John Deeley took over the commercial side of the company, with the aim to expand the business from 1871 onwards. These expansions were mainly focused on South Africa and India, both of which were part of the British Empire. Before the Boer War, the two Boer republics' most common rifle was the .450 Westley Richards falling-block, single-action, breech-loading rifle, with accuracy up to 600 yards. It was similar to the Martini-Henry Mark II used British troops. A book about the First Boer War, (J. Lehmann's "The First Boer War", 1972), offered this comment: "Employing chiefly the very fine breech-loading Westley Richards - calibre 45; paper cartridge; percussion-cap replaced on the nipple manually - they made it exceedingly dangerous for the British to expose themselves on the skyline".