ISSF 10 meter air pistol


The 10 meter air pistol is an Olympic shooting event governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation. It is similar to 10 meter air rifle in that it is shot with 4.5 mm caliber air guns at a distance of 10 metres, and that the match consists of a qualification round of 60 competition shots within 75 minutes. If an Electronic Scoring System is not available, 15 minutes are added to the time limit. Competitors are allowed to shoot an unlimited amount of shots during the 15 minutes preparation and sighting time. Along with the 50 meter pistol, it is considered a precision shooting event. Thus, numerous shooters compete in both events.
There are some restrictions on the pistol regarding its dimensions, weight and trigger pull weight. It must be operated by one hand only from a standing, unsupported position. The shooter decides his or her own tempo as long as the maximum time is not exceeded.
After the qualification round, the shooters with the top eight scores move on to a final round consisting of 24 competition shots. After the tenth shot, individual commands are given so that the audience may follow the progress of the standings.
The major competitions are the Olympic Games every four years and the ISSF World Shooting Championships every four years. In addition, the event is included in ISSF World Cups and in continental championships, as well as in many other international and national competitions. It is an indoor sport and, at the highest level, electronic targets are used instead of the traditional paper targets.

Range and target

The distance from floor level to the centre of the target is 1400mm +/- 50mm.
The air pistol range is the same as the air rifle range, giving each shooter a table, a 1 meter wide firing point, and a 10-meter distance between the firing line and the target line. The current rules require ranges to be built indoors, with specified minimum requirements for artificial lighting. Many of the top-level competitions are held at temporary ranges installed in versatile sporting facilities or convention centers.
The target, 17 by 17 cm, is traditionally made of light-coloured cardboard upon which scoring lines, and a black aiming mark consisting of the score zones 7 through 10, are printed. There is also an inner ten ring, but the amount of inner tens is only used for tie-breaking. The changing of these traditional targets is handled by each shooter, by means of electronic – or more archaically, manually operated – carrier devices. In major competitions, only one shot may be fired on each target, a number that can increase to two, five or even ten with lowering level and importance of the competition. Used targets are collected by range officials to be scored in a separate office.
During the last few decades, these paper targets have been gradually replaced by electronic target systems, immediately displaying the results on monitors. When using these systems, actual scoring lines are not printed, but the location of the impact hole is automatically converted into corresponding scores by a computer. ISSF rules now require the use of these systems in top-level competitions. They are generally used in other international competitions as well, and in some countries they are even common in national competitions.

Equipment

To promote comfortable and accurate shooting from a standing position match air pistols must have fast lock times, shoot practically recoilless and vibration free and exhibit minimal movement and balance shifts during discharge. The pistol must also be able to be tailored by adjustable user interfaces and various accessories to individual shooters personal preferences. Combined with appropriate match pellets the pistol has to produce a consistent 10 ring performance, so a non maximal result during the initial phase can be attributed to the participant.
The pistols used are gas-driven with a caliber of 4.5 mm. The minimum trigger pull weight is 500 gram, half that of a sport pistol, and the grip restrictions are similar to sport pistols, but the box in which an air pistol must fit is larger: 42 by 20 by 5 cm. This allows for longer sight lines and also gives room for cocking arms, although with a few exceptions modern match air pistols use pre-filled air, or less commonly carbon dioxide, containers. The maximum overall weight is. The pistol must be operated by only one hand from a standing position, and may only be loaded with one pellet at a time.
For the 10 metre air pistol and air rifle disciplines match diabolo pellets are used. These pellets have wadcutter heads, meaning the front is flat, that leave clean round holes in paper targets for easy scoring. Match pellets are offered in tins and more elaborate packagings that avoid deformation and other damage that could impair their uniformity.
Air gunners are encouraged to perform shooting group tests with their gun clamped in a machine rest to establish which particular match pellet type performs best for their particular air gun. To facilitate maximum performance out of various air guns the leading match pellet manufacturers produce pellets with graduated "head sizes", which means the pellets are offered with front diameters from 4.48 mm up to 4.51 mm.
As in other ISSF pistol events, clothing that restricts the movement of joints for support is not allowed. Optical aids such as iris diaphragms or prescription glasses are allowed as long as they are not mounted on the pistol, which may only have open sights. Though shooting glasses are extremely customizable, most pairs contain three basic elements: a lens, a mechanical iris, and a blinder. These components work together to help shooters focus on both the faraway target and their gun's sights at the same time.
Ear protection is recommended by the ISSF as well as by coaches, who sometimes stress their usefulness in shutting out distracting noise rather than their necessity for safety reasons.
It is each shooter's responsibility to get the pistol and shoes validated in a specific area, the equipment control, prior to starting the competition. To discourage shooters from lowering the trigger pull weight after passing the equipment control, random controls are conducted after the match. Failure to pass such controls results in immediate disqualification.

