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315 was changed to 277 in November 1881 to be addressed in a later paragraph but already mentioned. See post for 315 when it opened August 1858.

1882 London Post Office Directory. Old number on right, new number on left

=============== *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks TEXT ===============

*37 Comments on Reilly Stocks

Reilly from very early on reportedly used French walnut. During the 1830’s and 40’s his highly figured stocks differed from the standard English walnut offered by other makers and may be something of a marker.*37a

. . . . .Note: This commentary on stocks is meant to be confined to Reilly. However, as background, per UK newspaper records, English walnut production was falling considerably short throughout the 1830’s and by 1840 Arsenal was importing Continental walnut stock blanks.

. . . . .-- There was debate about this in Parliament in 1843.*37b There certainly are numerous records for the importation of French and Continental walnut stock blanks in massive quantities into UK during the 1850’s. It is impossible to determine from raw shipping records who got what without shop accounts.*37c

. . . . .-- The lack of home grown walnut, however, elicited a great deal of concern in the English gun-making fraternity from 1840 on; numerous commentaries were written in journals and alternative woods to walnut searched for.*37d John Rigby in his introduction to the summary of guns shown at the 1862 London International Exposition had this to say:
. . . . . . . . ."Walnut, which is now almost universally used for gun stocks, is a scarce timber in England, and for years we have been obliged to seek our supplies abroad. Italy has exported the greater portion of the wood used in our Government arms for some time, and large numbers of French and other Continental gun stocks are also sent into this country." *37d(1)

Reilly likely had his own in-house stock makers. A good stock-maker at the time could produce up to 9 (military - not custom) stocks a week (according to an 1856 article comparing the just opened Enfield machine stock maker to handicraft stock makers).*37e. With his established connections to France, Reilly may have had his own methods of choosing and importing quality French walnut stock blanks.

Reilly almost always throughout the history of the firm used a straight English stock for SxS shotguns.*37f The exception to this are big-bore fowlers; A goodly percentage of Reilly shotguns 10 bore or larger had some type of pistol grip although this was not ubiquitous and was quite personal.*37g

He almost always used a pistol grip stock for rifles,*37h and if not, early on a trigger-guard extension which aped a pistol grip (a "scroll guard").*37i

A number of Reilly post 1870 rifles were later converted to shotguns. If a Reilly 12 gauge and smaller "shotgun" has a pistol grip stock, it almost certainly was repurposed from a rifle. The markers for such a conversion are the pistol grip, barrel length less that 30” and weight.*37j

Note: After Riggs bought the name in 1922 most “Riggs-Reilly” guns, both shotguns and rifles, used "Prince of Wales" (the popular name nowadays) stocks. See Chapter xx belos.*37k

============= *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks END TEXT =============

============= *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks FOOTNOTES =============

*37 Commentary on Reilly Stocks

. . . . .*37a – Highly figured stocks collage Note: This observation re Reilly using French walnut comes from 20th century gun writers and once stated, has subsequently been reprinted numerous times. The assumption may be right. However, nowhere in the 1830's press can a comment be found about Reilly stocks. One poem may be an exception.


. . . . .*37b –Parliament looks at complaints from UK Walnut timber owners:
01 May 1843, “Globe”:


. . . . .*37c – UK Importation of Stocks
1 – 10 Apr 1855 – “Morning Chronicle”
2 – 04 Oct 1857 – “Shipping and Mercantile Gazette”
3 – 31 Oct 1859 – “Shipping and Mercantile Gazette”
4 – 21 Apr 1862 – “Shipping and Mercantile Gazette”
5 – 21 Apr 1858 – “Morning Chronicle”


. . . . .*37d – UK stock importation commentary:
1 – 12 Jun 1862 – “The Field”
2 – 16 Feb 1861 – “The Field”
3 – 08 Jun 1862 – “The Field” - South African "Stinkwood" was considered as a replacement for walnut as early as 1840. At the time stock-makers refused to work on the wood saying it was so hard it damaged their tools:


. . . . .*37e – Artisan production capacity for stock-making - see comment on the effect of Colt on the 1851 Crystal Palace Exposition: [/b
03 Sep 1856 - "The Sun" - discusses the new Enfield factory built on the American principle to machine produce guns:


. . . . .[b]*37f – "Straight" or "English" stock
17552 – E.M. Reilly & Co., Oxford Street, London. 13 bore, Shotgun SxS. pin-fire (converted); U-L, hammer gun. – reb87’s 12 bore


. . . . .*37g – Big Bore Fowler pistol grips, Non pistol grips:
1 – 19212 – E.M. Reilly & Co., (address not mentioned); 8 bore, SxS Shotgun, U-L, hammer gun. 14 lbs, 36” brls
2 – 15393 – E.M. Reilly & Co., London and rue Scribe, Paris. 8 bore, SxS shotgun; original CF, U-L, Hammer gun. 36” brls
3 – 18860 - E.M. Reilly & Co., Oxford Street London & rue Scribe. Paris. 4 bore Shotgun SxS. U-L, non-rebounding hammer gun.

