ELEY CARTRIDGE CHRONOLOGY

Eley Bros. Ltd. of London was one of Britain's largest and oldest manufacturers of ammunition. They made cartridges for hunting the largest African game. The company was formed in 1828 and made percussion caps, separate primed combustible cartridges, shot concentrators, and pin-fire cartridges, which are an 1835 French invention. The pin fire is one of the world's earliest self-contained cartridges, i.e., a case, bullet, primer, and the propellant all assembled into a single unit. Most of the Eley pin fires shown in this exhibit have raised head stamps "Eley" or "Eley London". Their shotgun shells of this era include the raised "E***"* head stamps "Eley Bros London", "E B London", and increased searching began in the 1860s era for breech-loading firearms using self-contained HT cartridges.

One such cartridge type, the .577 Snider, was manufactured by Eley. It is a center fire type coiled brass & paper cartridge, patented by Boxer. It was adopted by the British military in 1866. It has a multi-piece coiled/rolled case with an iron base. It was used in Snider-converted rifles, plus new guns made in that calibre: see Exhibit Group 9.

In 1869 Eley patented the process to make the first bottle-neck cartridge. It is the British .45 calibre (577/450) Martini-Henry cartridge. It was adopted by the British government in 1871 to replace the Snider. See Group 10. A rare steel case, necked cartridge in 500/450 caliber, is believed to have been made by Eley. See Group 7. In 1891 the British government adopted the .303 British cartridge. See Group 11. It has a full-drawn brass case, as with modern cartridges.

Eley's improved cartridge case with iron-base-head construction, plus copper-tubed bullets, appear in Group 8. After that, Eley attached the familiar iron head-rim to their improved one-piece brass cup head, which then was attached to the usual coiled brass Boxer-style cartridge case. See Group 14.

A change in cartridge case construction is shown in Group 15.5. The original iron, and the newer brass base-rim disks are shown. Both rounds have a new shorter base-cup. The .433 Egyptian cartridge has no paper in its wrapped case. The .450 1 1/2" still has a paper and brass wrap case. Group 15.5.

The "Eley Bros" head stamp pressed into the brass cartridge base appears on coiled paper/brass rolled cases, and also rolled cases without paper. These still retain the separate attached rim/base. See Group 16.

Eley's next improvement is the full one-piece head-cup with its integral rim, that is attached to both coiled and rolled cases. These cartridges have no head stamp. See Group 17.

A fully drawn one-piece cartridge case with the head stamp "Eley Bros", is a mid-1870s item. In appearance it is the general style of rimmed case cartridges still manufactured today. See Group 18.

Groups 16–23 show cartridge caliber variations made on cartridge cases of the general style used today. They represent various caliber (size), bullet style, or a gunmakers' particular firearm, rather than by their case construction that was explained in earlier groups.

HEAD STAMPS

This exhibit is arranged to emphasize changes in cartridge construction, and in head stamps the Eley Co. made during the many decades of its manufacturing. Many of Eley's earliest cartridges have no head stamp, but some rounds have raised lettering and/or symbols: examples are "E***"; "E"; "Eley"; "E B London"; and "Eley Bros London" (Groups 1–5).

Companies, during the 1870s, began identifying their cartridges by stamping a name or other symbol on the cartridge head. This is known as a head stamp. I believe one of the earliest, if not the first Eley head stamp, was the raised "E***" found on pin fire and center fire shotgun shells. The "E" would denote Wm. Eley and three stars would represent his three sons: Group 1. This lettering is raised rather than punched inward as with most of today’s cartridges. Raised lettering on a product cartridge almost always indicates a very early origin.

The location of any particular cartridge on the accompanying exhibit checklist and exhibited here is indicated with a group number following the cartridge name: e.g., a "450 Nitro, Group 21" means that this particular 450 Nitro round is located in Group 21 on the exhibit. Further details may be printed on a ribbon pasted below each cartridge on the exhibit.

William Eley, the company co-founder, was killed in a plant explosion in 1841. His three sons, the Eley brothers, continued the business as Eley Brothers. Their early cartridges have raised lettering head stamps and appear in Groups 1 through 5.

