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Documented “A. Oakley” Shipped Smoothbore Smith & Wesson New Model No. 3 Special Target Variation Single
Action Revolver with Factory Letter and ATF Exemption Letter - Serial no. 3670, 44 CF Smoothbore cal., 6 1/2 inch solid
rib bbl., blue finish, hard rubber grips. The included factory letter states: “We have researched your Smith & Wesson New
Model No. 3, Special Target Variation, Caliber .44 revolver in company records. Smith & Wesson shipped the revolver bearing
serial number 3670 from its Stockbridge Street factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, on June 14, 1895, and delivered it
to A. Oakley, no address listed. The factory configured this revolver with a 6 1/2-inch smooth bore barrel equipped with a
special bead front sight, an adjustable rear sight with a ‘U’ notch, a blued finish, and checkered black hard rubber grips. This
shipment included two units, with the second unit bearing serial number 3721. The frames for these revolvers were not in
the serial number range of other New Model No. 3 revolvers that shipped in 1895.” The noted special front sight is a German
silver bead in place of a pinned blade, and the rear sight is a wide “U” notch than was standard. The barrel also has the two-
line address and patent marking. The matching serial number is marked on the barrel cylinder, and butt.
“A. Oakley” from the letter is clearly legendary markswoman Annie Oakley (1860-1926). She was born Phoebe Ann Moses
in Ohio and went from a dirt poor child working in an infirmary to becoming one of the country’s first female superstars.
Her talents with firearms developed from a young age and made her an international celebrity and earned women more
recognition. She used her fame and wealth to support various causes and spent a great deal of time teaching other women
how to shoot and famously offered to raise a unit of female sharpshooters for both the Spanish-American War and World
War I. Her own skills were legendary. She could hit the thin edge of a
playing card at 30 paces, hit dimes and marbles thrown into the air,
cigars from her husband’s lips, and famously shot distant targets while
looking down the sights of rifles and revolvers over her shoulder using a
mirror. Sitting Bull, after seeing her perform, was so amazed by Oakley’s
marksmanship that he symbolically adopted her and gave her the name
“Little Miss Sure Shot.” Oakley and her husband, Frank Butler, a master
marksman in his own right, joined the famed Buffalo Bill’s Wild West
Show in 1885. By 1895, she was world famous. She entertained European
royalty such as Queen Victoria and supposedly even shot a cigarette out
of Kaiser Wilhelm II’s hand and later noted that had she missed maybe
World War I could have been avoided. She retired from Buffalo Bill’s show
in 1901 but continued to perform and became a representative of the
Union Metallic Cartridge Company. She retired in 1913 but continued to
set shooting records well into her sixties. She died on November 3, 1926,
and her husband was reportedly so grieved that he stopped eating and
died 18 later.
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