It was the fourth appearance of the 300 metre rifle three positions event at an Olympic Games.

This was the fourth appearance of the men's 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.

[2][3] Seven of the top 10 shooters from 1912 returned: gold medalist Paul Colas of France, silver medalist Lars Jørgen Madsen of Denmark (who had also competed in 1900 and 1908), bronze medalist Niels Larsen of Denmark, fourth-place finisher Hugo Johansson of Sweden, fifth-place finisher Gudbrand Skatteboe of Norway, seventh-place finisher (and 1908 gold medalist) Albert Helgerud of Norway, and tenth-place finisher Erik Blomqvist of Sweden.

[4] Czechoslovakia, Greece, Italy, and Spain made their debut in the event.

The scores of this event were summed to the result of the team free rifle competition.