Shooting at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 50 metre pistol

This was the 16th 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][2]

Three of the top 10 shooters from the 1980 Games returned: seventh-place finisher (and 1972 gold medalist and 1976 fifth-place finisher) Ragnar Skanåker of Sweden, eighth-place finisher Paavo Palokangas of Finland, and ninth-place finisher Sylvio Carvalho of Brazil. Skanåker was also the reigning (1982) world champion. Many of the rest of the 1980 Olympians were from boycotting nations, including the reigning gold medalist and 1982 world championship runner-up Aleksandr Melentyev of the Soviet Union.

The People's Republic of China, Chinese Taipei, Ecuador, India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Senegal each made their debut in the event. Sweden and the United States each made their 14th appearance, tied for most of any nation.

Xu used a Hämmerli 150.

Each shooter fired 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. Any pistol was permitted.[2][4]

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

World record	Aleksandr Melentyev (URS)	581	Moscow, Soviet Union	20 July 1980
Olympic record	Aleksandr Melentyev (URS)	581	Moscow, Soviet Union	20 July 1980

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