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

This was the seventh appearance of the ISSF 50 meter pistol event. The event was held at every Summer Olympics from 1896 to 1920 (except 1904, when no shooting events were held) and from 1936 to 2016; it was open to women from 1968 to 1980. 1896 and 1908 were the only Games in which the distance was not 50 metres; the former used 30 metres and the latter 50 yards.[3][4]

Four of the top 10 shooters from the 1936 Games returned despite the 12-year hiatus: gold medalist Torsten Ullman of Sweden, fourth-place finisher Marcel Bonin of France, seventh-place finisher Georgios Stathis of Greece, and ninth-place finisher Sándor Tölgyesi of Hungary. Ullman was the reigning world champion as well, having regained the title in 1947 after coming second in 1937 to break a streak of three victories in 1933, 1935, and 1937. Oscar Bidegain of Argentina had been the runner-up in 1947.

Cuba, Lebanon, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Spain each made their debut in the event. Greece and the United States each made their sixth appearance, tied for most of any nation.

Vásquez used a Hämmerli MP33.

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.[4][5]

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.[6]

World record	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	559	Berlin, Germany	7 August 1936
Olympic record	Torsten Ullman (SWE)	559	Berlin, Germany	7 August 1936

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.[4]<ref name=OR440>

Rank	Shooter	Nation	Score
	Edwin Vásquez	Peru	545
	Rudolf Schnyder	Switzerland	539
	Torsten Ullman	Sweden	539
4	Huelet Benner	United States	539
5	Beat Rhyner	Switzerland	536
6	Ángel León	Spain	534
7	Ambrus Balogh	Hungary	532
8	Marcel Lafortune	Belgium	530
9	Federico Grüben	Argentina	527
10	Eino Saarnikko	Finland	527
11	Sture Nordlund	Sweden	527
12	Walter Walsh	United States	525
13	Lajos Börzsönyi	Hungary	525
14	Sándor Tölgyesi	Hungary	525
15	Heinz Ambühl	Switzerland	524
16	Oscar Bidegain	Argentina	523
17	Quentin Brooks	United States	523
18	Ignacio Cruzat	Chile	522
19	Klaus Lahti	Finland	522
20	Väinö Skarp	Finland	520
21	Guy Granet	Great Britain	519
22	Lars Berg	Sweden	517
23	John Gallie	Great Britain	517
24	Jacques Mazoyer	France	516
25	Martin Gison	Philippines	514
26	Albert von Einsiedel	Philippines	512
27	Wenceslao Salgado	Peru	512
28	Silvino Ferreira	Brazil	511
29	Marcel Bonin	France	511
30	Gunnar Svendsen	Norway	510
31	Álvaro dos Santos Filho	Brazil	509
32	Vangelis Khrysafis	Greece	509
33	Nikolaos Tzovlas	Greece	508
34	César Injoque	Peru	507
35	Juan Rostagno	Argentina	507
36	Stefano Margotti	Italy	503
37	Luis Ruíz Tagle	Chile	502
38	Luis Palomo	Spain	501
39	Miguel Barasorda	Puerto Rico	501
40	Roberto Müller	Chile	497
41	Herman Schultz	Monaco	495
42	Moysés Cardoso	Portugal	485
43	Peter Marchant	Great Britain	484
44	Georgios Stathis	Greece	484
45	Mauritz Amundsen	Norway	483
46	Carlos Queiroz	Portugal	482
47	Godofredo Basso	Cuba	477
48	R. Stéphan	France	477
49	Enrique Tejeda	Cuba	470
50	Khalil Hilmi	Lebanon	331