• "E" Raised, Group 5

• "E"(IN SHIELD) LONDON" Raised, Group 1

• "E*** LONDON" Raised, Group 1

• "E B LONDON" Raised, Group 2

• “ELEY” Raised, Group 2

• "ELEY LONDON" Raised, Group 2

• "ELEY BROS LONDON" Raised, Groups 2 & 3

• "ELEY BRO 380" Raised, Group 3

• "442” Raised, Group 5

Eley’s head stamps depressed into face of the cartridge head follow: 

• "E" Depressed, Group 5

• "ELEY BROS" Depressed, Groups 14 & 15

• "ELEY'S" Depressed, Group 17

• "ELEY BROS LONDON"+ CAL., Group 16

• "ELEY LONDON GASTIGHT", Group 18

• "ELEY LONDON" + CAL., Groups 16 & 19

• "ELEY", PLUS CALIBRE, Group 20 (a,b,c, & d)

• "ELEY", PLUS "NITRO", Group 21

Almost all of Eley’s proprietary cartridges have the gunmaker’s name indicated in their head stamp. These are calibrated for that gunmaker’s particular gun. They may also function in other guns as well. Examples are found in Group 29 and follow:

• "BSA"

• “BLAND”

• "CERTUS"

• "W. EVANS"

• "FRASER EDINBURGH"

• HENRY (ALEX)

• "JEFFERY"

• "HOLLAND AND HOLLAND"

• LANCASTER

• MANNLICHER

• MARS

• "MAXIM"

• "PEABODY"

• "PURDEY"

• "ROSS"

• "WESTLEY RICHARDS"

Head stamps pressed into the face of the cartridge head include "E", see Group 5: OT XX MI "Eley Bros" Group XX. "Eley's" Group 16, "Éley Bros of London" Group 17, "Eley London" Groups 18 & 19, "Eley" + cal. Groups 20a, b, c, d. "Eley Nitro" Group 21. OV American calibers are in Group 22.

Proprietary cartridges have special head stamps that identify a particular gun or company for which the cartridge was made. See Group 29.

Paradox cartridges are within Groups 18, 20a, and 23. These are described as shotgun shells loaded with a rifle bullet, ball, or special slug. Many early Paradox guns had their barrels smooth-bored, except they were rifled for the last few inches toward the muzzle. Paradox cartridges began in the early coiled-brass case (Groups XX and 23) era, Group 18, and continue in the drawn-case era.

Rook cartridges are scattered within several groups in the exhibit. Rooks are small hunting cartridges in the pistol-size category but may be intended for use in rifles. Some will interchange. Very early Eley Rooks in this exhibit have no head stamp but have cast bullets and battery cup type primers. These pre-date Eley's 1910 catalog. Group 4. The later Rooks are amongst other groups and not battery cup primed. Group 6. Most have swaged bullets. They are Berdan primed.

According to Wikipedia, William Eley, the oldest brother, died in 1881. After his death, a board of directors took control of the Eley Co., operating it until 1921, when all British ammunition manufacturing came under control of the Explosives Trades Industry. Author Hoyem reports that in 1925 the Eley machinery was transferred, and Eley-marked cartridge manufacturing was continued by Kynoch, arguably Britain's largest ammunition manufacturer. Kynoch was under Nobel, a subsidiary of Explosives Trades Industry. (History and Development of Small Arms Ammunition, Vol. III, Armory Publications, Tacoma WA, 1985.)

The Eley trademark continues into the 21st century in name only, because it has nothing to do with the 19th century Eley Brothers.

References used in creation of this exhibit include books and personal observations.

Books and periodicals:

• Eley Brothers Limited. Catalog 1910–11

• Catalog of Sporting Ammunition, ICI. Kynoch Press, Birmingham

• Gun Report, Periodical 1955–1996, Aledo, Illinois

• The American Rifleman, National Rifle Assn., ISSN 0003-083X

• Manual of Pistol and Revolver Cartridges

  • Volume I, 1967, Erlmeier and Brandt, West Germany

  • Volume II, 1960, Erlmeier and Brandt, West Germany

  • Volume III, Brandt and Müller

• Cartridge Cases, 1st edition, 1995, Andersen, Strømstad

• Pistol and Revolver Cartridges, 1967, White and Munhall

• History and Development of Small Arms, Hoyem

  • Volume I, 1981, Armory Publications, L.C. 80-67532

  • Volume II, 1982, Armory Publications, L.C. 80-67532

  • Volume III, 1985, Armory Publications, L.C. 80-67532

• Technical Ammunition Guide, 1994, Labbett & Brown, London

• Notes and Inspection of Cartridges, 1950–2020, Don Sandefur

• Wikipedia and other online sources