Ah...so 32658 had the barrels sleeved by Benjamin Wilde in Birmingham, not made?
And I see both those barrels have the faint remains of "nitro proof" - post 1896 proof mark on them. There is no way my chart can be stretched to accommodate either of those serial numbers 32658 or 33454 being post-1896. To do so would mean Reilly built only a a hundred guns a year after E.M.'s death in 1890 then suddenly built 2000 between 1896 and 1898. So, I've reasoned they were rebarreled in steel after 1896, then sleeved/reproofed at some point. In which case the actions and stocks shot out two sets of barrels...pretty good from the point of view of robustness.
And I still think Toby's explanation for the screws is most logical...Gunman backs him up. But I'd sure like to see a picture of what's behind those screws so I, the layman, can understand everything.
Last edited by Argo44; 03/02/20 08:17 PM.
