# ISSF Target Dimensions: Ring Sizes for Every Event

> Ten-ring sizes on ISSF targets range from 0.5 mm on the 10m air rifle target to 100 mm on the 25m rapid fire target. This reference lists every ten-ring diameter, ring width, black disc and scoring circle in millimetres, and explains how those printed dimensions decide close shots.

- Canonical URL: https://target-log.net/blog/issf-target-dimensions-ring-sizes/
- Published: 2026-09-29 (updated 2026-10-18)
- Category: Gear & equipment
- Tags: issf, targets, scoring, reference, beginner
- Read time: ~7 min

## Key takeaways
- Ring sizes scale with distance and event: 0.5 mm on the 10m air rifle target, 11.5 mm on the 10m air pistol target, 50 mm on precision pistol, and 100 mm on the rapid fire target.
- The black aiming mark is not the scoring limit. Shots outside it still score, down to ring 1, and on the 25m and 50m pistol targets ring 1 sits at the paper edge.
- Decimal scoring measures where the hole centre sits inside a ring, so the printed dimensions decide close calls; a target printed 5% too small quietly corrupts every score.
- Measure any printed practice target with calipers before training on it. If the ten ring is off, the scores are not comparable to match results.

Target dimensions decide scores more often than shooters expect. A plug gauge checks whether a close shot crosses into the next ring, [decimal scoring](/blog/how-issf-scoring-works/) measures where a hole centre sits inside a ring, and anyone who has printed practice targets at home knows the quiet disaster of a slightly misscaled sheet. The full set of ISSF target dimensions is short, but almost nobody keeps it straight: seven events, seven targets, and ring sizes from half a millimetre to a full decimetre. Here is the complete reference, in millimetres, the way TargetLog implements it.

## ISSF target dimensions at a glance

Four numbers describe any target: the ten-ring diameter, the width each ring adds going outward, the black aiming disc, and the scoring circle (the outer edge of ring 1). Shots outside the scoring circle miss the target entirely; everything between ring 1 and the ten ring scores.

| Event | Ten ring | Ring width | Black disc | Scoring circle |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 10m air rifle | 0.5 mm | 5 mm | 30.5 mm | 45.5 mm |
| 10m air pistol | 11.5 mm | 16 mm | 59.5 mm | 155.5 mm |
| 25m precision pistol | 50 mm | 50 mm | 200 mm | 500 mm |
| 25m [rapid fire pistol](/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-issf-25m-rapid-fire-pistol/) | 100 mm | 80 mm | 420 mm | 500 mm |
| 50m pistol | 50 mm | 50 mm | 200 mm | 500 mm |
| 50m rifle | 10.4 mm | 16 mm | 112.4 mm | 154.4 mm |
| 300m rifle | 100 mm | 100 mm | 600 mm | 1000 mm |

"Ring width" is how much bigger each ring gets as you move outward: on the air rifle target, every ring step adds 5 mm. The black disc column is the outer diameter of the aiming mark, and it always lines up with a ring boundary. That is not a coincidence: the black is printed so that a specific ring value marks its edge, which the FAQ below unpacks.

## What size is the ISSF 10m air pistol target?

The official air pistol target is a 17 by 17 cm sheet with a 155.5 mm scoring circle. The ten ring is 11.5 mm across, each ring adds 16 mm, and the black disc covers rings 7 through 10 at 59.5 mm. An [inner ten](/blog/how-issf-tiebreaking-works-countback-inner-tens-and-ranking/) sits inside the ten ring and breaks ties in qualification.

Note what that sheet does not have: margin. On the 17 cm card the scoring circle takes up most of the paper, and a shot near the card edge still scores a 1. Compare that with the air rifle card, where the 45.5 mm scoring circle floats in the middle of the sheet with generous white space around it.

