doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com E.M. Reilly; History; Chronology; Serial Numbers

*8 1840's: Air-guns:

JC Reilly during this period also became known for his air cane guns. Air guns had been around for years. Lewis & Clark carried one on their expedition across America.*8a Manton made one in the 1820's. However, around 1840 they became extremely popular and just about every gun-maker advertised them. Young EM was billed as the expert and was so mentioned in advertisements for the next 8 years, identified as "Reilly Junr."*8b

In 1847 EM wrote a widely disseminated pamphlet on air guns. It is mostly an advertising brochure highlighting the company's ability to produce all sorts of air-guns and parts - but also going into air pressures they achieved in the air chambers and other technical aspects of the guns. It is cited to this day. The pamphlet title page noted the author was "Reilly junr," used the (new as of March, 1847) 502 New Oxford Street address and included the phrase "Removed from Holborn" (key identifiers for the April-November 1847 time period). *8c



The earliest Reilly trade-case label known (for 316 High Holborn Street) came out of an air-gun case, not surprising since it was undoubtedly not carried out into muddy fields.

It appears that Reilly did not serial number air guns even though the company manufactured and made the guns (similar to post 1837 hand-guns). This said there is one air-gun with a serial number 7801 with J.C. Reilly’s name on it. This appears to be a legitimate JC “7000” series number (used from 1846 to 1857).*8d

A collage of extant Reilly air guns dating from the 1830’s to the 1880’s is pictured below:*8e.



Reilly became so associated with air-guns that his name was mentioned in various fiction "who-done-its,*8f, *8g and may have been a prototype for the Sherlock Holmes short story "The Empty House" by Arthur Conan Doyle.*8h

Interesting fact: Apparently by 1843 E.M. Reilly (Reilly, Jnr) had joined the Freemasons. An advertisement in “The Freemason” from 1843 identified him as “Brother Reilly Junr.”*8i He was also a practicing Catholic who contributed substantially to the local Catholic church.*8j There is a contradiction in this; Catholics were automatically excommunicated for being associated with Freemasons. How EM reconciled this is unknown. Reilly's Catholic faith and his Irish origin was to play against the family over the years.


. . . . .III. 502 NEW OXFORD STREET: 1847 - 1857


*9 March 1847: Move to 502 New Oxford-Street

In late March 1847 Reilly moved from High Holborn to 502 New Oxford Street, a large edifice also called the "Elizabethan buildings" on a new extension of Oxford Street.*9a

The building was not more than a few hundred yards from his two previous workshops at 12 Middle Row and 316 High Holborn; Reilly was attached to this neighborhood apparently.
. . . . .Attached an 1890 plat map on New Oxford Street with location of 502.*9a(1)
. . . . .Attached a sketch of 502 New Oxford Street from the subsequent Reilly trade label.*9c(1)
. . . . .Attached photo of current New Oxford Street with outline of the former 502.*9c(2)



With this move, Reilly demonstrated another trait of his business acumen, i.e. "location." The new road provided access to the center of London from the wealthy West End suburbs. He always chose prestigious, high-traffic locations for his stores.

-- Comment: the story of the extension of Oxford Street has also to do with slum clearing. This area was a notorious pit of crime, rabbit warren streets and poverty known as "the Rookery" in the Charles Dickens era and road building apparently was a way for the government to solve the public problem. "The building of New Oxford Street together with the later reconstruction of Shaftsbury Avenue through other notorious parts of St. Giles began the reclamation of this long infamous area for respectability," *9b

The building was quite large, 5 stores and at least an estimated 8,000 square feet of space for retail, manufacturing, and for a homestead on the top floor. For a gun-maker in London, this was an enormous space - guns in London were being made in shops at the time the size of a kitchen.

The nature of the London gun business needs some explanation:

. . . . .-- It was always concentrated into small, sometimes tiny, workshops and buildings. Purpose built “factories” as one would normally recognize such as some of the large firms in Birmingham, did not exist in London until Holland&Holland built their factory in the 1890’s. At this time, the late 1840’s, Reilly operated his “factory” out of 502 (later renumbered "16") New Oxford Street, and 11 years later from a second factory at 315 (later 277) Oxford Street).