Match air pistols in production

The following air pistols are in production :
Shooters are generally divided into four classes: men, junior men, women and junior women. The junior classes are included in most championships, with some notable exceptions. A shooter remains a junior up to and including the calendar year in which he or she becomes 21 years of age, although a junior may opt to participate in the main class instead. There are also ISSF Junior World Cups.
In both the qualification stage and the final stage, all shooting is supervised by a Chief Range Officer, whose duties include responsibility for the correct behaviour of all personnel, dealing with technical irregularities, and cooperation with the jury.

Qualification

For the qualification stage, the shooters are divided as necessary into relays. Each relay starts with a 15 minute preparation time during which the shooter may fire an unlimited number of sighting shots. Afterwards, the Chief Range Officer gives the command "match firing, start", indicating the start of the competition time. 60 competition shots must be shot within a 75 minute period time. The 60 shots are usually organized in 6 ten-shot series for display on scoreboards.

Final

The top eight shooters in the qualification round advance to the final. Often, many shooters have the same score. The higher number of inner tens is the first tiebreaker. If two or more shooters have the same amount of inner tens, the shooter with the highest score in the last ten-shot series is placed higher.
During the final, the score zones are divided into tenths, so that each hit can give up to 10.9 points instead of the maximum 10 during the qualification. Electronic targets are required by the ISSF for finals at the Olympic Games, ISSF World Cups and ISSF World Championships.
After a five-minute sighting shot period and the presentation of the athletes to the audience, the athletes have 250 seconds to shoot five shots after the command "for the first competition series, load, start". The same command is given again for a second five shot series. After the tenth shot, separate commands are given for each competition shot with a time limit of 50 seconds per shot. After each two shots, the athlete with the lowest score is eliminated until two shooters are left to compete for the first place in the 23rd and 24th shot.
Current rules were introduced in 2017 after the 2016 Summer Olympics.

History

The air pistol event was introduced on the World Championship level in 1970, and on the Olympic programme in 1988. Before 1985, when finals began to be used, championships were decided by the results of the 40 or 60 shot match. Before 1982, the men's match also consisted of 40 shots.
As in many other ISSF events, the target for air pistol was reduced in size in 1989, also lowering the scores, and thereby resetting all records. The development after this shows a contrast to that of air rifle shooting: whereas in air rifle the winning score of the 1989 World Championships would not have reached the final 17 years later, the same result increase has not occurred in air pistol. Sergei Pyzhianov's world record of 593 points, set in the first World Cup Final with the new targets, remained unbeaten for almost 20 years until Jin Jong-oh set a new one with 594 points in at the ISSF World Cup Changwon 2009.
Although competitions are no longer held outdoors, the most important competitions are still scheduled for the Northern Hemisphere summer season because they are combined with outdoor events such as 50m rifle and 25m pistol events. Many lesser international events, however, are held during the European indoor season between October and March, culminating in the European Championships each year. Most of these competitions are multi-day events held together with air rifle matches.

