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*52 1868-70: Reilly-Comblain Breech Loaders (No Reilly SN):



Almost immediately after the Snider was formally adopted UK Secretary of War announced a new competition for a purpose-built breech loader. Possibly in response to this competition Reilly, still dreaming of a big military contract, in 1867 obtained sole manufacturing rights to Hubert-Joseph Comblain's breech loader, which had been patented in Belgium. The gun was assigned UK Patent No. 2778 of October 2nd, 1867 (Reilly is not mentioned in the patent). It fired the .577 “Boxer” (Snider) cartridge. The gun was featured in a May 1868 article in “The Engineer.”*52a

Reilly did not submit the rifle for the competition in summer 1867 as required (obviously). Rather, the entire competition was reopened in February 1868 after another wave of breech loaders was submitted and while the committee was working on accuracy issues for the barrels. The Reilly-Comblain, however, was part of the large group rejected in July 1868 when the committee settled on the Henry barrel, rifling and cartridge and selected a final 9 actions to be tested. In February 1869 the committee chose to unite the Martini action with the Henry barrel and rifling system and the "Martini-Henry" was born.*52b

Reilly mounted an extensive newspaper advertisement campaign for the Reilly-Comblain rifle in UK. The first advertisement appeared in Feb 1868 (when the competition for the action was reopened to late-comers) and ads continued almost daily until July 1868.*52c After that the ads were confined to long-range publicity contracts with guide books up until about 1870 when they disappeared entirely.*52d His advertisements spanned a relatively short time period and after the Reilly-Comblain was eliminated from the competition emphasized both "military and sporting uses" for the rifle.

Note: The Comblain in a new less awkward form was featured in newspaper articles and shooting contests throughout the early 1870’s especially in reports on UK Volunteer Services militia; UK and Russia were the two guarantors of Belgian independence. Reilly appears to have abandoned his association with Comblain by that time.)*52e. The Comblain was later adopted by the Belgian and Brazilian armies (though not in the Reilly-Comblain configuration); It was used by Brazil for 30 years. Reilly had nothing to do with these contracts.*52q

Per patent use numbers Reilly apparently built some 6000 Comblain's in UK over 3-4 years 1867-71. 6000 rifles are not an inconsiderable number, more it would seem than the UK civilian market could consume over the 3 years that Reilly was “sole manufacturer.” Who bought these guns and where they went is something of a mystery. Perhaps various militia units adopted them; the units could choose their own weapons. Alternatively Reilly might have changed the patent use numbering system after the first series were built, starting anew at SN 5000… meaning a bit more that 1,100 were actually made, a more manageable sporting use number over 3 years of sales.

There are a number of Reilly-Comblain's extant. There is not enough information presented in the advertisements for these guns to be able to discern definitive patterns. However, following are some observations:
. . . . .-- The first existing Reilly-Comblain is use number #14. It has Belgian proofs. (See below for details)
. . . . .-- The last extant Reilly-Comblain is use number #6108 with E.M. Reilly & Co., Sole Manufactures, New Oxford St, London on the action. It has Birmingham proofs. (See below for details).
. . . . .-- None of the Comblain rifles have a Reilly serial number indicating all were manufactured elsewhere.
. . . . .-- Most early Reilly-Comblain have only the London address (not Paris)-it was a British army trials after all and having a French address would not have been a plus; however one trial gun has “Paris” stamped on the butt plate.
. . . . .-- Most of the extant guns have Birmingham proofs.
. . . . .-- The early guns have an ornate brass plaque on the lower receiver of the rifle with the patent Use #.
. . . . .-- Later guns have “E.M.Reilly & Co., Sole Manufacturers, New Oxford St., London” just ahead of the breech. The Patent use number is stamped on the breechblock just ahead of the bolt.
. . . . .-- Later guns have a “Patented by” or a “Warranted by” “E.M. Reilly & Co., London, Paris” stamped on the stock or on the breech.

