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

*33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street:

. . . . .*33a - First Reilly label with the shooting gallery for 315 Oxford Street.


. . . . .*33[b/color] - Advertisement for 315 from 04 September 1858:


. . . . .[color:#FF0000]*33c - 14 Sep 1859 Bell's Life - reference to Lang's shooting gallery - first reference was in 1830 (see pin-fire capter *26 above).



. . . . .*33d - Mention of the shooting gallery in a 23 Jul 1859 article in "The Field":


. . . . .*33e - Last so far found advertisement for the Reilly shooting gallery:
25 Oct 1867, "London Evening News"


======== *33 The Shooting Gallery at 315 Oxford Street END FOOTNOTES ========

Argo, this is such fascinating information. I can almost picture the customers and shooters, well dressed, exploring the products. It seems interesting that Reilly , unlike most makers, was happy to pay the fee for producing guns designed or patented by other makers. Quite an interesting business model.

Unlike most makers?

It seems to me that everyone and his dog, including Greener, was willing to pay the licence fees to Westley Richards to use the Anson and Deeley action although Greener then tried (unsuccessfully) to sidestep the Patent with his Facile Princeps design.

I suppose the moral of the story is that if your design is sufficiently superior people will be willing to pay up rather than go to the trouble of trying to design an alternative that is less good

========= ERROR CORRECTION: New location for 502 New Oxford street ==========

For some time I've posted pictures of what I thought was 16 New Oxford Street, Reilly's workshop for 50 years from 1847-1897. It was a very large building...indeed an enormous building:

It turns out I was wrong. This was originally 6 Oxford Street...later 16 Oxford Street. From 1861 on it was the Oxford Music Hall and is now the Primark Headquarters.




It took some doing but using a fantastic London map resource from 1890, which has all the original lots and plats, the 1882 Post Office directory and Google Earth, the location of 502 (16) New Oxford Street was finally determined. It was a big building too, probably 5 floors, 1000 sq ft per floor?...about the same size as 316 High Holborn. The whole block was rebuilt in the 1980's. But the building was probably still there when Donald Dallas walked past it each morning on his way to London School of Economics. The correction has been made to chapter 9.
https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zo...&lon=-0.13083&layers=163&b=1

. . . .*9b – Photos; Sketch, photos of 502 New Oxford Street: Comment: The size of this building alone shows that Reilly was engaged in large scale manufacturing.
. . . . . . . . . .From Dec 1847 Label:


. . . . . . . . . .1860 Map


. . . . . . . . . .1890 detailed London plat showing lots:


. . . . . . . . . .1882 London Postal Directory showing Reilly was on the north side of New Oxford Street, 7th house down:


. . . . . . . . . .From Google Earth in present day: The entire block was rebuilt apparently in the 1980's...Reilly building would have been still standing when Donald Dallas walked past it on his way to London School of Economics.


========= ERROR CORRECTION: New location for 502 New Oxford street ==========

========= London gun makers building others' patents COMMENT ===========

Thanks for the kind words Daryl: And I agree with Parabola. Patent use number are ubiquitous. I tried to make sense of a couple...the Henry Patent rifling use numbers (Henry rifling was used by everybody) and the Purdey Patent 1104 among others.
-- The Henry patent use numbers looked to be logical for about the first five years up to about 1866 then fell apart.
-- Purdey records from that time are literally locked up.

But everybody - and I mean everybody - was using other makers' patents from ejectors to forends to whatever. .depending on the fashion of the day and the desires of the client. Reilly made this clear. You could buy his gun for cheap..Or you could add "accessories"...i.e.if in 1865 for instance you wanted a Brazier action...it would cost you £5 (a lot of money back then).

And this included building others' guns under license. W-R used to demand that such guns be sent to him for approval...one doubts other patent holders were so concerned. It would be really interesting to be able to find out the costs/profit comparisons of say
-- Reilly building a W-R under license, (One obvious advantage of Reilly building a W-R under license - He wouldn't have to wait 2 years for delivery.)
-- buying a W-R in the white directly from W-R and finishing it,
-- or just retailing a W-R.
That kind of research one fears is a bottomless pit.

