ISSF 50 meter pistol

The pistol used must be chambered in caliber .22 Long Rifle ammunition, may only be loaded with one round at a time, and must have conventional "open" or "iron" sights (i.e. optical and laser sights are not allowed). It must also be held and operated by one hand, and not supported by any other part of the shooter's body.

Apart from that, there are practically no rules for the pistol, explaining the former name of the event. Trigger weight may be as low as the shooter pleases, the grip may be designed in any way to enhance comfortable ergonomic fit as long as it does not touch the wrist for support, and there are no restrictions on size and weight. Precision pistols with long barrels, grips fitted to the shooter's hand, very light trigger pull, etc., are often themselves called free pistols.

Competitors have been using the small-bore, rim-fire cartridge since 1908.

The course of fire is 60 shots within a maximum time of two hours. The target is the same as in 25 meter center-fire pistol, but at double the distance, resulting in a lower result level. 570 out of the maximum 600 is considered a world-class result. The current world record, 583, was achieved in the World shooting Championships Granada in 2014 by the South Korean Jin Jong-oh. The previous world record of 581 points was scored by Kyrgyzstan-born Alexander Melentyev in the 1980 Moscow games, stood for 34 years, and still remains the Olympic record.

Most of the historic changes concern distance (30m, 50m, 50 Yards), caliber (.22 .22lr .44CF), type of pistol (revolver only, revolver or pistol, any pistol), time allowed (16 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour and 15 minutes), and most recently, format of the finals (carry over scores, start from zero, number of shots fired in the finals).

50 m Pistol was officially removed as an Olympic medal event in 2017, making the Rio games of 2016 the last for the "Free Pistol" shooters.[1][2] However, it is still part of other major ISSF competitions; most notably the World Shooting Championships.

[3]

