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

I do not believe there was ever a “Martini-Henry” patent as such.

When the British Government adopted the new rifle using the Matini Patent action it was decided to rifle the barrels with Henry Patent rifling.

The resulting rifle thus being known as the Martini-Henry.

The neat little .44-40 Reilly rifle you show is clearly a Martini. It should only be described as a “Martini-Henry” if it has Henry’s rifling.

Thanks Para; you always pose pertinent questions. We explored this once before: Nothing was resolved.
https://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=627833

Wikipedia claims Peabody retained patents for the falling block action; Martini for modifying it into a hammerless action. But did the British government pay Peabody and Martini? If so, how much and when? Was it for use on the military rifles only? What would happen if Enfield supplied actions and barrels covered under the military use agreement to private commercial makers such as Braendlin or Greener?

What is clear is that on numerous Reilly marketed / Braendlin-made Martini-Henry's there is a patent use number. To whom were these royalties being paid?


Government paid Henry for his patent (how much and when?) and a possible supplement of £5000 in 1872 for use on Arsenal military rifles. However there are stamps on commercial/sporting Martini's-Henry of Henry patent barrels (which presumably expired in 1878 as mentioned). It looks like these royalties were paid to Westley-Richards but how much, how many (no patent use numbers)


This "Squiggle" (on a Reilly .22 LR M-H) supposedly shows the British government paid royalties to Henry (presumably the barrel was covered under the agreement with Henry?). Again not clear:


The research is confusing. One thinks that someone - some Martini enthusiast - might want to think about coming up with a definitive catalog of Martini and Martini-Henry markings. It would be very interesting.

Edit: I would like to add a thought. I've had a couple of Martini-Henry users talk about the difference between a "Martini" and a "Martini-Henry" and several other nuances. However, looking at 19th century Reilly advertisements over 20+ years, I only see advertisements for "M-H",...not variants. So I'm inclined to think that these modern-day distinctions, even if real, were not present back in the day. It looks like the general public knew what was being advertised at that time and this is what this type of gun was generally called: - perhaps something like "Xerox" or "Formica"?? Again just an observation - worth more research.


To summarize the open questions which the Martini community might answer:
1) Did Peabody who held the falling block patent get paid by the UK government for its use? How much? When
2) How much was martini paid for his hammerless modification of the Peabody? When? Did Martini continue to be paid for sporting variants?
3) How much was Henry initially paid when his barrel and rifling were officially adopted in 1868. Did this agreement include payment for arsenal produced barrels sent to commercial makers? What were the marks on the guns showing this?
4) When did the Martini action patent expire?
5) Who controlled the commercial patents for the Martini action?
6) Who controlled the Henry shallow-groove rifled barrel for this gun before expiration of the patent in 1878?
7) Were there "Martini-Henry" rifles built 1871-1895 which did not use Henry barrels?
8) What were the proof marks and patent stamps used by the various commercial firms for sporing rifles?

Follow-up on the above, here is a ReillY "Field's Patent" falling block single barrel .500 BPE rifle, SN 32755 (1891). It looks like an improved Martini-Henry. However, it was patented by William Field working for Westley-Richards in 1877. The patent was used extensively by Holland&Holland and others to make elegant, robust, big bore hunting and sporting rifles and apparently is something of a legend. Google AI: "The Field’s Patent falling block rifle is a historic and highly regarded single-shot rifle action patented by William Field of Westley Richards in 1877 (with US patents following in 1878). It was widely utilized by elite British gunmakers such as Holland & Holland and Westley Richards.".

This is the first Reilly-made (or finished) Field's patent found. It has the side-lever rather than under-lever. There are no Reilly advertisements found for a Field's Patent gun and this one is after the expiration of the patent. Interesting. For some reason there always seemed to be a problem between W-R and Reilly - This was mentioned before in the 1860's - just a feeling but. . .

https://www.holtsauctioneers.com/as...+++704+&refno=++244827&saletype=

.500 (B/P EXP) FIELD'S PATENT FALLING-BLOCK SPORTING RIFLE, serial no. 32755 (1963),
circa 1885, with blued ovoid 23in. barrel (probably shortened), the top-flat fitted with a dove-tailed fore-sight and with vacant dove-tail for a rear-sight, the sighting plane signed 'E.M. REILLY & CO. 16 NEW OXFORD STREET LONDON' (rubbed), the side of breech further numbered '1963', plain slab sided receiver signed on the left 'E.M. REILLY & CO.' and fitted with a later side-mount for a telescopic sight, falling-block breech with exposed central hammer, large cocking lever to the right and also provision for a safety catch (absent), chequered walnut pistol-grip half-stock (small cracks and filled repairs), chequered walnut splinter fore-end and swivels for a sling




A reference to this gun has been added to Chapter 57 of the history. See P. 94
IX: Reilly, Arsenal and the British Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93
. . .57. 1872-1912: Reilly sells other Military/Sporting Rifles; Swinburn, Gibbs, Westley Richards, Soper, Field's Patent, Lee-Speed

**571872-1912 Reilly sells other Military/Sporting Rifles: Swinburn, Gibbs, Westley Richards, Soper, Field's Partent, 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. Some of these were finished in his workshops (with serial numbers after the expiration of patents); some were made elsewhere. Here are six:

. . . . . Swinburn-Henry: **57a 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. *57a1
. . . . . . . . . .-- 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.” *57a2

. . . . . George Gibbs “Farquharson Patent”: *57b 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. *57b1
. . . . . . . . . .-- 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). *57b2

. . . . . Westley-Richards 1868 .451 breech-loading carbine:*57c Iin 1868 Westley-Richards patented a breech loading action for the .451 high velocity cartridge. It was entered in the 1868 trials but ultimately lost out to the Martini action coupled with a Hentry barrel. However it was marketed successfully in South Africa where it continued to be used and improved upon for many years. In the modern market-place it is usually identified as an "Improved-Martini" although its action has little to do with the Martini action.
. . . . . . . . . .-- At least one Reilly marketed WR patent carbine exists with a Henry barrel with the address “E.M. REILLY & CO., NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON.”

. . . . . The Soper Rifle: *57d 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." *57d1 . Examples of the Soper rifle in 1870 and 1880 are pictured. *57d2, 57d3

. . . . Field's Patent: *57e The Field’s Patent rifle is a falling block single-barrel rifle patented byWilliam Field in 1877 while working for Westley-Richards. It was used extensively by notable London gun makers including iin particular Holland & Holland to make elegant big-bore hunting and sporting rifles. I often used a side-lever design eleminating the cocking lever giving it a sleek robust look.
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one extant Reilly Field’s Patent Rifle SN 32755 (1891), “E.M REILLY 7 CO, 16 NEW OXFORD STREET, LONDON on the barrel rib. It is a .500 BPE side lever design manufactured after the expiration of the patent.

. . . . . Lee-Speed: *57f 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. *57f1 A number of London gun-makers offered Lee-Speeds for sale to sportsmen including Holland & Holland. *57f2
. . . . . . . . . .-- 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. *57f3