A Few Extant Reilly-Comblain Rifles:

. . . . .Patent use #14. This is the earliest Reilly-Comblain known. It was mentioned in a gun chat site thus information is quite limited. It is stamped on the barrel ahead of the breach “E.M.Reilly & Co., Sole Manufacturers, New Oxford St., London”; on the lock plate “E.M.Reilly & Co. London.” The caliber is .577 .The barrel is 30.5 inches long. The Obelisk can be clearly seen on the breech block; It is the Belgian Inspectors mark for final proof. It is bereft of other numbers other than #14 on its stock.*52f

. . . . .Patent use #25. .577 Snider, 20 1/2" barrel. The top of the action is engraved "H. HOLLAND / 98 NEW BOND ST. / LONDON", the lock plate is engraved simply "H. HOLLAND" and the breechblock is marked "REILLY-COMBLAIN / PATENT NO. / 25". A brass plaque affixed to the bottom of the stock beneath action is beautifully engraved "Reilly / Comblain / Patent / No. 25”.*52g

. . . . .Patent use #32. .577 Reilly-Comblain rifle, serial no. 32. Blued 30in barrel, block and blade fore-sight, ladder rear-sight, the breech block signed 'E.M. REILLY & Co. RIFLE MANUFACTURERS, NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON', block signed 'REILLY-COMBLAIN PATENT No. 32', plain color-hardened lock signed 'E.M. REILLY & Co. LONDON.”*52h

. . . . .Patent use ???. This rifle is stamped on the barrel ahead of the breach E.M.Reilly & Co Sole Manufacturers New Oxford St., London on the lock plate E.M.Reilly & Co. London. Caliber is .577.*52i

. . . . .Patent use ???. This rifle is stamped on the barrel ahead of the breach E.M.Reilly & Co Sole Manufacturers New Oxford St., “Reilly Comblain Patent” stamped on the breech; London on the lock plate E.M.Reilly & Co. London. Caliber is .577.*5j

. . . . .Patent use #5048: Reilly Comblain rifle; 30” barrel with Birmingham proofs. "25" (i.e. .577), saber bayonet lug and typical period Enfield sights; 5-groove rifling like the 1860 or '61 Short Rifles. Chambered for the .577 Snider round. Receiver ring stamped "E.M.REILLY & Co / SOLE MANUFACTURERS / NEW OXFORD STREET / LONDON" . Breechblock stamped "REILLY-COMBLAIN / PATENT No 5048". Butt is marked with a large 3" ink stamp "PATENTED BY E.M. REILLY & Co., LONDON & PARIS".*52k

. . . . .Patent use #5051: E.M. REILLY & CO. LONDON. Reilly-Comblain Patent No. 5051. On Barrel, E.M. REILLY & CO, SOLE MANUFACTURERS, NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON. Warranted by E.M. REILLY & Co. London & Paris.*52l

. . . . .Patent use #5109 #5109: E.M. REILLY & CO. LONDON. Reilly-Comblain Patent No. 5109. On Barrel, E.M. REILLY & CO, SOLE MANUFACTURERS, NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON.*52m

. . . . .Patent use #5298. Fusil d'infanterie, percussion centrale, modele E. M. Reilly ; calibre 14.8 mm ; canon poli blanc, poinconne et signe : "E. M. Reilly & Co., Sole Manufacturers, New Oxford Street London" ; culasse marque : "Reilly Comblain patent nr 5298"; platine avant polie blanc (carbon steel), marque : "E M Reilly & Co., London.”*52n

. . . . .Patent use #5439. E.M REILLY & CO, LONDON;.577 BREECH-LOADING CARBINE, MODEL 'REILLY-COMBLAIN PATENT', serial no. 5439, probably converted from a Pattern 1861 Cavalry Carbine. 18 1/2in. blued barrel, block and blade fore-sight, small elevating ladder rear-sight, the top of breech block stamped “E.M. REILLY & CO, SOLE MANUFACTURERS, NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON”; the top of the breechblock marked “REILLY-COMBLAIN PATENT NO. 5439”, plain flat bar-action lock marked “E.M. REILLY & CO, LONDON,” walnut full-stock, the right hand side of butt stamped in large oval form 'WARRANTED BY E.M. REILLY & CO. LONDON & PARIS', iron furniture including two barrel-bands and jag-ended clearing rod, much finish remaining.*52o