. . . . .-- As an example of the type of workshop common in London, Purdey operated for 60 years from a building at 314 ½ Oxford Street (actually 314 & 315), where he had his showroom, fitting rooms, administrative offices and his workshops.*9d
. . . . . . . . .- Attached London 1890 map plat of Oxford Street.*9d(1)
. . . . . . . . .- London Postal Directory of 1882 with old and new numbering.*9d(2)
. . . . . . . . .- 1885 photo or Oxford Street with both 277 and Purdey's 314 1/2 in the background. Building height is considerably higher than today. EM Reilly's son fell from the top floor of 277 in 1895, a distance of 50'.*9d(3)
. . . . . . . . .- Google earth photo of Purdey's 314 1/2 Oxford Street today.*9d(4)

. . . . .-- A second example is 22 Cockspur Street where Lang had his workshop from 1852-1872. This was where the first UK pin-fire center-break gun was made. Lang previously had a 21 yard shooting gallery as well as access to two billiard tables until his move to Cocksure Street.*9e
. . . . .Attached map plate of 22 Cockspur Street with shooting gallery.*9e(1)
. . . . .Attached photo of 22 Cockspur Street.*9e(2)

. . . . .—Finally, It was quite common for gunmakers to live on the premises of their gun shops. Reilly certainly did this from at least 1835 to 1903 per the annual UK census. As a further example attached is a bankruptcy announcement for Joseph Manton from 1826 showing that his house was on Hanover Square, adjoining at the back to several workshops which gave onto 315 Oxford Street.*9f


*10 April-November 1847: Change in Trade Label

From April 1847 to November 1847 the trade label kept the form of the old High Holborn case label format but with the 502 New Oxford Street, London address and a note that the firm had "Removed from Holborn." *10a. Two versions exist:



Note: Reilly used the phrase "Removed from Holborn" in advertisements after the move from April 1847 to November 1847. By December 1847 it had disappeared from his ads.*10b, *10c


*11 1847: Change in the Main-Line Numbering Chronology - 3350 Jumps to 8350

At the time of the move the main serial number chronology for Reilly long-guns was jumped up 5000 numbers from about SN 3350 to begin anew at around 8350 (called for simplicity the "8350" series). The name on serial numbered guns after the move ultimately became simply "Reilly" with exceptions.

. . .-- SN 3329 - SN'd in 1847 is the last extant gun made at High Holborn. It is a 10 gauge SxS percussion rifle with Joseph Charles Reilly, 316 High Holburn, London on the rib. *11a

. . .-- SN 8378 - May 1847 is the first extant main-line SN'd gun from the new building, a SxS 12 bore muzzle-loading shotgun. It has "J.C. Reilly, 502 New Oxford Street, London" on the rib. The original label in the old High Holborn case label format has the 502 New Oxford Street, London address and notes the firm had "Removed from Holborn." *11b

. . .-- SN 8463 - Dec 1847 is the first extant SN'd gun in the new series with only "Reilly, 502 New Oxford Street, London." The gun is a .390 cal SxS muzzle loader rifle, also with "Removed from Holborn" on the label.*11c




*12 1846-1857: J.C. Reilly 7000 Series Numbering Chronology

Preceding this move to New Oxford Street, around early 1846, perhaps anticipating the (planned) change in the main serial number chronology, J.C. Reilly appears to have kept a series of numbers for himself, called for simplicity the J.C. "7000" series. He numbered about 1200 guns over the next 11 years in this series beginning around SN 7000 and ending around 8200 when he retired in 1857.

JC Reilly sometimes (but not always) put his full name or initials on the ribs of these serial numbers but with the 502 New Oxford Street address; yet the trade/case labels with "Reilly" as the firm's name and the advertisements/publicity remained the same for the "8350 main-line series and the J.C. "7000" series.

. . .-- SN 7021 - 1846, is the first extant SN'd gun in the JC "7000" series, a 20 bore single barrel boy’s percussion shotgun. It has " Reilly, London" on the barrel and was probably numbered in early 1846.*12a

. . .-- SN 7023 - 1846, is the second extant SN'd gun in the JC "7000" series, an 11 bore SxS percussion shotgun. It has "J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, London" on the rib and was probably numbered in early 1846.*12b

. . .-- SN 7201 - Sep 1847, a .577 percussion single barrel rifle, was the first in the J.C. 7000 series with the new "Joseph Charles Reilly, 502 New Oxford Street, London" address on the barrel, probably numbered around September 1847. It has the old style "J.C. Reilly" trade label with the new 502 New Oxford Street address and also with "Removed from Holborn." *12c