World Championships, Men

YearPlaceGoldSilverBronze
1970 Phoenix
1974 Thun
1978 Seoul
1979 Seoul
1981 Santo Domingo
1982 Caracas
1983 Innsbruck
1985 Mexico City
1986 Suhl
1987 Budapest
1989 Sarajevo
1990 Moscow
1991 Stavanger
1994 Milan
1998 Barcelona
2002 Lahti
2006 Zagreb
2010 Munich
2014 Granada
2018 Changwon

World Championships, Men Team

YearPlaceGoldSilverBronze
1970 Phoenix Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Grigori Kosych
Evgeni Raskazov
Vladimir Stolipin
Finland
Immo Huhtinen
Seppo Makinen
Matti Juhani Patteri
Seppo Saarenpaeae
West Germany
Heinrich Fretwurst
Heinz Mertel
Ernst Mueller
Manfred Moeller
1974 Thun Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Grigori Kosych
Valeri Margasov
Vladimir Stolipin
West Germany
Manfred Deichmann
Heinrich Fretwurst
Dieter Gruetz
Wolfgang Labenski
East Germany
Helmut Artelet
Heinz Szurlies
Matthias Hoeflitz
Harald Vollmar
1978 Seoul Finland
Teemu Anttila
Seppo Mäkinen
Paavo Palokangas
Seppo Saarenpää
Brazil
Paulo Lamego
Wilson Scheidemantel
Benevenuto Tilli
Bertino Souza
Sweden
Weith Andersson
Ove Gunnarsson
Staffan Oscarsson
Ragnar Skanåker
1979 Seoul Sweden
Weith Andersson
Stig Borje Nilsson
Staffan Oscarsson
Ragnar Skanåker
United States
Jimmie Dorsey
Don Hamilton
Samual Hunter
Don Nygord
South Korea
Jang Sik Kim
Won Suk Lee
Tae Ho Lim
Seung Lin Park
1981 Santo Domingo Bulgaria
Ljubtcho Diakov
Liubcho Dimitrov
Ivan Mandov
Jean Mihov
Switzerland
Rolf Beutler
Roman Burkhard
Jacques Alain Perrin
Rene von Gunten
Soviet Union
Igor Basinski
Anatoli Egrishin
Alexander Sniezhko
Sergei Sumatokhin
1982 Caracas Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Alexsander Melentiev
Sergei Sumatokhin
Vladas Turla
United States
Erich Buljung
Jimmie Mc Coy
Don Nygord
Darius Young
Sweden
Weith Andersson
Stig Borje Nilsson
Benny Oestlund
Ragnar Skanåker
1983 Innsbruck Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Alexsander Melentiev
Vladas Turla
Sweden
Benny Oestlund
Staffan Oscarsson
Ragnar Skanåker
France
Jean Bilon
Jacky Durand
Remy Harang
1985 Mexico City Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Boris Kokorev
Vladas Turla
France
Pierre Bremond
Philippe Cola
Remy Harang
United States
George Ross
Arnold Vitarbo
Darius Young
1986 Suhl Soviet Union
Igor Basinski
Boris Kokorev
Alexsander Melentiev
France
Pierre Bremond
Philippe Cola
Remy Harang
East Germany
Gernot Eder
Jens Potteck
Uwe Potteck
1987 Budapest Soviet Union
Anatoli Egrishin
Boris Kokorev
Alexsander Melentiev
East Germany
Gernot Eder
Jens Potteck
Uwe Potteck
Bulgaria
Ljubtcho Diakov
Tanyu Kiryakov
Sabi Sabev
1989 Sarajevo Soviet Union
Sergei Barmin
Alexsander Melentiev
Sergei Pyzhianov
Italy
Roberto Di Donna
Dario Palazzani
Vincenzo Spilotro
Hungary
Csaba Gyorik
Zsolt Karacs
Zoltan Papanitz
1990 Moscow Soviet Union
Boris Kokorev
Mikhail Nestruev
Sergei Pyzhianov
Hungary
István Ágh
Csaba Gyorik
Zoltan Papanitz
East Germany
Gernot Eder
Uwe Potteck
Jens Potteck
1991 Stavanger Soviet Union
Sergei Barmin
Boris Kokorev
Sergei Pyzhianov
Germany
Gernot Eder
Hans-Juergen Bauer-Neumaier
Uwe Potteck
China
Jinbao Li
Yifu Wang
Haifeng Xu
1994 Milan China
Haifeng Xu
Yifu Wang
Shengge Zhang
Italy
Vigilio Fait
Roberto Di Donna
Vincenzo Spilotro
Hungary
Csaba Gyorik
Zsolt Karacs
Zoltan Papanitz
1998 Barcelona China
Yifu Wang
Dan Xu
Hui Wu
Russia
Mikhail Nestruev
Vladimir Gontcharov
Boris Kokorev
Belarus
Igor Basinski
Kanstantsin Lukashyk
Siarhei Yurusau
2002 Lahti Russia
Mikhail Nestruev
Vladimir Gontcharov
Vladimir Isakov
China
Yifu Wang
Zongliang Tan
Huaiyu Li
Ukraine
Oleg Dronov
Victor Makarov
Ivan Rybovalov
2006 Zagreb China
Wei Pang
Zhongzai Lin
Zongliang Tan
Russia
Mikhail Nestruev
Vladimir Isakov
Vladimir Gontcharov
France
Walter Lapeyre
Manuel Alexandre-Augrand
Franck Dumoulin
2010 Munich Russia
Sergey Chervyakovskiy
Leonid Ekimov
Vladimir Isakov
Serbia
Andrija Zlatic
Damir Mikec
Dimitrije Grgic
South Korea
Jin Jong-Oh
Lee Dae-Myung
Han Seung Woo
2014 Granada
Pang Wei
Pu Qifeng
Wang Zhiwei

