Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre pistol

The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was a shooting sports event held as part of the Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics programme. It was the seventh appearance of the event. The competition was held on 2 August 1948 at the shooting ranges at London. 50 shooters from 22 nations competed.^[1] Nations had been limited to three shooters each since the 1932 Games. The event was won by Edwin Vásquez of Peru in the nation's debut in the free pistol. Vásquez is still (through the 2020 Games) the only Peruvian athlete to win a gold medal at an Olympic Games.^[2] Rudolf Schnyder of Switzerland took silver. Defending champion Torsten Ullman of Sweden earned bronze, the second man to win multiple medals in the event.

This event marked the seventh appearance of the ISSF 50 meter pistol at the Olympic Games. It was featured in every Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1920 (excluding 1904, when no shooting events were held) and from 1936 to 2016. The event was officially open to female competitors between 1968 and 1980, though participation by women during this period was minimal. A separate women's competition was introduced in 1984.^[3] The only exceptions to the standard 50-metre distance were the 1896 and 1908 Games, which used 30 metres and 50 yards, respectively.^[4][5]

Despite the 12-year gap between Olympic Games due to World War II, four of the top 10 competitors from the 1936 event returned: gold medalist Torsten Ullman of Sweden, fourth-place finisher Marcel Bonin of France, seventh-place Georgios Stathis of Greece, and ninth-place Sándor Tölgyesi of Hungary. Ullman was also the reigning world champion, having reclaimed the title in 1947 after previously winning in 1933, 1935, and 1937. Oscar Bidegain of Argentina had finished second in the 1947 World Championships.

Five nations—Cuba, Lebanon, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Spain—made their debut in the event. Greece and the United States each competed for the sixth time, tied for the most appearances by any country.

Vásquez used a Hämmerli MP33 pistol.

The competition had each shooter fire 60 shots, in 6 series of 10 shots each, at a distance of 50 metres. The target was round, 50 centimetres in diameter, with 10 scoring rings. Scoring for each shot was up to 10 points, in increments of 1 point. The maximum score possible was 600 points. The time limit for each series of 10 shots was 20 minutes. Any pistol was permitted. Ties were broken first by bulls-eyes (7s and above), then by 10s, then by 9s, etc.^[5][6]

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.^[7]

No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

The three-way tie for second was broken first by bulls-eyes (7s and above, the middle 20 cm diameter); Benner had 58 while Schnyder and Ullman had both put all 60 shots in the target area, so the American placed fourth and the other two continued to the next tie-breaker. There, the advantage went to Schnyder with 21 10s against Ullman's 16.^[5][6]