Annie Oakley Little Miss Sure Shot Rifle
One of my fondest memories of junior high school was being part of the musical, Annie Get Your Gun, and a recent sale of one of Annie Oakley’s guns brought back that memory. As you may recall, the original Broadway Musical was a fictional tale of Annie Oakley (1860-1926; née Phoebe Ann Moses) an American sharpshooter who starred in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and astounded audiences throughout The United States and Europe with her marksmanship, especially when she shot a cigar out of the lips of her husband, Frank Butler.
Recently, Oakley’s custom-made “Little Miss Sure Shot” Stevens model 44 .25-20 single-shot rifle was the star at an Extraordinary Sporting & Collectors Firearms sale. Stevens Arms, founded in 1864, considered themselves to be the largest producer of sporting arms around the world and were known for the accuracy of their guns and rifles. According to the auction house description, ‘the rifle was in near perfect condition, and is a historically important investment-grade firearm.’ This gun was factory engraved with her name engraved on one side of the gold plated frame and Nutley, N.J. on the other. Additionally, it was stated that Oakley must have truly loved this shotgun as she never fired it and kept it at home in Nutley, N.J. The final price shot well past the target of $200-400K as it hit $528.9K (w/p).