A "Contents" section is added to the history beginning mid-page 94; a number of photos also have been posted. This extensive edit of the on-lime history is an effort to get around the BBS limit of 10 photos per post and to keep the now 220 page history to 5 BBS internet pages; thus the photo posts have combined lot of pictures to make it somewhat coherent - the print version flows more fluidly and more easily comprehensible:

Contents

Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

I. Holborn Bars : 1814 -1835. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
. . .1. Beginnings
. . .2. 1828: First Guns Made at 12 Middle Row, Holborn (Holborn Bars), London
. . .3. Reilly Business Model
. . .4. 1831: Reilly "Gun Maker"

II. 316 High Holborn: 1835 – 1847. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
. . .5. August 1835: Move to 316 High Holborn-Street
. . .6. 1837: End of Serial Numbered Pistols
. . .7. August 1840: Company Name Changes to "Reilly; Gun Maker”
. . .8. 1840's: Air-guns

III. 502 New Oxford Street: 1847 - 1857. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
. . .9. March 1847: Move to 502 New Oxford-Street
. . .10. April-November 1847: Change in Trade Label
. . .11. 1847: Change in the Main-Line Numbering Chronology - 3350 Jumps to 8350
. . .12. 1846-1857: J.C. Reilly 7000 Series Numbering Chronology
. . .13. 1840-1856: Outlier J.C. Serial Numbered Guns
. . .14. Hypothetical J.C. "5500" Serial Number Series Early/mid 1840's
. . .15. December 1847 - 1856: New Label for 502 New Oxford-Street
. . .16. Reilly in the early 1850's: Company Organization
. . .17. 1851 - late 1880's: Reilly 300 Yard Outdoor Shooting Range
. . .18. 1851: Crystal Palace Exposition – the Lefaucheaux Revelation
. . .19. Reilly in the early 1850's: Custom Made Guns and Munitions
. . .20. 1855: Reilly Numbering Bore Sizes Before the 1855 Proof Law
. . .21. 1855: Paris Exposition Universelle
. . .22. September 1857: J.C. Reilly Retires; January 1864 He Passed Away

IV: Break Action Guns in UK: 1854 – 1860. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
. . .23. 1852-1856: Break Action, Pin-Fire Guns in UK., PART 1, Hodges & Lang
. . .24. 1852-1856: Break Action, Pin-Fire Guns in UK., PART 2, Reilly & Blanch
. . .25. 1856: Reilly Begins Building Break Action Pin-Fire Guns
. . .26. Mid-1856: Trade/Case Label Changes
. . .27. 1856-1858: Reilly Extant Break Action Pin-Fire Guns
. . .28. 1858-1860: Reilly Develops and Trials Break Action Pin-Fire Guns
. . .29. Observation re "Retailer" vs "Gunmaker" from an Analysis of Extant 1856-58 Reilly Pin-fires

V: Reilly Supports Rifle Innovation: 1854 – 1860. . . . . . . . . . . . .49
. . .30. 1853-1860: Reilly Building Innovative Military Grade Muzzle Loading Rifles
. . . . . . . .1. 1853 Enfield- Rifle-Musket
. . . . . . . .2. General Jacob’s Rifle
. . . . . . . .3. English Schuetzen Percussion Target Rifle
. . .31. 1855-1860: Other Breech-loader Rifles and New Innovations by Reilly
. . . . . . . .1. Terry Patent breech loaders
. . . . . . . .2. Prince Patent Breech Loader
. . . . . . . .3. Westley-Richards “Monkey Tail” Breech Loader. – a Non-event

VI: Reilly 1858 – 1862. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
. . .32. August 1858: Opening of 315 Oxford-Street - New Label
. . .33. The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street
. . .34. August 1858 - April 1861: Four Changes in the Company Name
. . . . . . . .1. “Reilly & Co., Gun Makers” - August 1858 - March 1859
. . . . . . . .2. “E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers” - March 1859 – August 1860
. . . . . . . . . . . -- NEW LABEL: 502 New Oxford St
. . . . . . . . . . . -- NEW LABEL: 315 Oxford Street
. . . . . . . .3. “E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Manufacturer” (singular) - August 1860 – April 1861
. . . . . . . .4. “E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Manufacturers" (plural)” - April 1861
. . . . . . . . . . . -- NEW LABEL
.. . . . . . . . . . .-- PRESENTATION LABEL
. . .35. 1859–1900: Reilly Selling to Yeomanry Militia & Gun Clubs at Wholesale Prices
. . .36. 1860-1861: Reilly’s In-House Guns; Using Others’ Patents; Royalty Payments; Making Guns Under License

VII. Characteristics of Reilly guns and products. . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
. . .37. Comments on Reilly Stocks
. . . . . . . .1. French Walnut Stocks:
. . . . . . . .2. In-House Stock Maker
. . . . . . . .3. Straight English stocks for Shotguns Except Big-bore Fowlers
. . . . . . . .4. Pistol Grip for Rifles
. . .38. 1828-1900: Reilly Engraving
. . . . . . . .1. 1820’s-1830’s: Simple “Vine and Scroll”
. . . . . . . .2. 1840’s-1850’s: “Large Scroll” or “English Scroll”
. . . . . . . .3. 1850’s-1860’s: More complex “English Scroll”
. . . . . . . .4. 1860’s” Increasingly Delicate and Intricate “Rose and Scroll”
. . . . . . . .5. 1870’s-1890’s: Tight “Rose and Scroll”
. . . . . . . .6. Wildlife Scenes
. . .39. 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels
. . . . . . . .1. London proofed
. . . . . . . .2. Bored and Finished by Reilly, 1836-47
. . . . . . . .3. Barrel Lengths
. . . . . . . .4. Damascus Patterns
. . . . . . . .5. Barrel Blanks
. . . . . . . .6. Initials on Barrels, 1870’s
. . . . . . . .7. Steel Barrels, 1882
. . .40. Non-Serial Numbered Reilly’s; Reilly Engraving and Marketing Others' Guns
. . .41. Reilly and Pistols
. . .42. Reilly Cartridges and Ammunition
. . .43. Early 1860’s: Reilly and Cutlery, Swords, Bayonets
. . .44. Reilly Accessories

