Was doing an internet search for antique targets and came across this image.  Hopefully its not a repost.  Theses fine ladies seem rather ready to dispose of the next lesser man in a friendly bit of competition.  Btw I did not give the name to the photo, just copied it.

I believe those are the ladies of Alma, Wisconsin with their Patt/Martini rifles.

oodmoff wrote on Nov 16^th, 2017 at 11:59am:


I thought it might be a Ballard too! Customized, and I see it's got two forearm screws that Ballard never had on any model. Great picture!
Glad you posted this, as it prompted me to email Craig and ask again for my book! He's bringing the book and enlarged prints he made from it to our show this Sunday! I'll shoot you an email with the title and some pictures when I get them back!

marlinguy wrote on Nov 16^th, 2017 at 2:56pm:


Here are the two I have not sure if they are the ones you are referring to or not.

I see the Anne Braun book every once in awhile but good luck finding the other one, took me several years to find it.

45govt wrote on Nov 16^th, 2017 at 7:17pm:


Yes, the book "Historical Targets" is the one I have. Pretty nicely illustrated book!

There's 6 copies of "Schiess Scheiben" on Amazon.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

GT wrote on Nov 16^th, 2017 at 10:05pm:


Looked like a Pacific action, and appears to have double set triggers too. Pacific style lever for sure. I think what appears to be an external extractor is actually a base for a palm rest that is not attached in the picture. Might be a single scre forearm afterall, and the base is what I saw as a 2nd screw in the smaller image.

As Waterman notes, we've discussed these ladies before pretty exhaustively.  But for those who want to know NOW, here's a summary.

The displayed photo was taken by Gerhard Gesell of Alma, Wisconsin.  The original photo is part of the Wisconsin Historical Society's collection (WHS Image 9831).  The three women are two sisters and another member of Alma's Women’s Shooting Society.  At one time I knew their names (as Waterman also notes), thanks to an Alma Historical Society pamphlet that my former father-in-law (now deceased) and an Alma native had in his collection. (And, no, I don't have the pamphlet; but in any case, it's a great photo.)

Also, Christian Patt worked in Alma back then and supplied many of the local verein members with their guns.  As noted in several sources, he used imported Martini actions almost exclusively.

Last, I agree with Marlinguy that the forearm "screw" just in front of the Ballard's receiver is a palm rest base.

Bill Lawrence

Redsetter wrote on Nov 19^th, 2017 at 10:54pm:


Oops! Right you are. I missed the spur, which makes it a #6 Schuetzen lever.

Take a better look at that pic (the enlarged one) - those are Martini-actioned rifles, not Ballards.

You're almost right.  The left-hand and center rifles are indeed Martini-actioned, most likely by Christian Patt (in fact, if I remember correctly, one of them is on display at the Alma Historical Society).

But the right-hand rifle if you look carefully at the action's length and what you can deduce from its profile and shadowing and from the lever profile, is not a Martini but almost certainly a Ballard.

Bill Lawrence

MartiniBelgian wrote on Nov 23^rd, 2017 at 5:35am:


Excluding Big Bertha!

Well,

I just took a look at rifle 1 and 2, not 3, my mistake...  I thought that the 3 ladies had all made the right choice

Now, now, marlinguy.

In the spirit of devil's advocacy, I will point out that the two sisters display their rifles prominently, while the third lady, not so much.  Could it be that Lady No. 3 was not quite as proud of her Ballard?

Or perhaps the Ballard simply wasn't made up by Patt.  For while he was not John Meunier, Christian Patt's reputation was such that his rifles dominated the firing line in the Alma area.  Moreover Alma was a Swiss-German community, so it's not surprising that Patt and many or most of his clients preferred Martini actions, at the time the standard actions of their home country's army rifles.

In short, a person's choice of rifle is sometimes nothing more than what she likes or knows best.

Last - and this is not speculation - the two Martini-holding sisters are Julia & Emma Protz.  Source: SHUETZENVEREIN, THE ALMA SHOOTING SOCIETY, eleventh in a series of articles on the 19th century photography of Gerhard Gesell, all researched and written by Katherine Goodman and published by the Alma Historical Society.

Bill Lawrence