.

I am proud to say that I have coached several young ladies over the years in the Junor Program that are were able to beat the boys. Several have shot in the Junior Olympics have proved Annie's statement. Some of them are still shooting now and still beating the boys.

ron .

ron wrote on Jul 15^th, 2021 at 7:19am:

That's probably because women tend to be better at listening and taking instruction.

Normally, buyers of Stevens tip-up rifles who wanted a pistol grip made do with the stock trigger guard that had a pistol-grip-shaped rear extension.  Oakley's rifle is only the second I've seen in 50+ years of collecting that had an actual pistol-grip stock.  The other had a different checking pattern in the grip area and a left-hand cheek piece to boot.  The then-owner also thoughtfully provided a disassembled view which showed that the lower tang and the trigger guard had to be shortened to accommodate the pistol grip.  The work was certainly of factory quality.

Another collector claimed to have seen a Stevens - or was it a Maynard? - where the lower tang was left full-length and actually pierced the pistol grip; he thought it was in one of Grant's books.

Bill Lawrence

I think the tip up that Annie is holding is a ladies model with special order pistol grip and shotgun buttplate. It’s hard to tell the size of the rifle in the picture, but it looks smaller than a full size tip up.

Yes, there is pictures of a pistol grip tip up in Grant’s Boys Rifle and More Single Shot book, which has a full length lower tang that goes through the pistol grip.

In her shooting exhibitions there were a lot of tricks. Such as using shot in rifles to shoot glass balls.   

She was a great trick shot.  Have my doubts those are her own words in the quote. Sounds like a modern statement.

Cody was known to regularly use shot-filled cartridges in his shooting exhibitions.  But reputedly Oakley did not, at least when she was younger and shooting outdoors.  Also, I knew a fellow who had seen the Toepperweins shoot, had "liberated" some of their targets (one of which is in my collection), and swore they did not use shot in their rifles and pistols.  Since he had been an enthusiastic and very good trap shooter in the '20s and '30s, that only added to his believability, at least for me.

Bill Lawrence

MrTipUp wrote on Jul 16^th, 2021 at 8:15pm:


It was show business = smoke and mirrors embellished by contemporary writers and now digested and re distributed through the internet.   
The shot was for safety. I read that Annie used shot like the others. At least in the version I read. 

Who knows for sure.

Here is my favorite marksmanship exhibition:  Just a movie mind you but a classic scene.

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Jack

That's a great quote.

RSW wrote on Jul 17^th, 2021 at 10:56am:


Thanks Randy. Yep, then throw in semantics and, well.............


I still don't believe she said that.   

JLouis wrote on Jul 18^th, 2021 at 11:06am:


True, but, she was a hunter before she became a "trick shot".   

Joe that is what I was trying to point out. She could shoot long before she ever became a trick shooter. And she became a meat hunter at a very young age. And she was extremely proficient with a shotgun and or a rifle. She had to be to supply un-destroyed meat to eat and for sale.

This is Annie's Canadian cousin, she's not quite as good a shot as Annie, but nobody really cares. 

I'm surprised Shirley could smile; corsets back then were often pulled so tight that over time they could dangerously rearrange your innards and in extremis even kill you.

Bill Lawrence