Year	Place	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1900	Paris	Karl Röderer (SUI)	Achille Paroche (FRA)	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)
1901	Luzern	Karl Hess (SUI)	Louis Richardet (SUI)	Raphael Py (FRA)
1902	Rome	Karl Hess (SUI)	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)	Raphael Py (FRA)
1903	Buenos Aires	Benjamin Segura (ARG)	Cesare Valerio (ITA)	Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear (ARG)
1904	Lyon	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Paul Probst (SUI)	Raphael Py (FRA)
1905	Brussels	Julien van Asbroeck (BEL)	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)
1906	Milan	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)
1907	Zürich	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)
1908	Vienna	Richard Fischer (GER)	Cristoforo Buttafava (ITA)	Agoston Dietl (HUN)
1909	Hamburg	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Eduard Schmeisser (GER)	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)
1910	Loosduinen	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Eduard Ehricht (GER)	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)
1911	Rome	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)	Jean Carrère (FRA)	Norbert Van Molle (BEL)
1912	Bayonne Biarritz	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Paul Maujean (FRA)	Caspar Widmer (SUI)
1913	Camp Perry	Wilhelm Carlberg (SWE)	Alfred Lane (USA)	Casimir Reuterskiöld (SWE)
1914	Viborg	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Mathias Brunner (SUI)	André Regaud (FRA)
1921	Lyon	Hans Haenni (SUI)	John Thomas (USA)	Giancarlo Boriani (ITA)
1922	Milan	Hans Haenni (SUI)	Camillo Isnardi (ITA)	Robert Blum (SUI)
1923	Camp Perry	Irving Romaro Calkins (USA)	Charles Price (USA)	R. G. Wescott (USA)
1924	Reims	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Christian Lehrman (DEN)
1925	St. Gallen	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Robert Blum (SUI)	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)
1927	Rome	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	August Wiederkehr (SUI)	Charles des Jammonières (FRA)
1928	Loosduinen	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Charles des Jammonières (FRA)	Fritz Zulauf (SUI)
1929	Stockholm	Fritz Zulauf (SUI)	Jakob Fisher (SUI)	Oscar Ericsson (SWE)
1930	Antwerp	Lean Revilliod de Bude (SUI)	Marcel Jean Josse Lafortune (BEL)	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)
1931	Lvov	Marcel Bonin (FRA)	Vaclav Kreck (TCH)	Severin Crivelli (SUI)
1933	Granada	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Charles des Jammonières (FRA)	Severin Crivelli (SUI)
1935	Rome	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Erich Krempel (GER)	Walter Buechi (SUI)
1937	Helsinki	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Walter Buechi (SUI)	Jacques Louis Mazoyer (FRA)
1939	Luzern	Erich Krempel (GER)	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Ambrus Balogh (HUN)
1947	Stockholm	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Oscar Bidegain (ARG)	Karl Axel Wallen (SWE)
1949	Buenos Aires	Beat Rhyner (SUI)	Harry Wendell Reeves (USA)	Angel Leon de Gonzalo (ESP)
1952	Oslo	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Aeke Lindblom (SWE)	Huelet Benner (USA)
1954	Caracas	Huelet Benner (USA)	Torsten Elis Ullman (SWE)	Anton Jasinsky (URS)
1958	Moscow	Makhmud Umarov (URS)	Aleksey Gushchin (URS)	Nelson Hayford Lincoln (USA)
1962	Cairo	Vladimir Stolypin (URS)	Yoshihisa Yoshikawa (JPN)	Ludwig Hemauer (SUI)
1966	Wiesbaden	Vladimir Stolypin (URS)	Dencho Denev (BUL)	Hynek Hromada (TCH)
1970	Phoenix	Harald Vollmar (GDR)	Dencho Denev (BUL)	Hynek Hromada (TCH)
1974	Thun	Georgi Zapolskich (URS)	Ivan Némethy (TCH)	Harald Vollmar (GDR)
1978	Seoul	Moritz Minder (SUI)	Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)	Karl-Otto Westphalen (FRG)
1982	Caracas	Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)	Alexsander Melentiev (URS)	Anatoli Egrishin (URS)
1986	Suhl	Sergei Pyzhianov (URS)	Igor Basinski (URS)	Gyula Karacsony (HUN)
1990	Moscow	Spas Koprinkov (BUL)	Yifu Wang (CHN)	Sergei Pyzhianov (URS)
1994	Milan	Yifu Wang (CHN)	Viktor Makarov (UKR)	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)
1998	Barcelona	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)	Hans-Jürgen Bauer-Neumaier (GER)	Igor Basinski (BLR)
2002	Lahti	Zongliang Tan (CHN)	Martin Tenk (CZE)	Vladimir Gontcharov (RUS)
2006	Zagreb	Zongliang Tan (CHN)	Vigilio Fait (ITA)	Vladimir Isakov (RUS)
2010	Munich	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Lee Dae-myung (KOR)	Vyacheslav Podlesnyy (KAZ)
2014	Granada	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Jitu Rai (IND)	Wei Pang (CHN)
2018	Changwon	Om Prakash Mitharval (IND)	Damir Mikec (SRB)	Daemyung Lee (KOR)
2022	New Administrative Capital	Damir Mikec (SRB)	Zhang Bowen (CHN)	Viktor Bankin (UKR)

ISSF has introduced a series of World Cup competitions for Olympic shooting events in 1986, and the final has been held at the end of each season since 1988.