Reilly was a businessman, not an innovator. He had his own workforce to keep employed. And he was not alone in making others' designs. (He was also a wholesaler and a retailer...he was the UK sole distributor for American Sharps Rifles from 1858 on).

======= London gun makers building others' patents END COMMENT =========

Better hOpe they give you computer privileges when they lOck you away in the Asylum.

========== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name TEXT ===========
This post will mostly be of interest to those trying to date guns and labels. The dates of the name changes, descriptions are a best guess; multiple advertisements in newspapers and magazines can be found with differing descriptions/names running at the same time. This does, however, have something to do with research and scholastic rigor..i.e. it's important even if it seems a bit pedantic.

As noted above for 10 years after the 1847 move to 502 New Oxford Street, the company was known in advertisements as “REILLY, GUN MAKER (sometimes “Gunmaker).*34 There were exceptions previously mentioned for J.C. Then with J.C’s 1857 retirement, E.M began a series of radical moves which included name changes.

*34 August 1858 - April 1861: Four Changes in the Company Name

. . . . .*34A “REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - August 1858 - March 1859

. . . . . . . . . .-- When Reilly opened 315 Oxford Street in early August 1858 with “new partners,” the company’s name appears to have changed from "Reilly, Gun Maker" (singular) to "Reilly & Co., Gun Makers"(plural) for a short while from circa August 1858-March 1859 per a few advertisements & references in books. (Note: Many advertisements until January 1859 and even beyond that date continued to use only "Reilly, Gun Maker."

. . . . . . . . . .-- Newspaper ads only began mentioning this name from January 1859 but it may have been registered in some way in trade directories.*34Aa “Reilly & Co.” is referred to in occasional books and newpaper articles.*34Ab No trade labels exist with this name. A few advertisements using "Reilly & Co." can be found as late as September 1859.

. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street at the same time used all sorts of names in advertisements: "Reilly Armoury House," "Reilly’s Armoury House"; " Reillys, the Armoury House"; "Reilly’s London Armoury House." However, these were never "official" company names.*34Ac
. . . . . . . . . .-- Two extant Reillys, both Prince Patent rifles, have "Reilly & Co.” on the barrel (see Prince breech loading rifles above).
. . . . . . . . . .-- Note: November & December1858 there were a few outlier Ads for "REILLY, MANUFACTURER.” It appeared in three newspapers but apparently had no effect on the name of the company but was a harbinger of things to come.*34Ad

. . . . .*34B ”E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - February 1859 – August 1860:

. . . . . . . . . .-- By February 1859 the company's name used in newspaper and magazine ads changed definitively to "E.M. Reilly & Co.", a name which continued in use for the next 100 years.*34Ba

. . . . . . . . . .-- His labels for both branches changed at this time to reflect the new name, "E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers" (note the plural):

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 502 New Oxford St. continued to use the standard scolloped corner rectangular label illustrated by the sketch of the building and the 1851 & 1855 World’s Fair medals;*34Bb



. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .- NEW LABEL: 315 Oxford Street continued to have a different rectangular label still without scollops but now also with the “E.M Reilly & Co.” name and the 1851 and 1855 medals.*34Bc



. . . . . . . . . .-- 315 Oxford Street continued to use all sorts of names in advertisements per above, none of them official.*34Bd

. . . . . . . . . .-- The first extant serial numbered gun with "E.M. Reilly & Co." on the barrel is a 3 band Enfield SN 11227 dated per the below chart to autumn 1859.*34Be

. . . . .*34C “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURER” (singular) - August 1860 – April 1861:
. . . . . . . . . .-- In August 1860 Reilly began using "Gun Manufacturer" (singular) rather than "Gun Makers" in his advertisements. The Trade Labels did not appear to change.*34Ca. (Note: some long-term advertisements continued to refer to E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Makers during this period as did the trade labels.

. . . . .*34D “E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS" (plural)” - April 1861:

. . . . . . . . . .-- In circa April 1861 the company's description on labels and in advertisements changed from "Gun Makers" to "Gun Manufacturers"(plural).*34Da From this point on the company was known definitively as "E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS," a name and description which continued in use for the next 40 years.

