==== *31 1855-1860: Breech Loding rifles and new innovations TEXT ====

*31 1855-1860: Other breech-loader rifles and new innovations made by Reilly:

Breech loading military rifles had gradually impinged on the muzzle loading conservative establishment. In 1848 the Prussian military addopted the Dryese needlegun breech loader. The rest of Europe continued with muzzle-loaders. In 1853 the UK dropped the storied “Brown Bess” and adopted the Enfield 1853 “rifle-musket.” Yet time was moving on and innovations could not be denied.

E.M. Reilly in the 1850’s was far more modern than his father J.C. and as pointed out above had gradually taken over the business. He kept abreast of changes. He was not wedded to one design and was much more flexible than other hide-bound London traditional makers, witness his early involvement per above in the pin-fire center-break breech-loader.

In addition to the pin-fire, however, Reilly also got involved in making and selling a number of other breech loading rifles, a fact displayed prominently on his new 1856 label.*31a Like Westley-Richards, Prince and others he apparently got £ signs in his eyes re the possibility of getting a piece of the Empire’s military contracts. In particular he advertised and manufactured two of the three most important UK breech-loading rifles of the era, Prince (1855) and Terry (1856) (see below).*31b

Paradoxically he did not advertise or apparently sell the third, the Westley Richards “Monkey-Tail” carbine/rifle (1858) (Details below); nor it seems did he make variations of the Dreyse needle gun which were being marketed by gun makers such as Haris Holland. The fact that Reilly did not publicize these guns in his ads (even while implying he had them for sale) adds some weight to the supposition that he might have had a financial stake in Prince and possibly Terry (see below):

. . . . .*31A -- Terry Patent breech loaders:

Per above Reilly by 1856 was marketing all kinds of new breech loaders and by 1858 Reilly was advertising Terry Patent SxS breech loaders. William Terry was a Birmingham gun maker who was granted a patent for a breech-loading rifle in April 1856;*31Aa The carbine was issued to the 18th Hussars and other British cavalry regiments in 1859, was used by Australia and New Zealand militia and by the Confederates in the War Between the States. Reilly made them under license.

A Reilly-made Terry Patent SxS rifle was used by the Anglican Bishop of Sarawak in 1862 sailing with the small three ship “navy” of Sarawak led by the son of Rajah Brooks during a confrontation with pirate ships off Mukdah. The Bishop said his gun had performed admirably and thanked the maker.*31Ab (The British press severely criticized the Bishop for participating in the battle without understanding the merciless nature of maurading slavers).*31Ac

How many Terry Patent breech-loaders Reilly built is unknown. One gun still exists, SN 13132 (late 1863). It's a SxS 40 bore ( .500 caliber) "William Terry's Patent" SxS carbine. The gun has Birmingham proof marks, highly unsual for a Reilly (discussed further in the chapter on barrels). Terry had his workshop/factory in Birmingham and perhaps he proofed the barrels while Reilly made the stock and assembled the gun.*31Ad

. . . . .*31B -- Prince Patent Breech Loader:

EM Reilly promoted the Prince patent breech loader in the late 1850's. This was probably the finest existing breech-loading rifle of its time. It outshot the newly adopted Enfield in 1855 and was consistently raved about by every civilian gun expert who tried it. However, it was never adopted by the Military.

In March 1858, shortly before “The Field” first trial for muzzle loader vs breech-loaders, 12 prominent London gun-makers signed an open letter in “The Field” urging Arsenal to reopen the army rifle competition in favor of the Prince.*31Ba Amongst the signers were Dean, Blanche, Wilkinson, Henry Tatham, John Blissett and a couple of others. All pledged that they had no financial stake in Prince and had signed the petition for the good of the country. (This group of London gun-makers always seemed associated in some way with Reilly, Prince and Green in that time period.)

Notably, Reilly and the Green brothers did not sign the letter; Green was in partnership with Prince and Reilly may well have had a financial stake in their firm, thus could not. However, in view of Reilly’s subsequent heavy commitment to making Prince breech-loaders and given E.M.’s shrewd business sense, it is entirely possible that Reilly provoked the whole exercise as a business ploy.

Reilly subsequently was one of several London gun-makers licensed to make the rifle (the others from the list of signers, coincidentally). In fact, it appears that during summer/fall 1858 Reilly took another technological market-place gamble by devoting significant resources to build a quantity of Prince breech loaders, perhaps as many as 100 out of some 200 Reilly guns made during that period.

There are five existing Reilly-made Prince rifles, three from summer/fall 1858 (the only extant Reilly's from that 3 month period) serial numbered close enough together to speculate that Reilly might have tried some method of mass production to produce them all at once: Note the August 1858 change to "Reilly & Co" on SN 10811 the first known gun with the new Oxford Street address (see below)
. . . . .-- SN 10738– summer 1858; Reilly, 502 New Oxford Street, London; .350 cal, single-barrel, breech loader. (10438 on hammer along with “Reilly).*31Bb
. . . . .-- SN 10872– late summer 1858: Reilly, New Oxford Street, London. .577 bore, single barrel breech-loader hammer gun.*31Bc
. . . . .-- SN 10811– early fall 1858: Reilly & Co., Oxford Street, London. .25 bore (sic) (probably .577), single barrel breech-loader hammer gun. 30.5” brls.*31Bd
. . . . .-- SN 11118 (SN not clear) – late summer 1860; Reilly & Co., London. .577 bore, single -barrel, breech loader.*31Bf
. . . . .-- SN 11645– late summer 1860: Reilly, 502, New Oxford Street, London. 100 bore; Rifle, single barrel, breech loader.*31Be

. . . . .*31C -- Westley-Richards “Monkey Tail” Breech Loader. – a non-event:

On 25 March 1858, Westley-Richards patented his “Monkey-Tail” breech loader. Richards had a relationshiop with Whitworth who patented a .451 round in 1856. Whitworth used a hexagoal bore; Richards an Octagonal bore. There were other difference in rifling. The concept dominated UK accuracy contests for years. W-R earned some contracts from Arsenal for cavalry carbines and orders of upwards of 80,000 by various armies over the years but never the coveted general contract for the army.

Reilly advertising in the 1860’s emhasized his commitment to selling all sorts of innovative breech loading rifles. However, he never advertised a Westley-Richards or a Whitworth (though he did use .451 high-velocity idea in early 1860’s Enfield rifles per above). The first Reilly advertisement specifically for a Westley-Richards, whether a gun sold in ready state or made under license, did not appear until 1871.*31Ca

== *31 1855-1860: Breech Loding rifles and new innovations END TEXT ===

Last edited by Argo44; 06/04/22 11:43 PM.
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