. . . . .Patent use #6109. British Reilly-Comblain breechloading trails rifle. Overall length is approximately 49”. The 29¾” round .577 caliber centerfire barrel. Barrel is marked with the usual London proofs and caliber (25) mark. The breech is marked “E.M. Reilly & Co/ Sole manufactures/ New Oxford St/ London”. Stock is marked in ¼” letters on the right butt in an oval “warranted by/ E.M. Reilly & Co/ London & Paris.” There are also two small inspection stamps to the rear of the trigger guard tang. *52p


*531871-1890: Reilly builds Martini-Henry Rifles (NSN):



The history of Reilly building Martini-Henry rifles/actions is instructive. This is the legendary gun of the Zulu Wars, Rorke’s Drift, **53a the 2nd campaign in Afghanistan**53b and British imperial wars all over the planet which continued in use to WWI. **53c, *53d

As mentioned in the two previous chapters on the Snider and Comblain, in summer 1864 the UK recognized the need for a breech-loading military rifle. As a stop-gap measure the Snider-Enfield was formally adopted in September 1866. It turned out to be a very good weapon. Almost immediately in October 1866 Arsenal advertised a prize for a purpose built breech-loader. In March 1867, the Committee reported that no less than 104 rifles had been submitted and 9 finalists were recommended.

Trials for the 9 did not begin until late November 1867 and by February 1868, the competition was temporarily abandoned due to repeated failure of the trials rifles and severe accuracy problems. The Committee set about addressing the problem of barrels, rifling and cartridges first; the Committee had become convinced that a hybrid rifle was necessary combining a barrel from one bidder and an action from another. At the same time another 45 new rifles had been submitted to the War Office and the Committee decided to start all over again. (See Reilly-Comblain chapter referencing the start of advertising for the Reilly gun).

By July 1868 the Henry barrel and rifling was adopted and the chosen actions were again whittled down to nine. By 11 February 1869 the Henry barrel mated to the Martini action (a Swiss modified copy of the American Peabody) was announced. Trials began on the gun which lasted until 1871 uncovering various problems which included critical parts failures and uncomfortable recoil from the .451 Henry cartridge. On 13 April 1871 orders were placed at the royal Small Arms factory at Enfield for production. Between 1871 and 1874 the rifle was trialed by various units working kinks out of the design and finally on September 18, 1874 (fully 8 years after the need for the gun was advertised (and one thinks modern military acquisition times are long!). the M-H was authorized for full issue to the British army.

As a coda to this in November 1874, the Henry shallow groove rifling patent from November 1860 was allowed to be extended for another 4 years to November 1878. **53e It subsequently somehow (by a process not yet understood) may have been extended again to November 1888. There was some speculation that the extension was tied to the rifling being adopted by the army. In fact Henry received £5000 (equivalent today to $900,000) in 1872 from the British government for the patent use in the Martini-Henry and no more though he petitioned for a supplement. There are Reilly SxS rifles with Henry Patent marks (without use #'s published) which were serial numbered in the 1880’s. **53f Henry patents in the USA expired 15 November 1874 by court ruling.

Many companies made sporting versions of the M-H including in particular Greener. However, there apparently few if any M-H sporterized rifles with a company serial number made by any gun-maker in UK while the patents were in force. It appears that Arsenal would send over an action from Enfield or one of the authorized producers of the M-H, if a company wanted to build a sporterized M-H. Perhaps Braendlin had the license since its logo appears often on Reilly's.

**Edit: Here is a mystery: Who held the Martini-Henry patents? According to some sources the National Arms and Ammunition Co was formed by Wesley-Richards in 1872 to make Martini-Henrys and Henry granted a license to them. The company manifestly failed to produce what was needed. But in 1875 allegedly it claimed to own the rights to the patents and expected to receive royalties from other companies who had been making the Martini-Henry Rifle. It initially won a court case but the judgement was overturned the following year; it was finally settled in National's favor by the House of Lords. So were companies like Reilly paying National Arms and Ammunition Co. for the right to make a Martini-Henry? There are no patent use numbers on the M-H's. Were payments made just for the barrels and rifling (the patent was no longer valid after 1878)? Who owned the Martini patent for the action for civilian makers, which also must have expired around 1880? This information is surely available but a bit off topic re Reilly Martini-Henry's- unless a list of payments for the patent use can be turned up.