. . . . . . . . . .-- NEW LABEL: At that time the sketch of 502 New Oxford Street was dropped from his case labels. The separate label for 315 Oxford Street also was dropped. The new label had 502 as the featured address. A label mentioning 315 during the time frame 1861-1868 has not been found.*34Db)



(After 1868 Reilly labels mention 315 as a "branch establishment" in scroll work on the label.) The basic format for the new label remained fundamentally consistent for the next 30+ years with variations (additions of medals, branch addresses in scroll work, occasionally mention of royalty, etc.) There were a few outlier labels. The advertising scroll work at the bottom of the label changed slightly after 1885. (See the separate chart dating Reilly labels).

. . . . . . . . . .-- PRESENTATION LABEL: Reilly Presentation cases also at this time changed to adopt both the new name and sometimes the "Gun Manufacturers" description; three examples exist, each slightly different.*34Dc
. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. .Presentation case . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. . . Presentation . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

. . . . . . . . . ._____________________
. . . . . . . . . |. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |. . . .Reilly Label. . . . .|
. . . . . . . . . |. . . Presentation . . . . |
. . . . . . . . . |____________________|

======== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name END TEXT =========

===== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name FOOTNOTES =====

. . . . .*34 Reilly, Gun Maker


*34 August 1858 - April 1861: Four Changes in the Company Name

. . . . .*34A “REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” - August 1858-March 1859

. . . . . . . . . .*34Aa 05 Mar 1859, "Illustrated London News"


. . . . . . . . . .*34Ab "Reilly & Co.” is referred to in occasional books and newspaper articles.


. . . . . . . . . .*34Ac “Reilly Armoury House” or “The Manufactory”; 19 Dec 1858, “The Field”:


. . . . . . . . . .*34Ad 11 Dec 1858; Illustrated London News"


. . . . .*34B ” E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MAKERS” (plural) - April 1859 – August 1860:

. . . . . . . . . .*34Ba -
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .04 Feb 1859, "Volunteer Services Gazette"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .[b1859, "Grace’s"[/b]


. . . . . . . . . .*34Bb The label for 502 New Oxford Street changed:


. . . . . . . . . .*34Bc February 1859 - With the advent of the new company name the trade label for 315 changed:


. . . . . . . . . .*34Bd 31 December 1859, "Volunteer Services Gazette"


== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name FOOTNOTES CONT BELOW ==

== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name FOOTNOTES CONT ===

. . . . . . . . . .*34Be SN 11227. (dated late 1859 per the dating chart)


. . . . .*34C ”E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURER” (singular) - August 1860 – April 1861

. . . . . . . . . .*34Ca - 08 Aug 1860, “Sporting Life”


. . . . .*34D ”E.M. REILLY & CO., GUN MANUFACTURERS” (plural) - April 1861

. . . . . . . . . .*34Da – 1st ad; 14 April 1861, “Bell’s Life”


. . . . . . . . . .*34Db – New Label


. . . . . . . . . .*34Dc – Presentation Cases:
E.M. Reilly & Co., 502 New Oxford Street, London":

E.M. Reilly & Co., Gun Manufacturers, 315 Oxford Street, London":


== *34 Aug 1858 - Apr 1861: Four changes in the Name END FOOTNOTES ===

========== *35 1859-1900: Reilly Sells Wholesale TEXT ===========

*35 1859 – 1900: Reilly Selling to Yoemanry Militia & Gun Clubs at Wholesale Prices

Beginning in 1859, Reilly began advertising rifles sold wholesale to equip "Yoemanry" militia.*35a He continued to advertise such guns up to at least the 1890's.*35b Most of these guns were not made by him, especially after the early 1860's, and thus not serial numbered. (The Yoemanry Militia, a sort of UK "National Guard," was still in existence in WWI and units were deployed to France). He also advertised discounts for bulk purchases by shooting clubs.*35c Reilly continued to hawk sales of guns wholesale in his advertisements and occasionally on outlier labels for the next 40 years.*35d

======== *35 1859-1900: Reilly Sells Wholesale END TEXT =========