The shooting competition over 25 meters with the rapid-fire pistol at the Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 took place on April 10th in Skopeftirion .
It was shot with a muzzle-loading pistol. The brothers John and Sumner Paine also originally wanted to take part in the competition. However, since their pistols did not meet the prescribed .45 caliber, they were not allowed to participate. They also turned down the offer of the Greeks to shoot with their weapons. Thus only four athletes from three nations were represented. Each athlete shot five series of six shots each at a target 25 meters away. The first Olympic champion was the Greek Ioannis Frangoudis .