. . .-- SN 8186 - Aug 1857 is the last extant gun in the 7000 series (no doubt made in late summer 1857). It's an elegant .650 mimi ball single barrel muzzle-loader rifle engraved Reilly, New Oxford Street, London, with "Vini, Vidi, Vici" on the barrel (see below). *12d




*13 Outlier J.C. serial numbered guns, 1840-1856

There are existing outlier SN'd guns associated with JC which originally did not fit any sort of pattern given the disconnect between type of guns, the SN's and the addresses on their ribs. However, analysis indicates all 5 actually are part of known Reilly serial number progressions:

. . .-- SN 4573 - c1840-41, a 7 gauge, smoothbore, short single barrel, dangerous game gun with "J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, London" on the barrel. The gun appears to be from the 1841-42 timeframe. It may well be part of an as yet not fully understood "5000" series discussed below. *13a

. . .-- SN 2008 - c1840, a 14 bore SxS muzzle-loader shotgun with "Joseph Charles Reilly, New Oxford Street, London" on the rib and per below bore size stamped on the barrel. The address would date it between April 1847 to circa September 1857 when J.C. retired; The gun, however, looks to be late 1840's. There is a chance that this gun was actually numbered in 1840 as part of the main-line numbering series and the barrel was re-engraved when it was brought in for maintenance after 1847.*13b

. . .-- SN 3007 - c1845, Reilly U-L pin-fire SxS Shotgun: E.M. Reilly & Co., 315 Oxford Street, London on the rib. Birmingham proofs on the barrel. It is possible this was an original percussion gun from 1845 updated to pin-fire by Reilly sometime after 315 Oxford Street opened in August 1858. (There is another Reilly percussion gun SN 10354 from 1857 which was converted to an U-L center-break gun in 1878 per documentation). It has been re classified as an 1845 gun. *13c

. . .-- SN 3402 - c1847 E.M. Reilly & Co., Oxford St., London & rue Scribe, Paris. .58 cal. SxS rifle; 4 grove twist. Hammer gun, muzzle loader. (E.M. Reilly label on the original case). The address is post Feb 1868. But this gun per serial number should have been numbered originally in 1847 as part of the "3350" series. It may have been serviced and re-engraved post 1868, or a new barrel fitted. "Scroll guard pistol grips" were phased out on Reilly rifles in the 1850's. The gun now is redated to 1847. *13d

. . .-- SN 3514 - 1848? or 1858?, a 13 bore SxS percussion shotgun with "Reilly, New Oxford Street, London" on the rib. It was apparently made around 1858 per the trade label in the case. However, it looks older than that and may well date to 1848, the label having been changed when the gun was serviced. This would indicate that EM Reilly continued to number some guns in the 3350 series even after the 1847 changeover.*13c


*14 Hypothetical J.C. "5500" Serial Number series early/mid 1840's:

There are four (possibly five) extant Serial Numbered SxS percussion guns ranging from 5512 to 5991 from apparently the early to mid-1840's which are very similar; It may be that J.C. Reilly had a 5500 serial number series of some sort. If so this would increase the number of guns made from 1840-48 by some 500. if this series were connected to 4573 it would add a good 1,500 guns to the total Reilly made during this period.

It may be that J.C. and E.M. split their gun numbering series around 1840 when E.M. apparently became a full partner (and when the firm began using just "Reilly" in its advertisements) well before the move to Oxford Street, E.M. keeping the main-line series and jumping it to 8350 in 1847 and J.C. numbering guns with the 4500-6000 series and jumping those numbers to the 7000 series in 1846; More guns are needed to establish this point. (There is an upper date limit marker for this "series" - 5991 - which is post March 1847 from the address on the rib. However, there is no lower date marker for the series other than the 316 High Holborn address on the ribs - which could extend back to August 1835.)

