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

========== *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles TEXT ==========

*30 1853-1860: Reilly building innovative Military Grade Muzzle Loading Rifles:

Reilly always built rifles – from the very beginning.**30a Throughout the late 1840’s and 1850’s he offered well-built muzzle loading rifles to officers and immigrants going out to the colonies, quite often in .577 caliber..so they could use military grade ball. In 1853 Arsenal adopted the .577 calibur Enfield rifle-musket, perhaps the finest percussion rifle of its day (although defencies appeared during the Crimean War). Reilly of course built Enfields and Enfield variants since Arsenal did not seem interested in protecting the industrial specifications (as they later did).

But over the next few years from 1853 to 1860 Reilly also was involved in making and developiing other muzzle loading ideas from rifling to bullets. Some worked out. Others didn’t. But, Reilly was present during this period on the cutting manufacturing edge for anything that might sell. Out of this orginal manufacturing/marketing interest came an apparent Reilly obsession – i.e. win an Arsenal contract for a military rifle and make a fortune and E.M., the technology gambler, accepted the task and the risk (discussed later).

Following are a few of the percussion rifles Reilly made during this decade:

. . . . .1853 Enfield- Rifle-Musket. (Disclaimer: this is not meant to be an authorative exploration of the 1853 Enfield…rather it is a simplified look at the history of Reilly making Enfields.)

. . . . . . . . . .- Reilly in the late 1850’s, early 1860’s built dozens and dozens of military style Enfields and sporterized Enfield rifles, both single and double-barreled, although the advertising for both was somewhat vague.*30b

. . . . . . . . . .- By 1859 he was advertisng and marketing 2 and 3 band military style Enfields for the Volunteer services corps. Some had serial numbers if he built them; some were advertised for “wholesale” with his name on the gun but no serial number, obviously obtained elsewhere. And, the Enfield was a huge money-maker during the American War Between the States.*30c For the record (and a “date marker” serial number), Reilly-made Enfield SN 11716 was given as a prize at a Christmas 1860 competition. The date is confirmed by the below serial number dating chart.*30d

. . . . . . . . . .- In the early 1860’s he began using the .451 cartridge for some of his Enfield rifles.*30e Whitworth had patented the .451 hexagonal bullet in 1856; Westley-Richards used Whitworth rifling/barrels (and his own ideas-who came first is still a dispute) on his 1858 breech loading “monkey tail” carbine (see below). The bullet/rifling was superior in every way to the .577 with a flatter trajectory and higher muzzle velocity. Whitworth sniper guns in .451 in the hands of the Confederates killed several Union generals. In early 1861 Reilly started advertising Enfields, especially sniper guns, with this cartridge and chambered a lot of guns for it.*30f There are four extant Reilly .451 Enfields, the earliest two from 1861, the most iconic being SN 12073.*30g

. . . . . . . . . .-One of Reilly’s 1853 Enfields SN 12,002 (1861) was later converted into the first Green Brothers breech-loader by Reilly in 1964 as a proof-of-principle experiment (Chapter XX below) and others later were converted to Snider breech loaders after 1866.

. . . . . . . . . .- His sporting versions of the Enfield are quite elegant.*30h He advertised his sporting Enfields as having been so designed that the gun would fit into a normal case (something a 2 or 3 band enfield with the long long forearm could not do.)*30h1

. . . . .General Jacob’s Rifle: As discussed before In 1854 Col. John Jacob, famous throughout the Punjab and Sindh area after the 3rd Sikh war and still regarded as a saint in Jacobobad, Pakistan, designed a gun for use on the hot Sindhi plains and had it built in London by Daw (Swinburne was his preferred manufacturer) It was a rifled SxS muzzle loader, which allegedly could reach out 1,200 yards, and had a sword bayonet fitted to it. The rifle could use an exploding bullet.*30i Reilly had a license to produce it, its ammunition and its bayonet.*30j

. . . . .English Schuetzen Percussion Target Rifle by E.M. Reilly: And for the fun of it there is at least one Reilly Schuetzen muzzle-loading target rifle, no serial number, probably marketed before 2 rue Scribe, Paris opened. It has only "E.M. Reilly" and not the "& Co., so likely 1858-59. E.M. Reilly loved "novelties." He always had interesting and unusual guns in his display rooms; perhaps this was part of his marketing strategy; people would say, "Let's drop in and see what's going on at Reilly's today."
. . . . . . . . . .50 caliber, 33.25" barrel, no S/N. Damascus barrel with schuetzen-style stock finely checkered at forend and wrist. Blade front sight with iron ramrod pipes with entry pipe leading to reinforced forend. Classic schuetzen type triggerguard with set trigger. Forend tapped for palm rest. Top of barrel marked "E. M. REILLY, 502 NEW OXFORD ST. & 315 OXFORD ST., LONDON." Lockplate marked "REILLY/LONDON" and engraved with classic broad scrolls.*30k

======== *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles END TEXT ========

Did you used to eat lead paint chips when you were a child ?

