doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Annie Oakley

Is there a list anywhere that tells what guns Annie Oakley owned? Not just handled, but owned. NRA Museum has a few but there has to be more...

In the upcoming Julia Auction, Oct. 1 & 2 there is a Parker BHE Pigeon 12 ga. special ordered by Frank Butler in 1903 showing engravings of her in action.

There was also an L.C. Smith 16 ga. straight grip that was also ordered by Frank Butler and sent to Tiffanies in N.Y. for the engraving. Appartantly Al Kraus, the in-house engraver and one of the best engravers then, decided that faces weren't his thing.
Also noted from employees at the time, that more time was spent on this gun than any other. Grade was not listed, but with all the bells and whistles, it was probably comparable to a Monogram or A2 at the time.
She also shot an Ideal Grade L.C. Smith 12 ga. with 26" barrels. It was shipped June 4, 1926, and she passed away in the same year, November 3, 1926.

As for the rifles and list of guns she shot who knows, there must have been quite a few.

Chris: there was a long thread on the PGCA site recently regarding the BHE.

From The Art of Wingshooting by William Bruce Leffingwell http://books.google.com/books?id=e34EmE3tkfkC

"I was permitted to examine many of the fine guns used by Miss Oakley in exhibition shooting, and noticed among them one Charles Lancaster ejector, one Charles Lancaster nonejector, a Cashmore hammerless, a magnificent Smith ejector with a gold figure of herself inlaid, a Parker hammerless, a Scott Monte Carlo, a Scott ejector of highest quality, and an exquisite little Francotte ejector with Whitworth barrels. The value of the guns mentioned is $2,500. The rifles shown were Lancaster oval-bore .360 double-barrel, Holland hammerless .32-caliber double-barrel, a magnificent Marlin repeater, and a couple of handsome Winchesters. She also showed me two single-barreled pistols made by the celebrated maker, Gastinne Renette of Paris. These pistols have 14-inch barrels, and are made expressly for pigeon shooting. With them Miss Oakley has scored nine out of ten pigeons from two traps, using one-half ounce of shot. She shoots binocularly. Her shot-guns weigh about six pounds each, the right barrels being bored modified, and the left full choke. Her load for targets is 2 3/4 drams of nitro powder and one ounce of shot. For live pigeons she uses three drams of powder, but the shot charge is unchanged; an ounce of shot is used on all occasions and for all kinds of game."

Holding the Smith David mentioned



Of course Frank Butler received lots of guns for Annie that were promptly resold

Thanks Dave & Drew. Drew, my name's not Chris, not sure where you got that.

There is a list of serial numbers and specifications of Parker guns made for or ordered by Annie Oakley and Frank Butler in The Parker Story. The ones intended for the use of Annie Oakley are identified by her very unorthodox, maybe unique, stock dimensions. These stock dimensions are also identified in other publications, sometimes citing her Lancaster dimensions, which were very similar to her Parker dimensions. Oddly, the supposed Annie Oakley gun which recently sold for more than $140,000.00 was not made for her, but probably for Frank Butler.

Bill, considering she was only 5' tall, that would explain the unique stock dimensions.