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

Stan, my friend, odd as it may sound, Annie's guns when ordered for her, were very straight and 1 7/8 drop at heel is very believable. More to come after Salopian answers my post.

I'm beginning to see that, Bill. Really odd for anyone to like a gun stocked that high for general shooting, but Annie was a little woman, knew what she wanted, and obviously made the best use of it. Maybe the distance from her cheekbone to her eye was significantly less than average. That would make her require a higher stocked gun. Who am I to say what she should have shot with?

SRH

My friend, Stan, understands the basics of drop at comb, which many shooters have no idea about. Drop at comb is determined by the distance between the cheekbone and the eye, with some allowance for fat. 1 1/8 drop at the comb, for most shooters, means that the eye is looking at the rib from a well elevated point, very uncomfortable for most shooters of games other than ATA trap. Thanks, Stan.

She was a tiny woman.
Her dims reflect that.
It wouldn�t surprise me in the least, if the guns that have dimensions better suited to a man, were probably created to trade on provenance.

Well Gentlemen ,
Found out that my gun was manufactured in 1904 , probably in Birmingham and finished by E G Higham who were Sons of George Higham of Oswestry Shropshire . See my earlier post that proves that they were shooting in Shropshire that year.
The gun dimensions are as follows.
28 gauge SxS, 27"inch barrels.
Stock length 13 3/4"to centre, 13 7/8 " to Heel, 14 1/8"to toe.
Drop at nose of comb 1 5/8" Drop at comb face 1 7/8"
Drop at Heel 2 1/4"

I hope your connection to Annie Oakley is a strong one, because the stock dimensions are not close to her Lancaster fitting dimensions. When I get a bit of spare time, I will post the dimensions of guns that were attributed to Annie in The Parker Story. To be brief, her drop at comb is around 1 1/8 inches, a very rare and uncommonly straight dimension in Parker records.

The 1903 BHE on p. 1 had similar dimensions: 1 5/8" DAC and 2 3/8" DAH.
Her Lancasters were manufactured 1886 or 1887.
Things do change with our faces over time - compare the c. 1885 pic with the 1899 pic on p. 2

Her Ithaca 4E SBT was ordered with 1 1/2" drop at the face (or comb?) and 2 1/4" drop at the heel, LOP 14 1/4" on 11/19/15 and shipped to her on 1/3/16.

If I remember correctly , I believe a gun in the Colt Museum credited to Annie has very similar dimensions to the ones I have posted?.

OK, here are the dimensions of some of the Annie Oakley attributed Parkers listed in The Parker Story. #75782, drop at comb, 1 1/4", drop at heel, 2". #94649, drop at comb, 1 3/8", drop at heel, 2 1/4". #107950, drop at comb, 1 3/8", drop at heel, 2 1/4". A gun being researched, drop at comb, 1 1/8, drop at heel, 1 13/16". All very straight for the time manufactured, a couple extremely straight, like the Lancaster fitting. Three not mentioned here have rather standard modern dimensions, but may have been Frank's guns or guns for trade and not Annie's at all. In my opinion, guns made for Annie after the Lancaster fitting were pretty much all made with those dimensions, at least up to 1902, the latest guns I have studied. For Drew's information, her guns made to the Lancaster dimensions extend to at least 1902, regardless of how much Annie changed physically. Annie may have not looked down the rib so much as between sighting balls, like on her squareback Remington, sold at auction, and another gun with similar sighting aids. That may explain the very high dimensions of some of her guns. Judging from some of the British guns I have shot and owned, looking through the beads may not have been the preferred shooting method in those days. The gun being researched shows up in the order book at almost exactly to the Lancaster dimensions, and remains at these dimensions today.

To answer Drew's comment that #117432, a BH, has 1 5/8 drop at comb, I will say that I feel that gun was ordered for Frank, not Annie. I have the letter on that gun but did not list it because I didn't think it was Annie's gun. As I said in an earlier post, one, maybe more, guns have been auctioned at astronomical prices with claimed provenance to Annie Oakley that were not made for her at all. I'm sure the owners are happy with them. CORRECTION: Drew's auctioneer description of the BHE, not BH, #117432, does not agree with the original order. The original order is for 1 3/8" drop at comb, and 2 1/4" drop at heel, which could be Frank or Annie, although the length of pull would suggest Frank.