===== *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles FOOTNOTES =====

*30 1853-1860: Reilly building innovative Military Grade Muzzle Loading Rifles:

. . . . .*30a. 21 March 1857 Illustrated London News: Reilly advertisement for rifles:


. . . . .*30b Adverts for Enfields
. . . . . . . . . .1858- Advertisement in "Ho To the West We Go"

. . . . . . . . . .1859 Graces’ Guide

. . . . . . . . . .1861 – Graces’ Guide


. . . . .*30c .577 Enfield Collage; inckudes 11227, 11419, 11600, 11629, 11651, 11716 (Xmas 60 prize), 11820


. . . . .*30d SN 11716


. . . . .*30e. Advert for .451 Enfield.
. . . . . . . . . .30 March 1861, Volunteer’s Services Gazette


. . . . . . . . . .1865 Post Office Directory: Reilly advertises .451 - like Whitworth:


. . . . .*30f .451 collage. SN 12069, 12073, 12088, 13165


. . . . .*30g SN 12073, Enfield sniper rifle


= *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles FOOTNOTES CONT BELOW ==

=== *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles FOOTNOTES CONT ===

. . . . .*30h Collage of Sporting Enfields:


. . . . .*30i Jacob patent gun.



. . . . .*30j 1857 Anglo-Indian Almanac


. . . . .*30k English Schuetzen Percussion Rifle, 1859-60:




=== *30 1853-1860 Reilly builds Military percussion rifles END FOOTNOTES ===

==== *31 1855-1860: Breech Loding rifles and new innovations TEXT ====

*31 1855-1860: Other breech-loader rifles and new innovations made by Reilly:

Breech loading military rifles had gradually impinged on the muzzle loading conservative establishment. In 1848 the Prussian military addopted the Dryese needlegun breech loader. The rest of Europe continued with muzzle-loaders. In 1853 the UK dropped the storied “Brown Bess” and adopted the Enfield 1853 “rifle-musket.” Yet time was moving on and innovations could not be denied.

E.M. Reilly in the 1850’s was far more modern than his father J.C. and as pointed out above had gradually taken over the business. He kept abreast of changes. He was not wedded to one design and was much more flexible than other hide-bound London traditional makers, witness his early involvement per above in the pin-fire center-break breech-loader.

In addition to the pin-fire, however, Reilly also got involved in making and selling a number of other breech loading rifles, a fact displayed prominently on his new 1856 label.*31a Like Westley-Richards, Prince and others he apparently got £ signs in his eyes re the possibility of getting a piece of the Empire’s military contracts. In particular he advertised and manufactured two of the three most important UK breech-loading rifles of the era, Prince (1855) and Terry (1856) (see below).*31b

Paradoxically he did not advertise or apparently sell the third, the Westley Richards “Monkey-Tail” carbine/rifle (1858) (Details below); nor it seems did he make variations of the Dreyse needle gun which were being marketed by gun makers such as Haris Holland. The fact that Reilly did not publicize these guns in his ads (even while implying he had them for sale) adds some weight to the supposition that he might have had a financial stake in Prince and possibly Terry (see below):

. . . . .*31A -- Terry Patent breech loaders:

Per above Reilly by 1856 was marketing all kinds of new breech loaders and by 1858 Reilly was advertising Terry Patent SxS breech loaders. William Terry was a Birmingham gun maker who was granted a patent for a breech-loading rifle in April 1856;*31Aa The carbine was issued to the 18th Hussars and other British cavalry regiments in 1859, was used by Australia and New Zealand militia and by the Confederates in the War Between the States. Reilly made them under license.

A Reilly-made Terry Patent SxS rifle was used by the Anglican Bishop of Sarawak in 1862 sailing with the small three ship “navy” of Sarawak led by the son of Rajah Brooks during a confrontation with pirate ships off Mukdah. The Bishop said his gun had performed admirably and thanked the maker.*31Ab (The British press severely criticized the Bishop for participating in the battle without understanding the merciless nature of maurading slavers).*31Ac

How many Terry Patent breech-loaders Reilly built is unknown. One gun still exists, SN 13132 (late 1863). It's a SxS 40 bore ( .500 caliber) "William Terry's Patent" SxS carbine. The gun has Birmingham proof marks, highly unsual for a Reilly (discussed further in the chapter on barrels). Terry had his workshop/factory in Birmingham and perhaps he proofed the barrels while Reilly made the stock and assembled the gun.*31Ad

. . . . .*31B -- Prince Patent Breech Loader:

EM Reilly promoted the Prince patent breech loader in the late 1850's. This was probably the finest existing breech-loading rifle of its time. It outshot the newly adopted Enfield in 1855 and was consistently raved about by every civilian gun expert who tried it. However, it was never adopted by the Military.