Reilly’s first advertisement for a “Henry-Martini” appeared in Jun 1871. **53f His first advertisement for “Martini-Henry” rifles appeared in December 1871. **53g

There are many extant Reilly-made sporterized Martini-Henry’s with all four London address on their barrels (502/16 New Oxford Street and 315/277 Oxford Street). Reilly M-H’s are found in half a dozen calibers, one being an 8-bore (cal .775) big game gun. Several are pictured. (**53h, *53i, *53j, *53k ) He engraved and retailed M-H’s; he may have assembled rifles himself at both manufactury’s using actions and barrels sent from elsewhere and with machine-made "engraving" typical of the M-H. Like the other gun makers, however, none of these have Reilly serial numbers until after the expiration of the Martini-Henry Patent (again who held this patent is a question).

There is one extant Reilly M-H with a serial number *33899(1894) **53i which has neither the Martini Patent plaque with crossed flags or Braendlin "B" logo.




**541872-1912 Reilly sells other Military Rifles; Swinburn, Gibbs, Soper, Lee-Speed



The Snider-Enfield was apparently the last military rifle Reilly made in his London workshops and serial numbered. He did not serial number the Reilly-Comblain nor the Martini-Henry sporting guns he sold. However, he continued to advertise and market military rifles, selling some to the Volunteer Militia and some to private owners for sport. These were made elsewhere. Here are four:

. . . . . Swinburn-Henry: **5a The Swinburn was similar to the Martini-Henry but differed internally quite a bit. For instance it had a thumb manipulated side lever which could cock the hammer without operating the lever. It fired the same .577/540 Martini-Henry cartridge but was more prone to breakage. It was patented in 1872 and all production was done by by Abingdon Works Co. Ltd., Birmingham. Reilly’s first advertisement for a Swinburn rifle (which he misspelled) is from October 1875. *54a1
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one extant Reilly Swinburn from about 1885 in the Royal Armouries. It is highly engraved with a lion surrounded by fine scrollwork on the right side of the receiver and two stags on the left. It is engraved “E.M. REILLY & Co., 277 OXFORD STREET, LONDON, AMMUNITION GOV 577.450.” *54a2

. . . . . George Gibbs “Farquharson Patent”: *54b This is a single-shot hammerless falling-block action rifle. It was patented by John Farquharson in Scotland in 1872. George Gibbs, a Bristol gun-maker, bought into the patent in 1875 and was the sole maker until the patent expired in 1886. Per Wikipedia, fewer that 1,000 Gibbs-Farquharson rifles were made, the last in 1910. Famous hunter Frederick Selous was known to use the rifle. *54b1
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one extant Gibbs-Farquharson .451 cal rifle with Reilly's name on it, signed “E.M. REILLY & CO., 277 OXFORD STREET, LONDON,” with a Gibbs serial number 1331 (Wikipedia can be wrong too). *54b2

. . . . . The Soper Rifle: *54d The Soper Birmingham-made breech-loader missed out on the breech-loading trials in 1867-68. However, in a separate test in 1872 it fired 60 rounds in one minute, a rate not matched by magazine guns. Soper put up a £100 bet ($10,000+) in 1878 that he would match two men firing his gun against three firing any other rifle in the world to see who could get most rounds on a 200 yard target in 3 minutes. No one took him up on it. Per an early 1880 advertisement Reilly was the Soper rifle "agent for London." *54d1 . Examples of the Soper rifle in 1870 and 1880 are pictured. *54d2,d3

. . . . . Lee-Speed: *54c The Lee-Speed was a bolt-action magazine rifle, which was basically a sporting variant of the Lee-Enfield made for civilians. It shot the .303 cartridge. The first advertisement for a Reilly marketed Lee-Speed is in 1893. *54c1 A number of London gun-makers offered Lee-Speeds for sale to sportsmen including Holland & Holland. *54c2
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one extant Reilly marketed Lee-Speed shooting the .375 x 2.5” nitro express cartridge, introduced in 1899 (basically a hunting cartridge, a slightly longer version of the .303 necked out to .375). This Reilly has on the barrel “E.M. REILLY & CO., 295 OXFORD STREET, LONDON” indicating it was marketed between May 1904 and June 1912. *54c3


*55 1869: Explosive Bullets:

Reilly patented an explosive bullet in 1869, a sort of early M-79 idea. *55a

Note: As already mentioned Sir Samuel Baker wrote in his books that Reilly made custom explosive shells designed by him for his use as early as 1853. In addition Reilly made explosive shells for BG Jacob for his self-designed long-range double rifle used by his Pashtun cavalry in Sind and Baluchistan (1854-57). It may well be that Reilly used this knowledge to create his own explosive bullet. However, Reilly never obtained a major military contract with the War Department (as far as the present day evidence goes).


