==================================================================================================
15625 (1869)
EDIT: with a new start number for rue scribe 14983 and the new closure date for rue Scribe July 1885, the date for George's gun is bumped up to early 1869.

George, I got your gun, it's in the list above (check it out chronologically by serial number), and I followed all the comments on it (some of those comments are pretty bitter..typical internet) and looked it up on your site when I started looking into Reilly's in January.. I can be almost 100% sure it was serial numbered in 1868 - quite possibly in September or October.

Any serial number from about 15250 to 15750 should be 1868 and have the Paris address - at least on the label - that was a prestige thing and his advertisements at the time featured the gold medals won at the Paris exhibition). Here is the analysis:

-- 15270 is the first mention of the Paris address on a gun rib that I've found so far making it early 1868 - (he opened Rue Scribe after his huge success at the Paris exhibition held in Summer 1867 sometime in late January - early February 1868). As confirmation 15270 has non-rebounding hammers (rebounding hammers were patented 1867 and started to appear on Reillys shortly thereafter)...so I reckon anything after this serial number is 1868 or later.

From 1868-1886 I estimated he was making 640 numbered guns per year on average. - for argument's sake since the demand obviously built from 440 produced in the previous period..say add 500 per year for this period of the Reilly history.

-- 17644 (assuming this is a Reilly number and it may not be) is the first Reilly Martini with a serial number which has to be after it was trialed and adopted for the Army in 1871...probably a bit later. So anything pre 17644 has to be pre-Martini Henry.

As a test...If you add it up...Start with 15270 and hypothesize that it was made and numbered in Jan 1868...and add 500 for each year afterwards...actually you'll arrive at 17414 having been hypothetically serial numbered in 1872 - add to the total manufactured and you'll pull the dates back. But whatever, your SN is so close to the marker date of Jan 1868, that you can be sure it was manufactured within those two months.

1st Rue Scribe gun................................................................................................ 1st Reilly Martini
Jan 1868...............Jan 1869..............Jan 1870...............Jan 1871...............Jan 1872.......1872
15250...........v.......15750.................16250...................16750...................17250..........17644 - at 500/year. If the Martini is 1871, it'll be 600/yr
................15625
.............Sep.Oct 1868

Last edited by Argo44; 09/22/18 01:54 PM.
Baluch are not Brahui, Brahui are Baluch