Stan, I was just kidding. But Reilly SN 34,723, that 1898 12 bore hammer gun with 30" Damascus barrels, is what revived my interest in SxS's. And because I spent so much time researching the gun, I like to see any Reilly that shows up on the internet. I continue to compile information on these guns as they appear. It's frustrating that a lot of the Reilly's being sold just don't mention the SN or have pictures of the name/address on the rib. And when I request the info from the seller, more often than not nothing comes back.
There are of course far fewer JC Reilly's around from the 1820's to 1847. I now am convinced that JC (and EM as a youth) made about 4,000 guns from circa mid-1820's before moving to 502 Oxford Street in March 1847 and that upon the move EM bumped his SN's up 5,000 numbers at that time (possibly to separate his production from that of his father?) (probably starting at SN 8,400 - earliest SN I've found for Reilly after this move is 8,464 and the label on the case still says "removed from Holborn" - i.e just moved.
Label from 8464 - Joseph charles Reilly at 502 Oxford Street with "Removed from Holborn" - earliest SN I've found with the Oxford Street address on the rib.
Label from an Air-cane gun from the same timeframe.
And from an air-cane from just before the move to Oxford St.
It may be that JC kept the old consecutive numbering system for himself, because I found a gun with JC Reilly on the rib and the 502 Oxford Street address allegedly numbered 7,201 (see page 6 of the line)(that sn is unconfirmed - no photos). Just not enough SN's available to confirm this hypothisis, however.
I think SxS 40 bought several of Terry Buffum's guns.
