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. . . . . V: REILLY SUPPORTS RIFLE INNOVATION: 1854 – 1860


*30 1853-1860: Reilly building innovative Military Grade Muzzle Loading Rifles:

Reilly always built rifles.*30a Throughout the late 1840’s and 1850’s he offered well-built muzzle loading rifles to officers and immigrants going out to the colonies, quite often in .577 caliber, so they could use military grade ball. In 1853 Arsenal adopted the .577 caliber Enfield rifle-musket, perhaps the finest percussion rifle of its day (although deficiencies appeared during the Crimean War). Reilly of course built Enfields and Enfield variants since Arsenal did not seem interested in protecting the industrial specifications (as they later did).

But over the next few years from 1853 to 1860 Reilly also was involved in making and developing other muzzle loading ideas from rifling to bullets. Some worked out. Others didn’t. But, Reilly was present during this period on the cutting manufacturing edge for anything that might sell. Out of this original manufacturing/marketing interest came an apparent Reilly obsession – i.e. win an Arsenal contract for a military rifle and make a fortune and E.M., the technology gambler, accepted the task and the risk (discussed later).

Following are a few of the percussion rifles Reilly made during this decade:

. . . . .1853 Enfield- Rifle-Musket. (Disclaimer: this is not meant to be an authoritative exploration of the 1853 Enfield…rather it is a simplified look at the history of Reilly making Enfields.)

. . . . . . . . . .- Reilly in the late 1850’s, early 1860’s built dozens and dozens of military style Enfields and sporterized Enfield rifles, both single and double-barreled, although the advertising for both was somewhat vague.*30b

. . . . . . . . . .- By 1859 he was advertising and marketing 2 and 3 band military style Enfields for the Volunteer services corps. Some had serial numbers if he built them; some were advertised for “wholesale” with his name on the gun but no serial number, obviously obtained elsewhere. And, the Enfield was a huge money-maker during the American War Between the States.*30c For the record (and a “date marker” serial number), Reilly-made Enfield SN 11716 was given as a prize at a Christmas 1860 competition. The date is confirmed by the below serial number dating chart.*30d

. . . . . . . . . .- In the early 1860’s he began using the .451 cartridge for some of his Enfield rifles.*30e Whitworth had patented the .451 hexagonal bullet in 1856; Westley-Richards used Whitworth rifling/barrels (and his own ideas-who came first is still a dispute) on his 1858 breech loading “monkey tail” carbine (see below). The bullet/rifling was superior in every way to the .577 with a flatter trajectory and higher muzzle velocity. Whitworth sniper guns in .451 in the hands of the Confederates killed several Union generals. In early 1861 Reilly started advertising Enfields, especially sniper guns, with this cartridge and chambered a lot of guns for it.*30f There are four extant Reilly .451 Enfields, the earliest two from 1861, the most iconic being SN 12073.*30g

. . . . . . . . . .-One of Reilly’s 1853 Enfields SN 12,002 (1861) was later converted into the first Green Brothers breech-loader by Reilly in 1964 as a proof-of-principle experiment (Chapter IX,50 below) and others later were converted to Snider breech loaders after 1866.

. . . . . . . . . .- His sporting versions of the Enfield are quite elegant.*30h He advertised his sporting Enfields as having been so designed that the gun would fit into a normal case (something a 2 or 3 band Enfield with the long long forearm could not do.)*30h1



. . . . .General Jacob’s Rifle: As discussed before In 1854 Col. John Jacob, famous throughout the Punjab and Sindh area after the 3rd Sikh war and still regarded as a saint in Jacobobad, Pakistan, designed a gun for use on the hot Sindhi plains and had it built in London by Daw (Swinburne was his preferred manufacturer) It was a rifled SxS muzzle loader, which allegedly could reach out 1,200 yards, and had a sword bayonet fitted to it. The rifle could use an exploding bullet.*30i Reilly had a license to produce it, its ammunition and its bayonet.*30j



. . . . .English Schuetzen Percussion Target Rifle by E.M. Reilly: And for the fun of it there is at least one Reilly Schuetzen muzzle-loading target rifle, no serial number, probably marketed before 2 rue Scribe, Paris opened. It has only "E.M. Reilly" and not the "& Co., so likely 1858-59. E.M. Reilly loved "novelties." He always had interesting and unusual guns in his display rooms; perhaps this was part of his marketing strategy; people would say, "Let's drop in and see what's going on at Reilly's today."
. . . . . . . . . .50 caliber, 33.25" barrel, no S/N. Damascus barrel with Schuetzen-style stock finely checkered at forend and wrist. Blade front sight with iron ramrod pipes with entry pipe leading to reinforced forend. Classic schuetzen type trigger guard with set trigger. Forend tapped for palm rest. Top of barrel marked "E. M. REILLY, 502 NEW OXFORD ST. & 315 OXFORD ST., LONDON." lock plate marked "REILLY/LONDON" and engraved with classic broad scrolls.*30k


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

1858 Travel Guide:


Breech loading military rifles had gradually impinged on the muzzle loading conservative establishment. In 1848 the Prussian military adopted the Dryese needle gun 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 marauding 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 unusual 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, Blanch, 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 newly occupied (315) "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 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 10872– late summer 1858: Reilly, New Oxford Street, London. .577 bore, single barrel breech-loader hammer gun.*31Bc
. . . . .-- SN 11118 (SN not clear) – summer 1859; 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 relationship with Whitworth who patented a .451 round in 1856. Whitworth used a hexagonal 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 emphasized 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


. . . . . VI: REILLY - FLYING HIGH: 1858 – 1862 .