. . . -- SN 4573 - c1841, a 7 gauge, smoothbore, short single barrel, dangerous game gun with "J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, London" on the barrel. The gun appears to be from the 1840-1844 timeframe.*13a

. . . -- SN 5512 – 1843-47?, a 16 bore SxS muzzle loader shotgun, which has “J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, London now 502 New Oxford Street” on the rib, the only gun found so far with both addresses and it would appear numbered around the time of the move. However, the two addresses are printed a slightly different font indicating 5512 may have been brought in for maintenance after the March 1847 move and re-engraved at that time; *14a

. . .-- SN 5580 – 1843-47?, a 12 bore SxS muzzle loader shotgun, which has “J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, London” on the rib, (engraving and format very similar to 5512 above); *14b

. . .-- SN xxxx – 1843-47?, The engraving on 5512 and 5580 match remarkably to a 12 bore SxS percussion gun advertised by Christies with “J.C. Reilly, 316 High Holborn, Londonn” on the rib; The SN was unpublished, however, it could be part of this possible “5500 series.” *14c

. . .-- SN yyyy – 1843-47?, The engraving on 5512 and 5580 also match quite well a 16 bore Reilly SxS percussion shotgun with “Reilly, 316, High Holborn, London” on the rib.*14d

. . .-- SN 5759 – 1845-47?, a 10 bore SxS percussion shotgun, serial numbered “5759” on the barrels; no SN on the tang. No address on the flat filed rib; "Reilly" on the action. The seller speculated that the barrels had been rebored from a 12 bore rifle; The barrel is substantial and is stamped "12." The rib possibly was re-laid at that time and the scroll guard trigger/pistol grip tang replaced.*14e

. . .-- SN 5991 – 1847-48?, a 17 bore SxS percussion rifle, serial numbered “5991” on the barrels. “991” is found on forend stock, hammers and ramrod. “Reilly, New Oxford Street, London” is engraved on the rib; “Reilly, London” on the side plates. The case has a post December 1847 Reilly label pasted over a Lang label from 7 Haymarket Street, from circa 1845-1848. If this serial number is part of the hypothetical “5500” JC series, then it may indicate that the series was continued for some reason into the late 1840’s and used along-side the new “7000” series. *14f




*14-A Evolution of Reilly Serial Numbers:

Following is the possible evolution of Reilly's serial number series for clarity using the date-marker extant guns:



*15 December 1847 - 1856: New Label for 502 New Oxford-Street

Soon after the move, possibly around December 1847, the trade label changed to "Reilly, Gun Maker." It was rectangular shaped with scalloped corners and featured a sketch of 502 New Oxford Street. *15a



-- E.M. Reilly may have designed this new label. He was 30 years old at this time and he consistently demonstrated a better marketing touch, a more modern approach, more imagination and more organization than his father. The new label had new fonts and was much more dynamic than the bland, formal business card style of his father.

-- The "Gun Maker" font on the new label looks to have been deliberately carried over from the old 316 High Holborn label. It is in a sort of old English or Germanic style. This particular font continued to be used in various forms until the company declared bankruptcy in 1912.

-- The bottom line of the new label advertises “Large assortment always ready for India and emigrants to All Parts of the Universe.” E.M. truly had grand ambitions.


*16 Reilly in the early 1850's: Company organization

Some business anthologies and gun history sites from this period claim that J.C. Reilly made guns, E.M. Reilly air guns, and that the company had split into two entities.*16a,*16b But, both worked from the same building used the same case labels, and advertisements, etc. This distinction has been made too much of. They essentially operated as one company. 1850's Reilly advertisements confirm this conclusion.*16c. This said, it appears that E.M. was increasingly the dominate force in the company.

The 1851 census recorded Joseph Charles Reilly as living with a servant at 502 New Oxford Street. The rest of the family is not mentioned and may have gone on with their lives. Martha, J.C.’s wife had left him and was very much alive though he claimed he was a widower.*16d

There is no way to determine the size of the Reilly workforce in 1850. The 1851 census did not ask the number of men an employer engaged. However, there may be data for this enquiry somewhere. London: A Social History commented that London’s industries were small; “Out of 24,323 employers only 80 employed over 100.” “Small workshops predominated.”*16e This data had to come from someplace and it apparently was sourced to that 1851 census though no such information was included in the questions asked.


*17 1851 - late 1880's: Reilly 300 yard outdoor Shooting Range:

Advertisements from 1851 papers show that Reilly had a 300 yard shooting range near his London establishment.*17a Reputable London gun makers seemed to have had their own ranges.

Reilly's range was located off Wood Lane, Shepard's Bush. It was still in use in the 1880's.*17b Wood Lane was near the center of London but remained a rural area until the 1890’s when it became the site of a world’s fair.*17c A number of London gunmakers had ranges in the area; there was a pigeon shooting competition field, and a Militia range.*17d.