It is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since 1936.

The sport traced back to the beginning of indoor Flobert pistol parlour shooting in Europe during the 1870s.

[1][2] However, it is still part of other major ISSF competitions; most notably the World Shooting Championships.

[3] 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.

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.

Starting from the 1900 Olympics, which also served as the first world championship for Free Pistol, the distance was set to 50 metres.

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.

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.