*32 August 1858: Opening of 315 Oxford-Street - New Label

In early August 1858 with new partners (unknown) Reilly took over/bought out the shop and shooting galleries of William Squires, then a London gun maker located at 315A Oxford Street.*32a This branch was probably opened because of the surging demand for break-action breech-loaders.*32b The branch early on was also referred to as "Reilly's Armoury House" or "The Manufactory." Records indicate that Reilly owned the property in "freehold."

Reilly was three doors down from Purdey located at "314 1/2".**32c Oxford Street numbering at the time is extremely confusing. There were 9 x 315's in the census of 1871 and 1881 and in the pre-1882 postal directories. It appears the entire block was numbered "315" with variations; Oxford Street was later renumbered in November 1881.



From this time forward guns with only "Oxford Street, London" on their ribs would have been built at 315 Oxford Street. Guns built at 502 New Oxford Street without a street number would have simply "New Oxford Street."

. . .-- *10811 - The first existing gun with only "Oxford Street" is a Prince patent breech loader SN 10811 (summer 1858)*32d

Reilly created a separate rectangular trade label with unscolloped corners for this new workshop, again using "Fusils à bascule" with the name “Reilly’s Armoury House.” It advertised the shooting gallery.*32e




*33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street:

In 1855 Squires advertised in “The Field" that he ran a 42 yard Shotgun/rifle range and 40 foot pistol gallery on the premises of 315A Oxford Street.*32a Reilly kept these galleries open, the longer one advertised as a 50 yard shooting gallery.*33a,*33b A 50 yard shooting gallery in central London is extremely unusual. While many gun manufacturers had a small space for shooting hand-guns, perhaps only two had a space where shotguns and rifles could be shot, Lang and Squires/Reilly. Lang had a well-known shooting gallery described numerous times; but it was only about 21 yards long.*33c It apparently closed in 1852 when Lang moved to Cockspur street.

Thus, Reilly's shooting gallery likely was unique. Per newspaper ads and per mentions in articles in "The Field," the 50 yard shooting gallery was "on the premises" of Reilly's 315 manufactory.*33d It had to be above ground for light and ventilation. It may have occupied property running from Oxford Street through an apparent large open space/courtyard behind the building to Princess street near Hanover Square. The last ad for the range so far found is in 1867.*33e In the 1870's the center of this block became a skating rink and then Salvation Army Regents Hall from 1882 on.


*34 August 1858 - April 1861: Four Changes in the Company Name

This post will mostly be of interest to those trying to date guns and labels. The dates of the name changes, descriptions are a best guess; multiple advertisements in newspapers and magazines can be found with differing descriptions/names running at the same time.

For 10 years after the 1847 move to 502 New Oxford Street, the company was known in advertisements as “REILLY, GUN MAKER" (sometimes one word GUNMAKER").. "Reilly" was the name used on the gun barrels, ribs and actions.*34 There were exceptions for J.C.'s 7000 series which at times were engraved with his full name on the ribs. Then with J.C’s 1857 retirement, E.M began a series of business moves upgrading the company which included name changes.


. . . . .*34A “REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - August 1858 - March 1859

. . . . . . . . . .-- When Reilly opened 315 Oxford Street in early August 1858 with “new partners,” the company’s name appears to have changed from "Reilly, Gun Maker" (singular) to "Reilly & Co., Gun Makers"(plural). This was for a short while from circa August 1858-March 1859 per a few advertisements & references in books. (Many advertisements until January 1859 and even beyond that date continued to use only the "Reilly, Gun Maker" name.)

. . . . . . . . . .-- Newspaper ads only began mentioning this name from January 1859 but it may have been registered in some way in trade directories.*34Aa “Reilly & Co.” is referred to occasionally in books and newspaper articles.*34Ab No trade labels exist with this name. A few advertisements using "Reilly & Co." can be found as late as September 1859.

. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street at the same time used all sorts of names in advertisements: "Reilly Armoury House," "Reilly’s Armoury House"; " Reillys, the Armoury House"; "Reilly’s London Armoury House." However, these were never "official" company names.*34Ac
. . . . . . . . . .-- Two extant Reillys, both Prince Patent rifles numbered in fall 1858, have "Reilly & Co.” on the barrel.
. . . . . . . . . .-- Note: November & December1858 there were a few outlier Ads for "REILLY, MANUFACTURER.” These appeared in three newspapers. This apparently had no effect on the name of the company but was a harbinger of things to come.*34Ad


. . . . .*34B ”E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - February 1859 – August 1860:

. . . . . . . . . .-- By February 1859 the company's name used in newspaper and magazine ads changed definitively to "E.M. Reilly & Co.", a name which continued in use for the next 100 years.*34Ba

. . . . . . . . . .-- His labels for both branches changed at this time to reflect the new name, "E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers" (plural):

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 502 New Oxford St continued to use the standard scalloped corner rectangular label illustrated by the sketch of the building and the 1851 & 1855 World’s Fair medals;*34Bb



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 315 Oxford Street continued to have a different rectangular label still without scallops but now also with the “E.M Reilly & Co.” name and the 1851 and 1855 medals.*34Bc



. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street continued to use all sorts of names in advertisements per above, none of them official.*34Bd

. . . . . . . . . .-- The first extant serial numbered gun with "E.M. Reilly & Co." on the barrel is a 3 band Enfield SN 11227 per the dating chart numbered in autumn 1859.

. . . . .*34C “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURER” (singular) - August 1860 – April 1861:
. . . . . . . . . .-- In August 1860 Reilly began using "Gun Manufacturer" (singular) rather than "Gun Makers" in his advertisements. The Trade Labels did not appear to change.*34Ca. Some long-term advertisements continued to refer to E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers during this period as did the trade labels.

. . . . .*34D “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS" (plural)” - April 1861:

. . . . . . . . . .-- In circa April 1861 the company's description on labels and in advertisements changed from "Gun Makers" to "Gun Manufacturers"(plural).*34Da From this point on the company was known definitively as "E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS," a name and description which continued in use for the next 40 years.

. . . . . . . . . .-- NEW LABEL: At that time the sketch of 502 New Oxford Street was dropped from his case labels. The separate label for 315 Oxford Street also was dropped. The new label had 502 as the featured address. A label mentioning 315 during the time frame 1861-1868 has not been found.*34Db)



(After 1868 Reilly labels mention 315 as a "branch establishment" in scroll work on the label.) The basic format for the new label remained fundamentally consistent for the next 30+ years with variations (additions of medals, branch addresses in scroll work, occasionally mention of royalty, etc.) There were a few outlier labels. The advertising scroll work at the bottom of the label changed slightly after 1885. (See the separate chart dating Reilly labels).

. . . . . . . . . .-- PRESENTATION LABEL: Reilly Presentation cases also at this time changed to adopt both the new name and sometimes the "Gun Manufacturers" description; two examples exist, each slightly different.*34Dc



*35 1859 – 1900: Reilly Selling to Yoemanry Militia & Gun Clubs at Wholesale Prices

Beginning in 1859, Reilly began advertising rifles sold wholesale to equip "Yoemanry" militia.*35a He continued to advertise such guns up to at least the 1890's.*35b Most of these guns were not made by him, especially after the early 1860's, and thus not serial numbered. (The Yoemanry Militia, a sort of UK "National Guard," was still in existence in WWI and units were deployed to France). He also advertised discounts for bulk purchases by shooting clubs.*35c Reilly continued to hawk sales of guns wholesale in his advertisements and occasionally on outlier labels for the next 40 years.*35d


*36 1860-61: Reilly Making Guns, All Parts, Using Others’ Patents, and Making Guns Under License:

During this time frame Reilly in advertisements claimed to be making every piece of every gun he serial numbered in his two workshops on Oxford Street and invited customers to "view the progress of their order."*36a This would make Reilly one of the very few "vertical" gun companies in London. (Adams and Colt are the only other two that this writer knows of and Adams had major connections to Liège). The London (and Birmingham) gun trade at the time relied for the most part on out-sourced parts and materials, which were assembled and finished in-house.

Note. Haris Holland posted a similar advertisement in "The Field" in 1858.*36b It's entirely possible that Reilly was allowing customers to view only the "assembled/finished" parts of small arms manufacturing; this said, Reilly's manufacturing spaces with his two buildings dwarfed that of Haris Holland at the time.

In an article about Reilly leading up to the 1862 London World’s Fair, Reilly clearly explained his manufacturing and business philosophy: He was not wedded to any particular design; And he made others’ patents that he deemed commercially viable. This was the company business model for 30 years but it was spelled out quite definitively.*36c

How the patent license fees were paid, how much a patent license fee cost for individual patents, and how they were numbered remains a mystery of the London gun trade. One of the possible reasons for building another maker’s patented gun under license might have been a question of time. Reilly worked faster than other London gunmakers. If a client wanted a Dougall lockfast or a Brazier action on his gun, Reilly would make it or buy it and install it from the maker (but it would cost extra).*36d