Jin Jong-oh
Kim Cheong-Yong
Lee Dae-myung

Vladimir Gontcharov
Vladimir Isakov
Sergey Chervyakovskiy
2018 Changwon
Lee Dae-myung
Jin Jong-oh
Han Seung-woo

Abhishek Verma
Om Prakash Mitharwal
Shahzar Rizvi

Artem Chernousov
Denis Koulakov
Anton Gourianov

World Championships, Women

World Championships, Women Team

YearPlaceGoldSilverBronze
1970 Phoenix Soviet Union
Nina Stoliarova
Nina Rasskazova
Nadezda Ibragimova
West Germany
Ortrud Feickert
Karin Fitzner
Ruth Kasten
United States
Lucile Chambliss
Sally Carroll
Barbara Hile
1974 Thun Soviet Union
Zinaida Simonian
Nina Stoliarova
Galina Zarikova
United States
Sharon Best
Barbara Hile
Ruby Fox
West Germany
Karin Fitzner
Ruth Kasten
Ortrud Feickert
1978 Seoul Sweden
Kerstin Hansson
Gun Näsman
Ingridh Strömqvist
Australia
Julie Aitken
Patricia Dench
Maureen Hill
South Korea
Kwan Seok Kang
Yang Ja Kim
Yang Ja Moon
1979 Seoul United States
Sally Carroll
Ruby Fox
Patricin Olsowsky
Sweden
Kerstin Hansson
Gun Naesman
Sally Remmert
Great Britain
Carol Bartlett
Rosemarie Edgar
Trudy Henry
1981 Santo Domingo Soviet Union
Marina Dobrantcheva
Nonna Kalinina
Zinaida Simonian
Switzerland
Veronica Edelmann
Doris Hafen
Elisabeth Sager
United States
Carol Baker
Ruby Fox
Sally Carroll
1982 Caracas Soviet Union
Marina Dobrantcheva
Inna Rose
Auksne Treinite
China
Jianmin Gao
Yi Nang
Zhifang Wen
Sweden
Monica Aberg
Chris Johansson
Gun Naesman
1983 Innsbruck Sweden
Monica Aberg
Kerstin Bodin
Sally Remmert
Austria
Corinna Hoffmann
Christine Strahalm
Christa Werk
United States
Sally Carroll
Ruby Fox
Cathy Graham
1985 Mexico City Soviet Union
Irada Ashumova
Marina Dobrantcheva
Inna Rose
Sweden
Kerstin Bodin
Britt Marie Ellis
Maritha Karlsson
West Germany
Angelika Hermann
Kirsten Steinert
Margit Stein
1986 Suhl Soviet Union
Marina Dobrantcheva
Irina Kotcherova
Lalita Tsvetkova
East Germany
Diana Mueller
Heidrun Richter
Anke Voelker
Sweden
Kerstin Bodin
Britt Marie Ellis
Maritha Karlsson
1987 Budapest Soviet Union
Nino Salukvadze
Svetlana Smirnova
Lalita Tsvetkova
Poland
