25 M Rapid-Fire Pistol - is both an ISSF and an Olympic shooting event. If you think of Free Pistol as the marathon event then Rapid-Fire is the sprint event for men. Five targets, arranged side-by-side, face the competitor, who must fire one shot at each of the targets within a specified time interval. There are three time intervals. The event begins with a “sighting” series of five shots fired in eight seconds. After that, two five-shot series are fired, each in eight seconds; then another two series, but each in six seconds; and finally, two series, each in four seconds - for a total of 30 scoring shots. All this is repeated a second time for a grand total of 60 shots for score (and ten sighting shots).
Up until the 2004 Athens Olympics, this event typically was fired with a pistol chambered for the .22 Short cartridge. However, beginning 1 Jan 2005, the rules were changed and now the pistol must comply with the Standard Pistol specifications - which requires that the .22 Long Rifle cartridge be used, rather than the .22 Short - but the time intervals and the targets remain the same. This, too, is a “men-only” event at the International level. ( More Information )
