned shortly before delivery. Thus serial numbers may precede the rib-addresses by several months. For example, 10811 could have been ordered in Fall 1858 and serial numbered at that time on the books but not delivered until 1859 (which explains why it has "315" on the barrel.)

Last edited by Argo44; 05/22/20 02:26 PM.
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