======= *76 1882: Reilly and Steel Barrels TEXT =======

*76 1882: Reilly and Steel Barrels

In January 1882 Reilly advertised for the first time guns equipped with Whitworth compressed fluid steel barrels.*76a The Whitworth compressed steel barrel originally was a 1865 patent and was marked with the Whitworth “Grain Sheaf” trademark.*76b The patent was extended in 1879 for 5 years. However, such was the regard for the Whitworth product that even after the patent expired in 1884, gun makers still put the “Grain Sheaf” trademark stamp on their barrels as a sign of quality; it is on a Reilly 16 bore steel barrel numbered in 1886 for example.

The first known Reilly with “Compressed Steel barrels” (per the advertisement), which are presumably Whitworth since no one else had “compressed steel,” is the above December 1881 Cyril Adams pigeon gun:

. . . . .SN 23574 (Dec 1881): - E.M. Reilly & Co., (address not mentioned). 12 bore; Shotgun SxS; S-L, Pigeon gun, third bite, hammer gun. Side clips; Flat file cut rib; low profile hammers; 31" "Compressed Steel" barrels; 8 lbs (Cyril Adams)*75b

The first Reilly steel barreled gun, which actually pictures the “wheat sheaf” Whitworth trademark, is another pigeon gun from above 24365:

. . . . .SN 24365 (Sep 1882): - E.M. Reilly & Co., (address not mentioned). Shotgun SxS, 12 bore, top lever; Side clips; Flat file cut rib; low profile hammers; 31" Whitworth steel barrels, pigeon gun. 7 lbs 8 oz.*75c

There is an 1876 Reilly SxS rifle that appears to have steel barrels, but may be blued Damascus, the advertisement gun description being minimal:

. . . . .SN 19953 (1876): - E.M. Reilly & Co., New Oxford Street, London. 500 BPE. Rifle SxS. U-L hammer gun, steel barrels. Round back-acton lock. 28”*76c

It's interesting that as late as 1888 WW Greener in his book Modern Shotguns stated that Whitworth Steel barrels were not as strong as high-quality Damascus. Reilly for his part continued to use Damascus for the majority of his barrels up to the early 1900's. By that time the Damascus blanks came from Liege.

===== *76 1882: Reilly and Steel Barrels END TEXT =====

Last edited by Argo44; 06/05/22 10:48 AM.
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