VIII. 1860 – 1867 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
. . .45. 1850’s-1895: Reilly Staff; Quality Young Employees
. . .46. 1861: Reilly Manufacturing and Sales
. . .47. 1862: Reilly and the 1862 London Exposition
. . .48. 1863: Attempts to Curry Favor with the British Royal Family
. . .57. 1863-1865: Reilly’s Sporting Gun Business
. . .58. 1863-1873: Pin-Fire vs Center Fire
. . .59. 1866: Reilly and Purdey Kerfuffle

IX: Reilly, Arsenal and the British Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
. . .49. 1863-1872: Attempts to Win a Military Contract; Reilly Builds Military Rifles
. . .50. 1863-1868: Reilly and the Green Brothers Patent Breech Loader - Sole Manufacturer
. . .51. 1866-1870’s: Reilly Builds (Civilian) Snider-Enfields
. . .52. 1868-1870: Reilly-Comblain Breech Loaders (No Reilly SN) - Sole Manufacturer
. . .53. 1871-1890: Reilly Builds Sporting Martini-Henry Rifles (NSN)
. . .54. 1872-1912: Reilly Sells Other Military Rifles; Swinburn, Gibbs, Soper, Lee-Speed
. . .55. 1869: Explosive Bullets:
. . .56. 1856-1871: An End to Reilly's Arsenal Contract Dreams

X. Reilly - 1868 – 1880; Paris and Attempts to Expand . . . . . . . . . .109
. . .60. 1867-1870, Paris-1: Reilly Takes on Paris, Again; Gun-Maker for Napoleon III
. . .61. February 1868-1870, Paris-2: Reilly Opens 2 rue Scribe, Paris as “E.M. Reilly & Cie”
. . .62. 1868-1897 – Paris-3: New Label
. . .63. 1870 - Paris-4: Fall of Napoleon III; Reilly Prosecuted; Pro-French proclivities
. . .64. 1869-1876: Reilly and the American Market
. . .65. 1868-1876: New Labels and Descriptions
. . .66. 1875-1880: Choke Boring and New Proof Marks
. . .67. 1875-1880: Reilly Paying Royalties for Patent Uses
. . .68. 1878-1880: Paris Exposition; Situation of the Company

XI: Reilly – 1880’s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .127
. . .69. Early 1880's: Reilly Expansion; 1881 Census; 1000 guns a year
. . .70. 1880: Reilly and the Anson & Deeley Boxlock
. . .71. 1882: Selling Off The Rack
. . .72. Nov 1881: Oxford Street Re-numbered; Change in Labels
. . .73. 1881: Spanish and Dutch Royal Connection
. . .74. 1878-81: Two outlier Trade Labels
. . .75. 1869-1890: Reilly and Pigeon Guns
. . .76. 1882: Reilly and Steel Barrels
. . .77. 1853-1882: Reilly Endorsed by Prominent Explorers and Hunters
. . .78. 1882-1885: International Expositions
. . .79. 1884-1885: Reilly Outlier Label
. . .80. July 1885: Closure of the Paris Branch
. . .81. 1885-1886: Satellite Paris Address at 29 rue du Faubourg, Saint-Honoré
. . .82. July 1885: Change in Reilly Labels
. . .83. Reilly in the Late 1880's

XII. Death of EM Reilly; Decline and Fall 1890-1918. . . . . . . . . . .156
. . .84. 1890: Death of E.M. Reilly and Aftermath
. . .85. Characterizing the Reilly's
. . .86. Mid-1890's: Reilly’s Decline
. . .87. May 1897: Closure of 16, New Oxford Street
. . .88. 1890-1897: Label and Presentation Case Changes
. . .89. 1899: Death of Mary Ann Reilly; Bert Takes Over
. . .90. 1903-1904: Move to 295 Oxford-Street; Trade Label Update
. . .91. 1904-1912: Reilly Reduced to Finishing Guns Bought in the White?
. . .92. June 1912: Bankruptcy
. . .93. 1912-1918: 13 High Street, Marylebone

XIII. Charles Riggs Era; 1922 – 1950. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173
. . .94. August 1922-circa 1950: Charles Riggs Era

Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
. . .95. Conclusion

Addendum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
. . .A. Serial Number Dating Chart
. . .B. Explanation of Methodolgy
. . . . . .1) Process
. . . . . .2) Chronological Date Markers
. . . . . .3) SN Guns Associated with Date Markers
. . . . . .4) Sanity Check guns
. . . . . .5) UK Gun Patent Use Numbers Found on Reilly’s
. . .C. Dating Reference Chart for Reilly Trade Labels

Last edited by Argo44; 12/21/23 10:39 PM.
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