Year	Place	Gold	Silver	Bronze
1988	Munich	Sergei Pyzhianov (URS)	Gernot Eder (GDR)	Igor Basinski (URS)
1989	Munich	Zoltán Papanitz (HUN)	Uwe Potteck (GDR)	Boris Kokorev (URS)
1990	Munich	Xu Haifeng (CHN)	Sergei Pyzhianov (URS)	Gernot Eder (GDR)
1991	Munich	Tanyu Kiriakov (BUL)	Roberto Di Donna (ITA)	Sorin Babii (ROM)
1992	Munich	Spas Koprinkov (BUL)	Sergei Pyzhianov (RUS)	Tanyu Kiriakov (BUL)
1993	Munich	Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Xu Haifeng (CHN)
1994	Munich	Viktor Makarov (UKR)	Tanyu Kiriakov (BUL)	Roberto Di Donna (ITA)
1995	Munich	Roberto Di Donna (ITA)	Tanyu Kiriakov (BUL)	Xu Dan (CHN)
1996	Naefels	Roberto Di Donna (ITA)	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)	Sergei Pyzhianov (RUS)
1997	Lugano	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Roberto Di Donna (ITA)	Xu Dan (CHN)
1998	Zürich	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)	Wang Yifu (CHN)
1999	Munich	Wang Yifu (CHN)	Martin Tenk (CZE)	Zoltán Papanitz (HUN)
2000	Munich	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)	Tanyu Kiriakov (BUL)	Martin Tenk (CZE)
2001	Munich	Mikhail Nestruev (RUS)	Dilshod Mukhtarov (UZB)	Martin Tenk (CZE)
2002	Munich	Tan Zongliang (CHN)	Mikhail Nestruev (RUS)	Vladimir Gontcharov (RUS)
2003	Milan	Xu Dan (CHN)	Martin Tenk (CZE)	Wang Yifu (CHN)
2004	Bangkok	Martin Tenk (CZE)	Shi Xinglong (CHN)	Tan Zongliang (CHN)
2005	Munich	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Lin Zhongzai (CHN)	Vladimir Isakov (RUS)
2006	Granada	Vladimir Isakov (RUS)	Xu Kun (CHN)	Boris Kokorev (RUS)
2007	Bangkok	Lin Zhongzai (CHN)	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Tan Zongliang (CHN)
2008	Bangkok	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Vladimir Isakov (RUS)
2009	Wuxi	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Joao Costa (POR)	Pavol Kopp (SVK)
2010	Munich	Daryl Szarenski (USA)	Vladimir Isakov (RUS)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)
2011	Wrocław	Andrija Zlatić (SRB)	Leonid Ekimov (RUS)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)
2012	Bangkok	Zhang Tian (CHN)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Leonid Ekimov (RUS)
2013	Munich	Wang Zhiwei (CHN)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)
2014	Gabala	Wang Zhiwei (CHN)	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Pang Wei (CHN)
2015	Munich	Zhang Bowen (CHN)	Hoàng Xuân Vinh (VNM)	Wang Zhiwei (CHN)

Jin Jong-oh is the only triple (and double) Olympic champion in 50 metre pistol; he is the only shooter to have won three consecutive Olympic gold medals in one event. World Championships were held annually up to the 1931 then biennially until 1954 (the current quadrennial format was introduced afterwards), which made a few long streaks possible, but after World War II few shooters have been able to win two major World-level titles (the Olympics and the World Championships); Jin is the only one to have won three or more since the World Championships intervals were changed to the current quadrennial format. Paul Van Asbroeck has won the most of Olympic and World titles combined with seven titles (1 Olympics and 6 World titles). Torsten Ullman won six (1 Olympic, 5 World titles) over the span of 1933–1952, including four successive Championships between 1933 and 1937 (including the 1936 Summer Olympics). Wilhem Schnyder won four consecutive World Championships between 1924 and 1928. Van Asbroeck, Ullman, Huelet Benner and Jin are only ones to have held the Olympic and the World titles simultaneously.

Another rare double is that between this precision event and its direct opposite 25 meter rapid fire pistol; this has only been accomplished by Alfred Lane (completed in 1912), Torsten Ullman (1939), Huelet Benner (1952) and Pentti Linnosvuo (1964), with Lane (in one Olympics) and Linnosvuo winning only Olympic titles. Benner, on the other hand, is the only shooter with two titles in both events. Several athletes have won 50 metre pistol and 10 metre air pistol titles; Jin is the only person to have done so at the (single) Olympics.

ISSF World Cup Series has been held since 1986 with the World Cup Final at the end of the season since 1988; Ragnar Skanåker and Jin are the only two to have won this competition as well as the Olympic and World titles. Skanåker's 1993 World Cup Final victory was achieved at the age of 59; it was also his last international victory.

