The rapid fire pistol is the only shooting event on the current Olympic programme that dates back to 1896, since the removal of the men's free pistol.

The current rapid fire pistol event is the ISSF 25 meter rapid fire pistol.

The format and rules for the rapid fire pistol event changed widely in the early Olympics.

[1] The event format has been largely standardized since 1924, though there have been significant rule changes since.

There has never been a women's version of the rapid fire pistol event; the current programme pairs the men's rapid fire pistol with the women's free pistol for gender equality.