========== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: TEXT ==========

*39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels This chapter is not meant to be a scholarly treatise on barrels and barrel making. Dr. Drew Hause has an excellent publication on Damascus; William Greener's 1847 book is as good as anything still for that era, etc. Rather these are observations on Reilly Barrels obtained from looking primarily at photos of some 500 guns.

. . . . .London proofed: From the beginning of the firm in 1828 until bankruptcy in 1912 nearly all serial numbered Reilly’s, i.e. guns built by Reilly, with original barrels were proofed in London.*39a There are a few exceptions out of some 600 existing guns, notably an 1897 barrel and action with Brum proof marks from 1896. This said, there are some difficulties in definitively proving this conclusion:
. . . . . . . . . .-- Research is severely hampered by the fact that auction houses and even individual owners rarely include proof marks (or patent use marks) in their advertisements.
. . . . . . . . . .-- In addition from the 1870’s-on numerous surviving Reilly’s have been reproofed over and over again or rebarreled making identification of original poofs sometimes difficult.*39b
However, for now for 98% of extant Reilly guns the truism holds – if it were serial numbered by Reilly, it was proofed in London.

. . . . .Bored and finished by Reilly, 1836-47: As early as 1837 Reilly advertised that he was boring/finishing his own barrels. For how long he continued to do so is unknown, but throughout the 1840’s he advertised fixing others’ bad barrels by reboring them adding, “no cure, no pay.”*39c Testimonies as to the excellence of Reilly-bored percussion gun barrels can be found.*39d.

What machinery Reilly was using to bore his barrels is unknown. In 1826 London barrel-maker Lancaster patented a machine that could finish a barrel precisely. It was improved in 1838 allowing the bored barrel and chamber to be precisely aligned along one axis.*39e It is possible that Reilly obtained one of the Lancaster machines.

. . . . .Barrel Lengths: From an analysis of some 500 extant photographed Reillys:
. . . . . . . . . .— Rifles: After the arrival of the pin-fire in 1856 the normal barrel lengths for Reilly center-break rifles including big bore game guns were 26” to 28”. There are exceptions of course; a small rook rifles might have a 24" barrel. (An 1861 advertise states rifle barrels could be obtain in 24, 26 and 28 inch lengths).
. . . . . . . . . .-- Shotguns: The standard Reilly break-action shotgun barrel length after 1856 was 30”. There are a few shorter barrels for .410, and boy’s guns. There are longer barrels up to 36” for big bore, center-break shotuguns. In general If a 12 bore shotgun has barrels shorter than 30"'s, they have either been cut down, re-barreled or repurposed from a rifle.

. . . . .Damascus: Reilly from the beginning used Damascus barrels for long-guns and for high-end percussion pistols (he ceased making pistols in the late 1830’s). Reilly continued to make Damascus barreled guns until bankruptcy in 1912 although for the most part his early 1900’s production had switched to steel. His Damascus patterns were conservative, but based on a review of about 600 surviving guns, his damascus barrels fell into three types:
. . . . . . . . . .-- 1820-1865 – Variations of a Plain English Stub Twist*39f
. . . . . . . . . .-- 1865-1912 – Crolle patterns – variations of Large scroll, Symmetric, or Annular Crolle.*39g
. . . . . . . . . .— Other Patterns. There were a few seemingly more exotic patterns but they were rare.*39h
Note: Dr. Hause identified the patterns in the above footnotes.

. . . . .Barrel Blanks: Where Reilly obtained his Damascus barrel blanks is unknown.
. . . . . . . . . .-- There was a well known barrel forger in London William Fullerd used by Manton, Purdey and others, However, Fullerd barrels are stampted with a ‘WF,” *39i None have been found on Reilly’s so far. (The surviving guns from this period are few and their barrels for the most part not photograpghed). Fullerd closed his forge in 1844.
. . . . . . . . . .-- Presumably at least during the 1820’s-1850’s Reilly's barrel blanks came from Birmingham and the plain patterns, so different from Continental flamboyance seem to bear this out. (Purdey used similar patterns at the time).
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one Reilly shotgun from the early 1860’s which has a faint Liège proof-mark on it overlain with London proofs,*39j possibly indicating that by then, if not earlier, Reilly like other London gunmakers might have begun using Belgian barrels.
. . . . . . . . . .-- By 1890 UK damascus barrels came from Liège per numerous references.

. . . . .Initials on Barrels, 1870’s: In the early 1870’s, shortly after the changeover in damascus patterns, a series of barrels have workers'' initials on them. These began around SN 17500. There are 10 examples, SN 17552 (WJ), 17626 (WJ), 18593 (WJ), 19500 (GE), 20249 (BE), 20255 (BE), 20466 (GE), 21361 (CP), 21369 (FR), and 21839 (WE), the last being numbered in 1879. Whose initials are these is still unknown. However, they are similar in style.*39k
. . . . . . . . . .Note: There may be initials on other Reilly barrels but again this sort of detail is often not included in advertisements. Other Reilly barrels before, during and after this period do not have initials.*39l

. . . . .Steel Barrels, 1882: In January 1882 Reilly advertised for the first time guns equipped with Whitworth compressed fluid steel barrels (originally an 1865 patent extended in 1879 for 5 years).*39m The first extant Reilly with a confirmed Whitworth barrel is SN 24365, a 12 gauge SxS pigeon gun with 31” barrels - top lever, side fences, low hammers, flat file cut rib. It is dated per the chart to 1882.*39n

======== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: END TEXT ========

Last edited by Argo44; 06/04/22 11:51 PM.
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