4 – 17391 17391 - E.M. Reilly & Co., New Oxford Street, London & rue Scribe, Paris. 8 bore. Shotgun SxS. pin-fire (converted), U-L, hammer gun.
5 – 15625 - E.M. Reilly & Co., 502, New Oxford Street, London, 2, rue Scribe Paris. 4 bore. Shotgun SxS. pin-fire (converted); U-L, hammer gun.


. . . . .*37h– Rifle pistol grips
1 - 8025 – Reilly, New Oxford Street, London; 13 bore, single-barrel Rifle; hammer gun, muzzle loader. (marked Veni, Vidi, Vici)
2 – 8645 - Reilly, New Oxford Street, London; 16 bore, double-rifle, SxS, muzzle loader.
3 – 34221, 34222 - E.M. Reilly & Co., 16, New Oxford Street, London. 16 bore .450. Cape gun SxS. #1&2 of pair.
4 - *11864 – E.M. Reilly & Co., (address not mentioned). 12 bore, .600 cal Cape Gun SxS; hammer gun, muzzle loader
5 – 26781 - E.M. Reilly & Co., 16, New Oxford Street, London & rue Scribe Paris. .360 BPE, SxS rifle. AD Boxlock; W-R "C" fastener, Top Lever.
6 - 25711 – E.M. Reilly & Co., 502, New Oxford St. London. 8 bore. Shotgun SxS. U-L, hammer gun. “H. H. Maharana Shree Warhatsingji Loonawara”.

7 – 15864 - E.M. Reilly & Co., New Oxford St., London. 4 bore SxS rifle. pin-fire, U-L, hammer gun.
8 – 18534 - E.M. Reilly & Co., Oxford Street & rue Scribe, Paris: 8 bore, SxS; rifle; U-L, back-action, non-rebounding hammer gun, 28" barrel.


============= *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks FOOTNOTES CONT BELOW =============

============= *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks FOOTNOTES CONT =============

. . . . .*37i – Rifle scroll guards
. . . . . . . . . . 3402 (outlier) – E.M. Reilly & Co., New Oxford Street, London & rue Scribe Paris; .577 cal, Rifle SxS; hammer gun, muzzle Loader.
. . . . . . . . . . 8877 – Reilly, New Oxford Street, London; .577 single-barrel, rifle. Percussion gun. Scroll guard. 33.5” brls.
. . . . . . . . . .10621 – Reilly, London; .376 cal. Rifle; Single barrel, hammer gun, muzzle loader.
. . . . . . . . . .11651 – E.M. Reilly, Oxford Street, London. .577 cal; Enfield rifle, hammer gun, muzzle loader converted to Snider
. . . . . . . . . .10077 - Reilly, 502, New Oxford Street, London. .56 cal, SxS Rifle, muzzle loader; ebony ramrod. Scroll guard.


. . . . .*37j– Identifying rifles converted to shotguns:
25363 – E.M. Reilly & Co., 295, Oxford Street, London*. 8 bore, SxS Shotgun*. U-L hammer gun., 28" steel barrels (*rebarreled from a large bore rifle after 1904) - SXS40 (HWK) gun - formerly Terry Buffum.


. . . . .*37k– Riggs-"Reilly"' "Prince of Wales" stocks:


============= *37 Comments on Reilly Stocks END FOOTNOTES =============

============== *38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving TEXT ==============

*38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving

Reilly engraving evolved over the years and understamding its evolution may be helpful in dating guns. (Disclaimer: this is not meant to be an academic treatise on London firearms engraving but rather a cursory analysis of the engraving found on extant Reilly long-guns):

-- In the 1820’s-1830’s Reilly engraving was mostly simple “vine and scroll” patterns used by many gun makers at the time.*38a

-- By the early 1840’s and continuing into the 1950’s the motifs had advanced to a “large scroll” or “English scroll” design.*38b.

There may be more complex engraving during this time period on guns which no longer exist. For instance the company showed examples of embossing and chasing at the 1851 Crystal Palace world’s fair.*38c

Throughout the 1850’s and much of the 1860’s, the engraving continued to echo the above “simple vine and scroll” and “English Scroll” work although becoming more complex. Reilly built guns for Rajah’s and royalty during this period which were obviously higher grades but his bread and butter clientele were the mid-level army officers and lower-level country gentlemen. He did not choose to compete head-to-head for the high-end market with extremely ornate engravings, at least from the extent guns available today.*38d

-- Beginning in the mid-1860’s he began to used increasingly intricate and delicate “rose and scroll” patterns. He abandoned depictions of wildlife.*38e

-- And by the 1880’s and 1890’s his tight “rose and scroll” engravings were tasteful and pleasing and pretty ubiquitous although he also advertised plain-Jane “keepers guns." *38f

There are guns with wildlife scenes engraved on them, mostly from the muzzle-loading period. Some of this engraving is quite realistic. however, many of the depictions of birds and animals on Reilly engravings are cartoonish.*38g Some experienced London gunsmiths (David Trevallion among them) have said that many of the engravers in London at the time had never seen a wild deer, partridge or duck in their lives and drew from impressions or from others’ sketches. Whatever, it appears Reilly did not specialize in fine depictures of wild-life. This was left to other, higher-end makers.

Most London gun-makers during the 1860’s used outworker trade engravers. However, because Reilly was engraving about everything he sold at the time, retailed pistols, retailed long-guns, bayonets, knives, etc. - it is probable that he had an in-house engraving capability. This would have enabled him to meet orders twice as fast as other gun-makers and perhaps reduce costs.

============== *38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving END TEXT ==============

============== *38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving FOOTNOTES ==============

*38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving:

. . . . .*38a – 1820-1830’s:
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174


*38b – 1840’s-1850’s:
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2008
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5512 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5512
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . .SN unk 316 High Holborn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SN unk 316 High Holborn


*38c – Crystal Palace


*38d – 1860’s:
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12527 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14115
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12861 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15129
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12855 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15272


*38e – 1860’s - 1870's – “rose and scroll”:
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13225 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16765
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15287 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17230
. . . . .. . . .. . . . . . .16139(Douglas Tate) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20614


*38f – 1880's - 1890's – Tight “rose and scroll” and intricate design:
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30342 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24364
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30358 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21639
. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .303xx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27854


*38g – 1830-1860’s – depiction of wild-life on Reilly engraving:


============ *38 1820-1900: Reilly Engraving END FOOTNOTES ============

wow!

The summer and Kell shops would get guns Tues and send them out Thurs to a very high standard

========== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: TEXT ==========

*39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels This chapter is not meant to be a scholarly treatise on barrels and barrel making. Dr. Drew Hause has an excellent publication on Damascus; William Greener's 1847 book is as good as anything still for that era, etc. Rather these are observations on Reilly Barrels obtained from looking primarily at photos of some 500 guns.

. . . . .London proofed: From the beginning of the firm in 1828 until bankruptcy in 1912 nearly all serial numbered Reilly’s, i.e. guns built by Reilly, with original barrels were proofed in London.*39a There are a few exceptions out of some 600 existing guns, notably an 1897 barrel and action with Brum proof marks from 1896. This said, there are some difficulties in definitively proving this conclusion:
. . . . . . . . . .-- Research is severely hampered by the fact that auction houses and even individual owners rarely include proof marks (or patent use marks) in their advertisements.
. . . . . . . . . .-- In addition from the 1870’s-on numerous surviving Reilly’s have been reproofed over and over again or rebarreled making identification of original poofs sometimes difficult.*39b
However, for now for 98% of extant Reilly guns the truism holds – if it were serial numbered by Reilly, it was proofed in London.

. . . . .Bored and finished by Reilly, 1836-47: As early as 1837 Reilly advertised that he was boring/finishing his own barrels. For how long he continued to do so is unknown, but throughout the 1840’s he advertised fixing others’ bad barrels by reboring them adding, “no cure, no pay.”*39c Testimonies as to the excellence of Reilly-bored percussion gun barrels can be found.*39d.

What machinery Reilly was using to bore his barrels is unknown. In 1826 London barrel-maker Lancaster patented a machine that could finish a barrel precisely. It was improved in 1838 allowing the bored barrel and chamber to be precisely aligned along one axis.*39e It is possible that Reilly obtained one of the Lancaster machines.

. . . . .Barrel Lengths: From an analysis of some 500 extant photographed Reillys:
. . . . . . . . . .— Rifles: After the arrival of the pin-fire in 1856 the normal barrel lengths for Reilly center-break rifles including big bore game guns were 26” to 28”. There are exceptions of course; a small rook rifles might have a 24" barrel. (An 1861 advertise states rifle barrels could be obtain in 24, 26 and 28 inch lengths).
. . . . . . . . . .-- Shotguns: The standard Reilly break-action shotgun barrel length after 1856 was 30”. There are a few shorter barrels for .410, and boy’s guns. There are longer barrels up to 36” for big bore, center-break shotuguns. In general If a 12 bore shotgun has barrels shorter than 30"'s, they have either been cut down, re-barreled or repurposed from a rifle.

