Elizabeth "Plinky" Toepperwein and her husband, Adolph, were noted Exhibition Shooters in the Annie Oakley era.

In 1906, "Plinky" was on tour at Sea Girt, N.J.

She stopped at the National Guard Range and took to the firing-line with a 9 pound Krag-Jorgensen and completed the course of fire.

It initially raised some eyebrows among competitors, seeing a skirt on the firing-line, but, they were soon cheering her on.

She successfully completed the match and earned a Marksman Medal.

Unfortunately, the attached photo does not show "Plinky" with the Krag.

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Elizabeth was working at Winchester, loading .22 ammo, when "Ad" Toepperwein, a Texas exhibition shooter employed by Winchester visited New Haven, in 1902.

"Ad" was attracted to the 'red head' and they married six weeks later. Elizabeth, who had never fired a gun, proved to be a "Natural" good shot. Adolph and Elizabeth developed a family shooting act.

Early on, when Elizabeth would hit a target tin-can in practice, she would say: "I pliked it". Supposedly, this gave her the nickname 'Plinky' and popularized the term "plinking".
The Couple gained fame performing at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.

For the 1906 National Matches, held at Sea Girt, N.J., the N.R.A. implemented a qualifying match for a Marksman's Medal, "open to all comers".
Elizabeth Toepperwein showed up with the intention of shooting the match, much to the consternation of the officials.
Reviewing the rules, there was no gender specified, so Elizabeth was allowed to go to the firing-line with a Krag.

'Plinky' became the first female N.R.A. competitor.
During the match she received the verbal support of her fellow shooters.

The course of fire was 5 rounds at 200 yards (kneeling), 5 rounds at 300 yards & 5 rounds at 500 yards (both, likely prone).

A 'Possible' score was 75 points, with 50 points needed for a Marksman's Medal. 'Plinky' shot a 61 out of 75.

'Plinky' and 'Ad' continued exhibition shooting for Winchester, on the Vaudeville circuit, and by entertaining U.S. Troops during WW-2. 'Plinky' died from a heart attack in 1945. 'Ad' died in 1962, at age 93.

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Absolutely fascinating!!!  I wish I could have been there cheering her on too!