The 50 meter pistol, formerly and unofficially still often called Free Pistol, is one of the ISSF shooting events. It provides the purest precision shooting among the pistol events, and is one of the oldest shooting disciplines, dating back to the 19th century and only having seen marginal rule changes since 1936. Most of the changes concern distance (30m, 50m, 50 Yards), caliber (.22 .22lr .44CF), type of pistol (revolver only, revolver or pistol, any pistol), time allowed (16 hours, 6 hours, 3 hours, 2 hours, 1 hour and 15 minutes), and most recently, format of the finals (carry over scores, start from zero, number of shots fired in the finals). The target of this event has not changed since 1900, and the 50m distance has remained the standard since 1912. Competitors have been using the small-bore, rim-fire cartridge since 1908. The sport traced back to the beginning of indoor Flobert pistol parlor shooting in Europe during the 1870s, which in turn traced back to 18th-century pistol dueling.

The pistol used must be chambered in caliber .22 Long Rifle ammunition, may only be loaded with one round at a time, and must have conventional "open" or "iron" sights (i.e. optical and laser sights are not allowed). It must also be held and operated by one hand, and not supported by any other part of the shooter's body. Apart from that, there are practically no rules for the pistol, explaining the former name of the event. Trigger weight may be as low as the shooter pleases, the grip may be designed in any way to enhance comfortable ergonomic fit as long as it does not touch the wrist for support, and there are no restrictions on size and weight. Precision pistols with long barrels, grips fitted to the shooter's hand, very light trigger pull, etc., are often themselves called free pistols.

The course of fire is 60 shots within a maximum time of two hours. The target is the same as in 25 meter center-fire pistol, but at double the distance, resulting in a lower result level. 570 out of the maximum 600 is considered a world-class result. The current world record, 583, was achieved in the World shooting Championships Granada in 2014 by the South Korean Jin Jong-oh. The previous world record of 581 points was scored by Kyrgyzstan-born Alexander Melentyev in the 1980 Moscow games, stood for 34 years, and still remains the Olympic record.

Most shooters excelling in 50 m pistol also compete at the same level in 10 meter air pistol, a similar precision event.

The Olympic Committee officially dropped 50 m Pistol as a medal event in meetings held in 2018, making the Rio games of 2016 the last for the "Free Pistol" shooters. However, it is still part of other major ISSF competitions; most notably the World Shooting Championships.