How do you win in pistol shooting?
B · Beginner · Events and scoring · 1 of 5The highest total score wins. Each shot scores by the ring it lands in, 10 at the centre and less towards the edge, and a miss scores zero. In qualification every athlete fires a set number of shots. In Olympic events the best eight go to a final, where everyone starts again from zero.
How it works
- Full rings: a shot scores the whole number of the ring it hits. Sixty shots give a best possible total of 600.
- Decimals: with an electronic scoring target each ring is divided into ten thinner rings. A ten is then anything from 10.0 to 10.9 and a nine anything from 9.0 to 9.9.
- Which is used in qualification: full rings in every pistol event.
- Which is used in finals: decimals in the air pistol final. The two 25 m finals use hit-miss scoring, where a shot inside a set zone is a hit and anything else is a miss.
- The inner ten: a smaller circle inside the ten ring. A shot inside it is an inner ten. It adds nothing to the total and is counted to break ties.
- The monitor: every shot on an electronic target must be shown, with its place and value, on a monitor at the firing point.
- How fine the scoring is: an electronic target must score to within half of one decimal ring.
- Reaching the final: "The eight (8) highest-ranking athletes in the Qualification advance to the Finals in all Olympic events".
- Starting again: qualification scores "do not carry forward. Scoring in Finals starts from zero".
- Deductions: a penalty is taken from the series in which the fault happened.
A perfect qualification in any pistol event is 600.
Tricky cases
Does the qualification score carry into the final?
No. Qualification earns a place in the final and nothing more. Every finalist starts from zero.
In a full-ring event, does a shot in the dead centre score more than one on the edge of the ten ring?
No. Both score 10. The difference shows only if two athletes finish level, when inner tens are counted first.
Can a penalty take a score below zero?
No. In a final "No score below zero (0) will be recorded". A one-point deduction from a shot or series that scored nothing leaves it at nothing.
Do all pistol events have a final?
No. 50 m pistol has none, and the medals go by the qualification ranking. The events table says that Olympic events have a qualification and a final and that other events have a full programme "with an optional Final".
Why the rule exists
The best athletes hit the ten ring with almost every shot, so whole numbers leave many of them level. Decimals separate shots that full rings would score the same. Starting the final from zero means the medals are decided in front of the spectators, by shots they can follow one at a time.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ISSF rules | As above | ISSF 6.3.3; ISSF 6.17.1.1; ISSF 6.17.1.5 |
| Mixed team event | Qualification is in decimals for air rifle and full rings for air pistol. Both finals are in decimals | ISSF 6.18.2.6; ISSF 6.18.3.6 |
| 25 m finals | Hit or miss, with the hit zone set as a decimal value | ISSF 6.3.3.3 |
| Paper targets | Still permitted. They are scored under a separate annex, which was not read for these pages | ISSF 6.3.1.1 |
From the rule book
ISSF Official Statutes, Rules and Regulations, Edition 2025 (second print 07/2026), General Technical Rules 6.3.2, 6.3.3, 6.14.7 and 6.17.1 and the table of recognised events. Effective 1 July 2026. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: ISSF Rule Book (PDF).