*561856-1871: An End to Reilly's Arsenal Contract Dreams

As a summary to these chapters on Reilly's military rifles, Reilly never achieved his ambitious plans to make a fortune with a contract with Arsenal. He always seemed to be one step behind; His Green Brothers breech-loader was very good, but could not shoot a cartridge with an internal primer. His Comblain was awkward looking, was late and was not the handsome Comblain of the Belgian militia of 1870, which might have stood a better chance, etc.

He did sell and engrave British military rifles - Enfields, Snider's, Martini's, Swinburns and later Lee-Speeds; He hawked these guns to the Yoemanry Volunteer Militia and to rifle clubs at wholesale prices, versions of them to Military personnel going abroad and to big-game hunters for 50 years. But, unless he built them himself he did not serial number these guns. He sold a lot of militia guns he did not make; but afterwards his business seemed to zero in on the civilian sporting market.

Nevertheless, the desire and the conceit never fully died. From Wyman's Industrial Encyclopedia 1888 on his 1885 exhibition at the London industrial innovations exposition, he still expressed a shadow of hope for some sort of contract or at least a recognition that he was still relevant:
. . . . ."They also showed some fine specimens of repeating rifles, which are now very prominently before our Government for adoption in the Army." *56a


. . . . .X. REILLY - 1868 – 1880; PARIS AND EXPANSION


*601867-1870, Paris-1: Reilly Takes on Paris, Again; Gun-Maker for Napoleon III



EM Reilly always seemed to be enamored with Paris and as the 1867 Paris Universelle exposition*60a approached, he meticulously prepared an exhibit*60b that was extensively lauded. *60c It won him gold and silver medals. *60d

Note: Apparently the entire exhibit of Reilly guns at the Paris Universelle was bought by Grand Duke Constantine (son of Czar Nikolas I) and Count Nikolay Alexandrovich Orloff, who was then the Russian ambassador to Belgium, at the time the cockpit flash-point of Europe. (Russia and UK guaranteed Belgian independence). *60e



As a result of the medals E.M. Reilly became a "gun maker" for Napoleon III.*60f, *60g




*61 February 1868-1870, Paris-2: Reilly opens 2 rue Scribe, Paris as “E.M. Reilly & Cie”

Reilly’s triumph in Paris led him in February 1868 to open a branch office (EM Reilly & Cie.) at 2 rue Scribe, Paris where orders for his guns could be taken.*61a The store was located in the Grand Hotel near the Gare du Nord, a prime location (British travelers to Paris arrived at the Gare du Nord).*61b, *61c, *61d This branch office remained open for the next 17 years.



. . . . .-- SN 14983 - The first extant gun with 2 rue Scribe on the rib is 14983, an 8 bore SxS under-lever, hammer gun shotgun (with a firing system very much resembling the earlier Lancaster "base-fire" action - other observers note that it was very like the Pape patent with retractable firing pins).*61e

The extant gun’s hammers resemble the hammers pictured in Reilly ads at the time.*61f

. . . . .-- SN 15287 - A second center fire 12 gauge shotgun hammer gun from this period with similar hammers.*61g

Note: The French press in articles about Reilly in the 20th century has claimed that the artistic elegance and balance of a Reilly gun came from its association with Paris.*61h


*62 1868-1897 – Paris-3: New Label

His case labels changed at this time to feature the two medals won at the 1867 World's Fair and often (but not always) mentioned both branch addresses.*62a, *62b



His presentation cases appeared to be red velvet with the 502 and 2 rue Scribe addresses on them, sometimes with no "promotion clause", sometimes with "Gun Manufacturers" below the name: