Air Pistol

With separate events for men and women, Air Pistol shooting joined the Olympic program in 1988. Competitors use .177 calibre pistols to fire lead pellets at targets 10 meters away. The bullseye has a 11.5mm 10-ring, with the entire target being just 15cm across.

The Guns: World-class air pistols (eg., Feinwerkbau, Walther, Steyr and Morini) are air or gas-powered guns that sell for roughly $1400. Trigger weight can be no lighter than 500 grams; the width of the grip and length of the barrel are also limited.

Course of Fire: Men take 60 shots in one hour and 45 minutes, while women have one hour and 15 minutes for 40 shots.

Perfect Match Score: For men, 600 is perfect and 585 is world-class. For women, 400 is perfect and 385 is world-class.

Finals: The top eight competitors advance to a 10-shot final round, with 75 seconds allotted for each shot. The final is scored in tenths of a point and added to the match score to determine medallists. A perfect final score is 109.

Perfect Aggregate (Match + Final) Score: 709 for men, 509 for women.

Back to About Pistol Shooting