50 m Pistol
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| 50 m Pistol | |
|---|---|
| Men | |
| Number of shots: | 60 + 10 |
| Olympic Games: | Since 1896 |
| World Championships: | Since 1900 |
| Abbreviation: | FP |
50 m Pistol (formerly called Free Pistol) is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting types, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since the 1930s.
The pistol used must be in caliber .22, and may only be loaded with one round at a time. It must also be 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 force may be as low as the shooter pleases, the grip may be designed in any way 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.
The course of fire is 60 shots within a maximum time of two hours. The target is the same as in 25 m Standard Pistol, and with double the distance this explains the lower result level. 570 out of the maximum 600 is considered a world-class result. The current world record, 581, was achieved already in the Moscow Olympics in 1980 by USSR's own Alexander Melentiev.
Most shooters excelling in 50 m Pistol also compete at the same level in 10 m Air Pistol, a similar precision event.
[edit] Current world records
| Men - Qualification | 581 |  Alexander Melentiev |
1980, Moscow | Team | 1719 |  Romania |
1985, Osijek |
| Men - Final | 676.2 577+99.2 |
 William Demarest |
2000, Milan | ||||
| Junior Male | 577 |  Spas Koprinkov |
1990, Moscow | Team | 1666 | Bulgaria |
1988, Joensuu |
[edit] Olympic and World Champions since 1947
| ISSF shooting events |
|---|
| 300 m Rifle | 300 m Standard Rifle | 50 m Rifle | 10 m Air Rifle |
| 50 m Pistol | 25 m Pistol | 25 m Rapid Fire Pistol | 25 m Center-Fire Pistol | 25 m Standard Pistol | 10 m Air Pistol |
| Trap | Double Trap | Skeet |
| 50 m Running Target | 10 m Running Target |