In March 1858, shortly before “The Field” first trial for muzzle loader vs breech-loaders, 12 prominent London gun-makers signed an open letter in “The Field” urging Arsenal to reopen the army rifle competition in favor of the Prince.*31Ba Amongst the signers were Dean, Blanche, Wilkinson, Henry Tatham, John Blissett and a couple of others. All pledged that they had no financial stake in Prince and had signed the petition for the good of the country. (This group of London gun-makers always seemed associated in some way with Reilly, Prince and Green in that time period.)

Notably, Reilly and the Green brothers did not sign the letter; Green was in partnership with Prince and Reilly may well have had a financial stake in their firm, thus could not. However, in view of Reilly’s subsequent heavy commitment to making Prince breech-loaders and given E.M.’s shrewd business sense, it is entirely possible that Reilly provoked the whole exercise as a business ploy.

Reilly subsequently was one of several London gun-makers licensed to make the rifle (the others from the list of signers, coincidentally). In fact, it appears that during summer/fall 1858 Reilly took another technological market-place gamble by devoting significant resources to build a quantity of Prince breech loaders, perhaps as many as 100 out of some 200 Reilly guns made during that period.

There are five existing Reilly-made Prince rifles, three from summer/fall 1858 (the only extant Reilly's from that 3 month period) serial numbered close enough together to speculate that Reilly might have tried some method of mass production to produce them all at once: Note the August 1858 change to "Reilly & Co" on SN 10811 the first known gun with the new Oxford Street address (see below)
. . . . .-- SN 10738– summer 1858; Reilly, 502 New Oxford Street, London; .350 cal, single-barrel, breech loader. (10438 on hammer along with “Reilly).*31Bb
. . . . .-- SN 10872– late summer 1858: Reilly, New Oxford Street, London. .577 bore, single barrel breech-loader hammer gun.*31Bc
. . . . .-- SN 10811– early fall 1858: Reilly & Co., Oxford Street, London. .25 bore (sic) (probably .577), single barrel breech-loader hammer gun. 30.5” brls.*31Bd
. . . . .-- SN 11118 (SN not clear) – late summer 1860; Reilly & Co., London. .577 bore, single -barrel, breech loader.*31Bf
. . . . .-- SN 11645– late summer 1860: Reilly, 502, New Oxford Street, London. 100 bore; Rifle, single barrel, breech loader.*31Be

. . . . .*31C -- Westley-Richards “Monkey Tail” Breech Loader. – a non-event:

On 25 March 1858, Westley-Richards patented his “Monkey-Tail” breech loader. Richards had a relationshiop with Whitworth who patented a .451 round in 1856. Whitworth used a hexagoal bore; Richards an Octagonal bore. There were other difference in rifling. The concept dominated UK accuracy contests for years. W-R earned some contracts from Arsenal for cavalry carbines and orders of upwards of 80,000 by various armies over the years but never the coveted general contract for the army.

Reilly advertising in the 1860’s emhasized his commitment to selling all sorts of innovative breech loading rifles. However, he never advertised a Westley-Richards or a Whitworth (though he did use .451 high-velocity idea in early 1860’s Enfield rifles per above). The first Reilly advertisement specifically for a Westley-Richards, whether a gun sold in ready state or made under license, did not appear until 1871.*31Ca

== *31 1855-1860: Breech Loding rifles and new innovations END TEXT ===

===== *31 1855-1860: New breech loader innovations FOOTNOTES ====

*31 1855-1860: Other breech-loader rifles and new innovations made by Reilly:

. . . . .*31a – Breech Loader label insert


. . . . .*31b – Ad for Prince and Terry;
1859 Grace’s Guide


. . . . .*31Aa – Terry Patent drawing; . Description 1859


. . . . .*31Ab – Bishop thanks Reilly and God; But Reilly built the gun:
20 Jul 1862, "Weekly Dispatch"


. . . . .*31Ac – Article on the battle off Mukdah; British Press criticisms of the Bishop.
09 Jul 1862, "Bell’s Life"


. . . . .*31Ad – SN 13132 ; Reilly made Terry Patent breech loader: (Photo from Bonhams)


==== *31 1855-1860: New breech loader innovations FOOTNOTES CONT. BELOW ===

=== *31 1855-1860: New breech loader innovations FOOTNOTES CONT. ===

. . . . .*31Ba – March 1858 – Petition on Prince; Note the qualifying phrase, "And having beyond no interest whatever in Mr. Prince's breech-loader..."
"The Field", 24 April 1858