. . . . .Damascus: Reilly from the beginning used Damascus barrels for long-guns and for high-end percussion pistols (he ceased making pistols in the late 1830’s). Reilly continued to make Damascus barreled guns until bankruptcy in 1912 although for the most part his early 1900’s production had switched to steel. His Damascus patterns were conservative, but based on a review of about 600 surviving guns, his damascus barrels fell into three types:
. . . . . . . . . .-- 1820-1865 – Variations of a Plain English Stub Twist*39f
. . . . . . . . . .-- 1865-1912 – Crolle patterns – variations of Large scroll, Symmetric, or Annular Crolle.*39g
. . . . . . . . . .— Other Patterns. There were a few seemingly more exotic patterns but they were rare.*39h
Note: Dr. Hause identified the patterns in the above footnotes.

. . . . .Barrel Blanks: Where Reilly obtained his Damascus barrel blanks is unknown.
. . . . . . . . . .-- There was a well known barrel forger in London William Fullerd used by Manton, Purdey and others, However, Fullerd barrels are stampted with a ‘WF,” *39i None have been found on Reilly’s so far. (The surviving guns from this period are few and their barrels for the most part not photograpghed). Fullerd closed his forge in 1844.
. . . . . . . . . .-- Presumably at least during the 1820’s-1850’s Reilly's barrel blanks came from Birmingham and the plain patterns, so different from Continental flamboyance seem to bear this out. (Purdey used similar patterns at the time).
. . . . . . . . . .-- There is one Reilly shotgun from the early 1860’s which has a faint Liège proof-mark on it overlain with London proofs,*39j possibly indicating that by then, if not earlier, Reilly like other London gunmakers might have begun using Belgian barrels.
. . . . . . . . . .-- By 1890 UK damascus barrels came from Liège per numerous references.

. . . . .Initials on Barrels, 1870’s: In the early 1870’s, shortly after the changeover in damascus patterns, a series of barrels have workers'' initials on them. These began around SN 17500. There are 10 examples, SN 17552 (WJ), 17626 (WJ), 18593 (WJ), 19500 (GE), 20249 (BE), 20255 (BE), 20466 (GE), 21361 (CP), 21369 (FR), and 21839 (WE), the last being numbered in 1879. Whose initials are these is still unknown. However, they are similar in style.*39k
. . . . . . . . . .Note: There may be initials on other Reilly barrels but again this sort of detail is often not included in advertisements. Other Reilly barrels before, during and after this period do not have initials.*39l

. . . . .Steel Barrels, 1882: In January 1882 Reilly advertised for the first time guns equipped with Whitworth compressed fluid steel barrels (originally an 1865 patent extended in 1879 for 5 years).*39m The first extant Reilly with a confirmed Whitworth barrel is SN 24365, a 12 gauge SxS pigeon gun with 31” barrels - top lever, side fences, low hammers, flat file cut rib. It is dated per the chart to 1882.*39n

======== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: END TEXT ========

======== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: FOOTNOTEES ========

*39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels:

. .. .London proofed:

. . . . .*39a London Proof example:
. . . . . . . . . .10054, 12628, 12532, 30446


. . . . .*39b Re-proof example:
. . . . . . . . . .23898, 32658


.. . .Bored and finished by Reilly, 1836-47:

. . . . .**39c Reilly boring barrels 1846-47:
. . . . . . . . . . 07 Aug 1837. 07 Aug 1837. “Morning Chronicle”

. . . . . . . . . . 1843


. . . . .*39d Testament: 1894 book called "Incidents of Foreign Sport and Travel," 1894, by Colonel Pollok.


. . . . .**39e Machinery: Ltc. P.Hawker on Lancaster barrel boring machinery.


. . Barrel Lengths:. See extant gun chart.

. . Damascus:

Note: Dr. Hause identified the Damascus in the below collages as follows:
88, 5580, 10619, 7869 and 10782 - Stub Twist
.7023 - can't tell
.8556 - An early Laminated Steel ("angularly laminated")
18593 - Laminated Steel - (Stripe had larger scrolls; Iron had smaller more symmetric scrolls)
15964 - 2 Iron
18808 - 3 Iron ("Oxford")
20249 - 3 Iron
23153 - Laminated Steel
27570 - 3 Iron British Best ("Turkish")
30166 - Plain Twist/Skelp
34723 - 2 Iron
34247 - 2 Str

. . . . .*39f Damas 1: Variations of English twist.
. . . . . . . . . .25 Sep 1861, "Tracker's Overlsmf News", Calcutta reporting arrival of guns for sale from UK:


. . . . .*39g Damas 2: Crolle paterns – variations of Large scroll, Symmetric, or Annular Crolle


. . . . .*39h Damas 2: Other Patterns. “Damas Mouchette,” and “Assymetric or Annular Crolle.”


====== *39 1828-1900; Reilly Barrels: FOOTNOTES CONT BELOW======