Hello 
Just picked this up at auction, I guess it is kind of a photo
Anyway thought youse guys might enjoy.
Most of the rifles appear to be Martini's and a few muzzleloaders thrown in.
Note that this is a huge picture the frame measures 32X26

Really nifty photograph, thanks for sharing it.

Thank you for posting that most interesting photo. That was a great find.
I noticed it's a San Francisco group. Is the actual shooting organization identified in the photo? I did not see it anywhere. Also, are the names of the individuals legible on your original? I put a couple of your detail images in PhotoShop but was not able to get them to where I could make out the names.
There were three shooting parks in the San Fran area in those days and quite a number of shooting clubs, verein, associations, etc. It would sure be interesting to identify the group in your photo.

RSW wrote on Jun 6^th, 2024 at 4:41pm:


Hello Randy
Below is the auction description, I have no way to know if the info is correct as I have not found anything on the item with a location or club.
Some of the names are legible in the center photo above the target #1 appears to be P A Giannini?

 
1885 Photo of the California Schützen Club Members at San Rafael Park
Framed 1885 photograph of the California Schutzen Club members at San Rafael Park, California. Dimensions: (sight) 15"h x 21"w; (framed) 26"h x 32.5"

That is what I was thinking also
Possibly a relative?
Don

San Rafael History: Street Name the Only Remnant of Sharpshooter.
In the late 19th century, world champion sharp-shooter Philo Jacoby created San Rafael's Schuetzen Park, a 37-acre amusement park for shooting, bowling, dancing and dining. Through this area runs Jacoby Street, named for Philo Jacoby, who founded an amusement park that once covered this vast region.
Jacoby was a Schuetzen-Koenig, king of the sharpshooters, who reigned for many years as an international rifle champion. German and Swiss immigrants brought Schuetzen shooting, a precision offhand shooting style, to the United States in the 1880s. The clubs they formed, called Vereins, served both social and athletic interests, and members competed in shooting matches, or Schuetzenfests, both at home and abroad.

Pomeranian-born Philo Jacoby began work as a printer in Sacramento, where he met Swiss immigrant John Sutter of Gold Rush fame at a shooting match.  Responding to Jacoby’s intense enthusiasm for the sport, Sutter taught Jacoby marksmanship. 
Jacoby moved to San Francisco and in 1863, became editor and publisher of a weekly, The Hebrew, the first Jewish newspaper on the West Coast. He never missed an issue in 49 years, except for the week following the 1906 fire.
Jacoby was admired for both his athletic prowess and his intellect. He served as a second for Mark Twain in a boxing match at the Olympic Club, of which he was a charter member. He was also a leader of the Hebrew Athletic Club and of the San Francisco Turnverein, an ethnic-German gymnastic club.

frnkeore wrote on Jun 6^th, 2024 at 5:48pm:


That is one of my favorites. too many guns to decide which to shoot....