Dorota Bidolach
Maria Janicka-Janda
Julita Macur
West Germany
Lieselotte Breker
Anetta Kalinowski
Margit Stein
1989 Sarajevo West Germany
Lieselotte Breker
Anetta Kalinowski
Margit Stein
Soviet Union
Olga Shilenok
Nino Salukvadze
Svetlana Smirnova
Hungary
Agnes Ferencz
Anna Gonczi
Marta Kotroczo
1990 Moscow Soviet Union
Marina Logvinenko
Nino Salukvadze
Svetlana Smirnova
Federal Republic of Germany
Lieselotte Breker
Monika Schilleder
Margit Stein
Bulgaria
Mariya Grozdeva
Margarita Shkodrova
Tania Staneva
1991 Stavanger Soviet Union
Olga Klochneva
Marina Logvinenko
Nino Salukvadze
Germany
Lieselotte Breker
Margit Stein
Anke Voelker
Yugoslavia
Ksenja Macek
Jasna Šekarić
Mirela Skoko
1994 Milan China
Xiaoping Fan
Duihong Li
Ge Ma
Bulgaria
Diana Iorgova
Mariya Grozdeva
Tania Staneva
Germany
Doreen Mueller
Margit Stein
Anke Voelker
1998 Barcelona Russia
Galina Beliaeva
Svetlana Smirnova
Marina Logvinenko
China
Yeqing Cai
Jie Ren
Luna Tao
Germany
Carmen Meininger
Margit Stein
Anke Schumann
2002 Lahti Russia
Olga Kousnetsova
Svetlana Smirnova
Galina Beliaeva
Belarus
Viktoria Chaika
Liudmila Chabatar
Yuliya Alipava
China
Luna Tao
Ying Chen
Jie Ren
2006 Zagreb China
Jun Hu
Fengji Fei
Ying Chen
Belarus
Viktoria Chaika
Liudmila Chabatar
Yauheniya Haluza
Russia
Natalia Paderina
Olga Kousnetsova
Svetlana Smirnova
2010 Munich Australia
Lalita Yauhleuskaya
Dina Aspandiyarova
Linda Ryan
South Korea
Lee Ho-Lim
Kim Byung-Hee
Park Min-Jin
China
Guo Wenjun
Su Yuling
Zhang Jingjing
2014 Granada
Jasna Šekarić
Bobana Veličković
Zorana Arunović

Guo Wenjun
Zhang Mengyuan
Zhou Qingyuan

Renáta Tobai-Sike
Zsófia Csonka
Adrienn Nemes
2018 Changwon
Jiang Ranxin
Wang Qian
Ji Xiaojing

Kim Min-jung
Kim Bo-mi
Kwak Jung-hye

Vitalina Batsarashkina
Margarita Lomova
Svetlana Medvedeva

World Championships, total medals

Current world records

Olympic and World Champions

The ISSF publishes lists of historical champions.

Men

A green background indicates the Olympic champion.

Women

A green background indicates the Olympic champion.