Jolly:
Please assure your friend that he has a treasure. E. M. Reilly was a direct competitor of Purdey's once-upon-a-time. (same Oxford St. as I recall) I've owned a number of Reilly guns, and they are all of incomparable quality.
Best, Kensal
I just traded an E M Reilly hammergun at the baltimore show mid March for a Kuchenreuter duelling pistol. Took it over to Kuchenreuters shop here in Bavaria and surprise it is a 1850ish high quality copy and was actually made as a target pistol as it had a set trigger duellers do not have this feature, also the stamp on the bbl at the rear was not theirs, they said Germany was not into duelling with pistols as they had the sabre tradition "ala" all the old wermacht movies with the Heidelberg slash on the cheek.
Oh well "Caveat Emptor" = let the buyer beware, and the Reilly really was a 2500 value piece.
Learnt yet another new lesson.
Martin
Kensal and Martin,
Thank you for your response. My friend will be pleased to hear he has a Good One. It sure looked like it had an awful lot going for it.
Anyone else have anything?
Thanks much.
Jolly
Bill
Try this posting
http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post157072regarding my Reilly hammergun and which contains some history to the company.
CBL1,
Thanks so much for adding the link to the post of your Reilly hammergun. A lot of good info.
I've added some pictures of my friends gun.
Jolly
Most of the Reilly percussion guns are by his father and thus are marked J C Reilly.
Jolly: I recently purchased an E.M. Reilly 4 bore that I am having restored. It started life as a pinfire, so E.M. was putting his name on the gun at least back into the 1870's.
Best Regards, George
I recently acquired an original Reilly oak case with intact original label and have no particular use for it. I collect aircanes and Reilly made some nice ones ( i have a cased one) rjack
That is quite a treasure! I have a Henry Egg (14 gauge) in similar format (case etc.), but not quite as pristine!
Well my pal who has a gun shop over here has now sold the Kuchenreuter copy pistol for 950 Euros so it did not hurt too much in the end.
Regards
Martin
Fine English BP percussion doubles have stolen my heart since I acquired a gorgeous Joseph Lang 18 bore double rifle last March. It's been dated to 1825-6 by the folks at Dig's digs. Original ramrod/wiping stick but unfortunately no case. I recently acquired a Joseph Purdey 16 bore gun and it's another beauty. Built in 1860-1, and it seems that there's a good chance Mr Purdey himself may have fashioned the barrels, unless there was another "J.P." in his employ. This time I got the case, with the label (complete with hand-penned loading data)but unfortunately no accessories. The seller was kind enough to include a Dixon shot measure - now I'm mad with a lust for all the old "companions" that go with these lovely weapons. Your friend is most fortunate indeed to have such a gorgeous gun, and the beautiful case with all the accessories just makes the acquisition that much sweeter! If he hasn't fired it yet tell him once he does he'll be on a path he never knew. And give him a "well done" slap on the back!
Krakow Kid,
I will pass on your nice comments and a "well done" to my friend. I suspect he hasn't shot the gun but I'm sure he is happy to have it.
Jolly
