Shooting at the 1960 Summer Olympics – Men's 300 metre free rifle, three positions

This was the eighth appearance of the men's 300 metre three-positions rifle event, which was held 11 times between 1900 and 1972.[2][3] Half of the top 10 shooters from 1956 returned: gold medalist Vasily Borisov of the Soviet Union, bronze medalist (and 1952 fifth-place finisher) Vilho Ylönen of Finland, fifth-place finisher Constantin Antonescu of Romania, seventh-place finisher Anders Kvissberg of Sweden, and ninth-place finisher Sándor Krebs of Hungary. Ylönen was also the reigning world champion.[4]

Austria, Germany (as the United Team of Germany), Poland, and Sudan each made their debut in the event. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the United States each made their seventh appearance, tied for most of any nation.

For the only time, the competition was held over two rounds. The qualifying round was a half-sized round, with each shooter firing 60 shots (20 in each position: prone, kneeling, and standing). The 39 competitors were divided into two groups, with 20 in one group and 19 in the other. The top 19 in each group qualified for the final. Thus, only one man was eliminated.

The final round had each shooter fire 120 shots, 40 shots in each position.

Shots were fired in series of 10. The target was 1 metre in diameter, with 10 scoring rings; targets were set at a distance of 300 metres. Thus, the maximum score possible was 1200 points. Any rifle could be used.[4][5]

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

World record	Anatoli Bogdanov (URS)	1145		1959
Olympic record	Vasily Borisov (URS)	1138	Melbourne, Australia	1 December 1956

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

All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (UTC+10)