For the benefit of internet searches, the signers were:
-- John Blanch & Sons
-- John Blissett
-- Wm Bishop
-- B. Denver
-- Geo Fuller
-- J. Greenfield
-- E. London
-- John Manton and Son
-- Moore and Woodward
-- Saml Nock and Co.
-- Parker Field and Son
-- Henry Tatham
-- Henry Wilkinson

. . . . .*31Bb – (photo Bonhams) (SN 10438 found on inside of the hammer): - First Extant Reilly-made Prince


. . . . .*31Bc - SN 10782: SN 10782, "Reilly, New Oxford Street, London" on the rib (Photo Michael Dlong):


. . . . .*31Bd – SN 10811 - Reilly & Co., Oxford Street, London. .25 bore (sic) (probably .577), single barrel breech-loader hammer gun, Frederic Prince Patent (1st use of "Oxford St." and "Reilly & Co.”)


. . . . .*31Bf – SN 11118. (Photo Antnony Cribb). SN is difficult to read...but this is pretty typical auction house "expertise" - they identified the number as "8771" (sic) but had the SN inverted and didn't look further. Auction houses are exerts...right?



. . . . .*31Be – SN 11645, (photo Thomas Delmar)


. . . . .*31Ca – 1st ad specifically advertising Westley-Richards.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . Black’s guide 1870. . . . . . . . . . . . Black’s Guide 1871 (No Napoleon III - Battle of Sedan Sep 1870)


=== *31 1855-1860: New breech loader innovations END FOOTNOTES ====

======== *32 August 1858: 315 Oxford Street opens with new Label TEXT ==========

*32 August 1858: Opening of 315 Oxford-Street - New Label

In early August 1858 with new partners (unknown - business research should be able to turn up the partners - were they Prince and Greene?). EM opened a branch store/factory in a large building at 315 Oxford Street, probably because of the surging demand for break-action breech-loaders.*32a The branch early on was also referred to as "Reilly's Armoury House" or "The Manufactory." (Note: Reilly owned that property in "freehold.")

Reilly created a separate retangular trade label with unscolloped corners for this new workshop, again using "Fusils à bascule" with the name “Reilly’s Armoury House.” It advertised the shooting gallery.*32b



Reilly was three doors down from Purdey located at "314 1/2".**32c Oxford Street numbering at the time is extremely confusing. There were 9 x 315's in the census of 1871 and 1881 and in the pre-1882 postal directories. It appears the entire block was numbered "315" with variations; The block was later renumbered in November 1881.

From this time forward guns with only "Oxford Street, London" on their ribs would have been built at 315 Oxford Street. Guns built at 502 New Oxford Street without a street number would have simply "New Oxford Street."
. . .-- The first existing gun with only "Oxford Street" is SN 10811 (summer 1858)*32d .

====== *32 August 1858: 315 Oxford Street opens with new Label END TEXT ========

=== *32 August 1858: 315 Oxford Street opens with new Label FOOTNOTES =====

*32 August 1858: Opening of 315 Oxford-Street Manufactory - New Label

. . . . .*32a – 1st ad for Reilly at 315, Oxford Street; he held that building in freehold until 1903 (That word "freehold' in London means a lot and it can be proven!)
. . . . . . . . . . 31 Jul 1858 "The Field". . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .07 Aug 1858 "The Field"


. . . . .*32b - Label: Reilly’s Armoury House:


. . . . .*32c – Photo or Reilly at 315 with with Purdey at 315 1/2.

. . . . . . . . . .Map

. . . . . . . . . .1882 London Postal Directory with old (315) and new (277) addresses:


. . . . .*32d – SN 10811 - Christies 1997 auction catalog (no photo).


== *32 August 1858: 315 Oxford Street opens with new Label END FOOTNOTES ==

========== *33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street TEXT ==========

*33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street:

With the opening of 315 Oxford Street, Reilly also opened a 50 yard shooting gallery at the workshop. *33a,*33b A 50 yard shooting gallery in central London is extremely unusual. While many gun manufacturers had a small space for shooting hand-guns, perhaps only two had a space where shotguns and rifles could be shot, Lang and Reilly. Lang had a well-known shooting gallery described numerous times; but believe it was only about 21 yards long.*33c

Thus, Reilly's shooting gallery likely was unique. Per newspaper ads and per mentions in articles in "The Field," the 50 yard shooting gallery was "on the premises" of Reilly's 315 manufactory.*33d It had to be above ground for light and ventilation. It may have been on the ground floor of the adjacent billiard club also numbered "315" or occupying property running from Oxford Street through an apparent large open space/courtyard behind the building to Princess street near Hanover Square. In the 1870's the center of this block became a skating rink and then Salvation Army Regents Hall from 1882 on. The last ad for the range so far found is in 1867.*33e

========== *33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street TEXT ==========