The distance of the Free Pistol event was 30 metres initially. This was because 30 metres was used in the German Championship, the most important competition at the time. Starting from the 1900 Olympics, which also served as the first world championship for Free Pistol, the distance was set to 50 metres. Both the distance and the target remained the same to this day, with the exception of the 1908 Olympics in which the distance changed from 50 metres to 50 yards.

Free Pistol was not held between the 1920 and 1936 Olympics. This is due to the perception of the time that pistol shooters, especially in free pistol, were professionals who competed in tournaments which awarded prized money. The strict amateur status required by the IOC ran counter against UIT (ISSF) and the money and medal awarding system of the target pistol shooting competition tradition. The best shooters in the world such as Wilhelm Schnyder and his Swiss teammates with their Häuptli pistols would dominate the world championships, but were denied the chance to compete in the Olympics. With the exception of 1923 when they did not compete, from 1921 to 1939 the Swiss either won the individual or the team World titles, or both. Adolf Hitler made sure shooting was part of the 1936 program as he was eager to demonstrate his country's military prowess, including a brand-new special-designed Walther pistol for the rapid fire event.

Year	Venue	Individual	Winning pistol	Team	Juniors	Team
1896	Athens	Sumner Paine (USA)	Smith & Wesson New Model 3 Revolver
19001	Paris	Karl Röderer (SUI)	Waffenfabrik Bern 1882 Swiss Ordnance Revolver	Switzerland
1901	Luzern	Karl Hess (SUI)	Waffenfabrik Bern 1882 Swiss Ordnance Revolver	Switzerland
1902	Rome	Karl Hess (SUI)	Waffenfabrik Bern 1882 Swiss Ordnance Revolver	Switzerland	Alfred Lane at the 1912 Olympics
1903	Buenos Aires	Benjamin Segura (ARG)	Unknown revolver	Argentina
1904	Lyon	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Unknown revolver	Switzerland
1905	Brussels	Julien Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Sauveur HS-6	Belgium
1906	Milan	Konrad Stäheli (SUI)	DWM 1900 Swiss Ordnance Luger PP00	Belgium
1907	Zürich	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Sauveur HS-6	Belgium
1908	Vienna	Richard Fischer (GER)	Büchel Stecherspanner	Italy
1908	London	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Sauveur HS-6	United States
1909	Hamburg	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Sauveur HS-6	Germany
1910	Loosduinen	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Sauveur HS-6	Belgium
1911	Rome	Charles Paumier du Verger (BEL)	Büchel Tell	Belgium
1912	Bayonne–Biarritz	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Büchel Tell	Belgium
1912	Stockholm	Alfred Lane (USA)	Smith & Wesson Perfected Third Model	United States
1913	Camp Perry	Vilhelm Carlberg (SWE)	Büchel Tell	United States
1914	Viborg	Paul Van Asbroeck (BEL)	Büchel Tell	Italy	Alexander Melentyev, the 1980 Olympic Champion and Current Olympic record holder
1920	Antwerp	Karl Frederick (USA)	Smith & Wesson Perfected Third Model	United States
1921	Lyon	Hans Hänni (SUI)	Häuptli 1	Italy
1922	Milan	Hans Hänni (SUI)	Häuptli 1	Switzerland
1923	Camp Perry	Irving Romaro Calkins (USA)	Smith & Wesson Perfected Third Model	United States
1924	Reims	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Häuptli 2	Switzerland
1925	St. Gallen	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Häuptli 2	France
