Arms, Armor and Militaria

20 Gauge. 28" barrel length. SN: 19183. Modified Choke to top barrel and Cylinder bore to bottom. 2.75" chamber lengths. Blued metal finish with casehardened frame, blued small parts, walnut semi pistol grip stock with horn grip cap, and Pachmayr White Line recoil pad. Double barrel over under boxlock ejector shotgun. Item features a matted barrel rib, white bead front sight mount missing bead but retaining collar, and wood spacers mounted to barrel ribs on both sides. The left side of the upper barrel is marked KERR SPORT SHOP INC./BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. Beneath that is a second mark reading CHARLES DALY. Both barrels and the frame show Belgian firing proofs with the rear barrels being stamped with a {Crown/AF} marking, and the lower barrel marked ACIER COCKERILL indicating the barrels were made of Cockerill steel. The right side of the frame displays an SG stamp. This embellished shotgun features an unmarked silver oval plate to the toe, and fine floral scrollwork to the frame. The barrel fences feature light border scroll and a stippled border. Included with the shotgun is a green velvet lined leather case with no accessories. Included with the shotgun is a letter signed by Gerald S. Knight of the gun department at Kerr's confirming that this shotgun was sold to Western movie star Gary Cooper on March 12, 1940. {C&R}

During the 1930s, while the United states plummeted further and further into the troubled years of the Great Depression, American audiences increasingly turned to the movies for solace and escape. Movie productions showed Depression Era Americans the corruption that gripped major cities with Film Noir productions, opulent musicals that made ballroom crooners into national sensations, and Western films that turned world weary eyes to a rose tinted version of the past that seemed far better than the present. This was the era when Gary Cooper became a household name. Born Frank James Cooper on May 7, 1901 in Helena, Montana, Gary Cooper excelled at art, but struggled to find long term employments that suited him. Having spent much of his youth on a ranch, Cooper was a skilled rider and an avid outdoorsman. In 1925, he accompanied his parents when they resettled in Los Angeles, and soon found work as a stuntman and extra in "Poverty Row" B movie productions. Seeing the higher pay and greater opportunities afforded to credited actors, Cooper secured a screen test and began building his reputation as an actor. In 1929, he starred in his first sound film, The Virginian (1929), in which he played a Ranch Foreman whose code of honor defined the Western heroes of future films. In the years that followed, Cooper appeared in numerous genre defining and groundbreaking roles that cemented his place as one of the Hollywood Golden Age's top talents. 

Off the clock, Cooper kept up the outdoor recreational activities he had favored as a youth. And like all avid hunters and trap shooters, Cooper had to find somewhere to buy his equipment. Enter Alex Kerr, founder of "Kerr's Sport Shop", the sporting goods shop of the stars. In 1937, Alex Kerr left the family Mason Jar business to open a sport shop in Hollywood. His store was known for catering to expensive tastes, and kept a supply of high end goods for fishing, hunting, camping, or any other activities his clients might need. In 1940, Kerr's shop sold this Charles Daly marked shotgun to Gary Cooper. It then remained one of Cooper's possessions until his death on May 13, 1961. On March 27, 1962, the firearm was brought back to Kerr's on behalf of Gary Cooper's wife, Veronica Cooper, for future sale. It's possible that the leather case accompanying the shotgun was then paired with it, as it is not of 1940 vintage. Manufactured by Auguste Francotte for the famed Charles Daly and then sold by Kerr's to movie legend Gary Cooper, this shotgun remains in functional condition and bears the signs of both use and careful maintenance.