The sport is based on the traditional "English Match" that also consisted of 60 shots in the prone position with a .22 rifle, but had varying distances between 45.7 meters (50.0 yd) and 100 meters (110 yd).
Since 2013 the time limit is 50 minutes for the match, preceded by 15 minutes of sighting and preparation time. If shooting on paper rather than electronic targets, 60 minutes is allowed for match firing.[2]
Before 2017, the men's event was included in the Olympic program but starting with the 2020 Olympics this event has been removed to promote equal gender in Olympic shooting sports. Mixed gender doubles events were introduced to replace this event and two other individual shooting events.[3] Now this event is contested in World Championships only. This includes a final for the top eight competitors. Beginning with the 2013 season, a new finals format was instituted, in which the qualification score is discarded, and the standings among the top eight shooters are determined by their finals scores alone. The course of fire was also changed significantly with the new rules, from the previous 10-shot and then 20-shots program into a 24-shot elimination format, with the lowest ranking shooter eliminated every two shots, starting from the completion of 12th shot.
The women's event has never been included in the Olympic program. It is included in both the ISSF and the CISM World Championships. Since the use of Olympic-style finals was discontinued in 2018, shooters with the same score are separated by a number of tie-breaking criteria, the first being the number of inner tens. Women's rifles may weigh up to 6.5 kilograms (14 lb), as opposed to 8.0 kilograms (17.6 lb) for men, but after the switch from standard rifles to sport rifles this is now the only difference in equipment.
