The competition was held on 22 to 23 October 1968 at the Vicente Suárez Shooting Range in Mexico City.

Marcel Roșca's silver put Romania on the rapid fire pistol podium for the fourth time in five Games.

Zapędzki received a replica of the Pyramid of the Sun for winning the event.

The 1960 gold medalist, William McMillan of the United States, who had finished 12th in 1964, also returned.

The 1966 world championship podium (champion Virgil Atanasiu of Romania, runner-up Józef Zapędzki of Poland, and third-place finisher Renart Suleymanov of the Soviet Union) were all competing in Mexico City.

El Salvador, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Singapore, and Vietnam each made their debut in the event; East and West Germany competed separately for the first time.