1927	Rome	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Häuptli 2	Switzerland
1928	Loosduinen	Wilhelm Schnyder (SUI)	Häuptli 2	Switzerland
1929	Stockholm	Fritz Zulauf (SUI)	Häuptli 2	Switzerland
1930	Antwerp	Lean Revilliod de Bude (SUI)	Häuptli 1	Switzerland
1931	Lwów	Marcel Bonin (FRA)	Unknown	Switzerland
1933	Granada	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Udo Anschütz Record 210	Switzerland
1935	Rome	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Udo Anschütz Record 210	Switzerland
1936	Berlin	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Udo Anschütz Record 210
1937	Helsinki	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Udo Anschütz Record 210	Switzerland
1939	Luzern	Erich Krempel (GER)	Walter Munk Zentrum 2	Switzerland	Mikhail Nestruyev, the 2004 Olympic Champion
1947	Stockholm	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Hämmerli MP33	Argentina
1948	London	Edwin Vásquez (PER)	Hämmerli MP33
1949	Buenos Aires	Beat Rhyner (SUI)	Hämmerli MP33	Argentina
1952	Oslo	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	Hämmerli MP33	Sweden
1952	Helsinki	Huelet Benner (USA)	Hämmerli 100 2
1954	Caracas	Huelet Benner (USA)	Hämmerli 100	Soviet Union
1956	Melbourne	Pentti Linnosvuo (FIN)	Hämmerli 100
1958	Moscow	Makhmud Umarov (URS)	Hämmerli 100	Soviet Union
1960	Rome	Alexei Gushchin (URS)	Izhmash Isch 1
1962	Cairo	Vladimir Stolypin (URS)	Tula TOZ 35	Soviet Union
1964	Tokyo	Väinö Markkanen (FIN)	Hämmerli 101
1966	Wiesbaden	Vladimir Stolypin (URS)	Tula TOZ 35	Soviet Union	Jin Jong-oh, the only triple (2008, 2012, 2016) and the last Olympic Champion and Current World Record holder
1968	Mexico City	Grigori Kosych (URS)	TsKIB SOO MЦ55
1970	Phoenix	Harald Vollmar (GDR)	Tula TOZ 35	Soviet Union
1972	Munich	Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)	TsKIB SOO MЦ55
1974	Thun	Gregori Zapolski (URS)	TsKIB SOO MЦ55	Soviet Union
1976	Montreal	Uwe Potteck (GDR)	Tula TOZ 35
1978	Seoul	Moritz Minder (SUI)	Tula TOZ 35 60°	Switzerland
1980	Moscow	Aleksandr Melentiev (URS)	TsKIB SOO MЦ55
1982	Caracas	Ragnar Skanåker (SWE)	Hämmerli 152	Soviet Union
1984	Los Angeles	Xu Haifeng (CHN)	Hämmerli 150
1986	Suhl	Sergei Pyzhianov (URS)	Tula TOZ 35	Soviet Union
1988	Seoul	Sorin Babii (ROU)	Tula TOZ 35
1990	Moscow	Spas Koprinkov (BUL)	Hämmerli 150	Hungary
1992	Barcelona	Kanstantsin Lukashyk (EUN)	Tula TOZ 35
1994	Milan	Wang Yifu (CHN)	Morini CM84E	Ukraine	Anatolie Corovai (MDA)	Moldova
1996	Atlanta	Boris Kokorev (RUS)	Tula TOZ 35
1998	Barcelona	Franck Dumoulin (FRA)	TsKIB SOO MЦ55-1	China	Andrija Zlatić (YUG)	Poland
2000	Sydney	Tanyu Kiryakov (BUL)	Hämmerli 152
2002	Lahti	Tan Zongliang (CHN)	Morini CM84E	China	Vladimir Issachenko (KAZ)	Ukraine
2004	Athens	Mikhail Nestruyev (RUS)	Morini CM84E
2006	Zagreb	Tan Zongliang (CHN)	Morini CM84E	China	Pu Qifeng (CHN)	China
2008	Beijing	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Morini CM84E
2010	Munich	Tomoyuki Matsuda (JPN)	Morini CM84E	South Korea	Tomasz Palamarz (POL)	Germany
2012	London	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Morini CM84E
2014	Granada	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Morini CM84E	China	Andrey Pochepko (RUS)	China
2016	Rio de Janeiro	Jin Jong-oh (KOR)	Morini CM84E

¹ The Olympic competitions in Paris also counted as the 1900 World Championships. ² Same model as MP33. Name changed by new company owner.