Shooting Star! Annie Oakley’s Shotgun Sells for $258,00
The sharpshooting Oakley’s trusty double-barreled beauty from 1888 was used while she appeared in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and helped Oakley establish herself as one of the world’s greatest deadeyes.
DENVER, Pa. – A rare and important Charles Lancaster Gunsmiths (London) shotgun built for Annie Oakley in 1888 and used by the exhibition shooting legend during a significant period of her career has sold for $258,000 at Morphy Auctions. It was a top highlight of Morphy’s September 5-7, 2023 Firearms & Militaria auction.
The 12-bore double-barreled hammerless model with 28-inch barrels was gifted to Oakley by Charles Lancaster himself, who reportedly watched the petite sharpshooter at a gun club in England, struggling with a shotgun that appeared too heavy for her. Oakley stood only five-feet tall and weighed but 100 pounds. Lancaster offered Oakley advice on wingshooting and, at a later date, presented her with the 12-bore at auction.
“This was a very special Annie Oakley gun in that it was known to be one of her favorite and therefore most-used guns," Morphy Auctions’ president, Dan Morphy, said. "It’s well known that she cared much more about the reliability and quality of her guns than their artistic appearance or factory engraving. It’s evident from the gun’s numerous old repairs that Annie preferred to have it refitted and maintained than to replace it with any of the numerous other guns she had received over the years.”
Experts believe Oakley used the shotgun at the legendary Exposition Universelle (Paris Exposition) of 1889, where she appeared with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show and wowed spectators with her uncanny shooting expertise.