## 10-metre targets: why the rifle rings are hair-fine

The air rifle and air pistol targets share a range and nothing else. Rifle scores a ten inside a ring 0.5 mm across, one tenth the pistol's 11.5 mm. This is deliberate: a rifle rests in both hands, against the body, with a sling of muscle and bone supporting it, while the pistol hangs off one arm. The rifle shooter's hold is so much steadier that the ring spacing has to shrink by a factor of twenty to keep the scores spread out.

Ring width follows the same logic. The air rifle target adds 5 mm per ring outward; the air pistol target adds 16 mm. Both targets use whole-ring scoring in qualification, so on paper an air rifle ten is either a ten or a nine, nothing between. The drama of decimal scores at 10 metres belongs to the pistol final, and to rifle finals at 50 metres.

## 25m and 50m pistol: the 50 mm ten ring

Precision pistol events at 25 metres ([sport pistol](/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-issf-25m-sport-pistol/)) and 50 metres ([free pistol](/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-issf-50m-free-pistol/)) shoot the same ring geometry: a 50 mm ten ring, 50 mm added per ring, a 200 mm black covering rings 7 through 10, and a 500 mm scoring circle. On these sheets ring 1 lands essentially at the paper edge, so the target has no white margin to catch stray shots. A miss is unmistakable.

The rapid fire target breaks the pattern. It carries only six rings (5 through 10), its ten ring doubles to 100 mm, and the black stretches to 420 mm across, most of the scoring circle. Five of those targets stand side by side, and there is no inner ten on them at all: scoring is a ring value or a miss at speed. If you have ever wondered why rapid fire scores look so lumpy next to a precision match, the target dimensions are the reason.

## 50m and 300m rifle: precision at distance

The 50m rifle target looks small next to the pistol sheets: a 154.4 mm scoring circle. But its rings are finer than the air pistol's, a 10.4 mm ten ring with 16 mm per ring outward, and it carries a 5 mm inner ten used with the plug gauge when qualification scores tie. The black disc covers rings 4 through 10 at 112.4 mm, which is why a shot in the black on a rifle target can still be a middling score.

At 300 metres everything scales by an order of magnitude: a 100 mm ten ring, rings adding 100 mm each, a 600 mm black, and a scoring circle a full metre across. Same ten rings, same scoring logic, just geometry stretched until it matches the distance.

## ISSF target dimensions and decimal scoring

The printed dimensions earn their keep in the finals. Decimal scoring splits each ring into ten parts and measures where the hole centre sits, so a shot on the ring line is not a judgement call; it is arithmetic against the boundary. Two things follow from the dimensions table. First, a decimal point means something different on every target: 0.1 of the air pistol ring is 1.6 mm, while 0.1 of the air rifle ring is 0.5 mm, which is why decimal air rifle scores exist only in finals held at 10m with special rules, not in ordinary qualification. Second, tie-break rules lean on the inner ten, whose size is fixed relative to its target: 25 mm on the precision pistol targets, 5 mm on the 50m rifle target.

If you want the full mechanics, the scoring walkthrough for 10m air pistol covers ring values and finals decimals in detail, and the scoring zones reference explains how rings are laid out and how a shot touching the next ring scores up.

## Printing practice targets: measure before you trust

Home-printed targets fail in one specific way: the printer scales the image a few percent to fit the sheet. A 5% small ten ring turns honest nines into eights, and suddenly your training scores stall for reasons that have nothing to do with your hold. Before training on any printed sheet, measure the ten ring with calipers and compare it to the table above. Thirty seconds of measuring saves a confusing week of practice. Or skip the measuring: the free printable ISSF practice targets are drawn to these exact dimensions with a 50 mm calibration bar on every sheet, so the scale check is built in.

The same check applies to scoring photos of targets: the app scores against the true rulebook geometry for each discipline, so a misscaled print shows up as a consistent bias rather than silent corruption.

## faq

**What size is the black circle on a 10m air rifle target?**

The black aiming disc is 30.5 mm across and covers rings 4 through 10. On the air pistol target the black is 59.5 mm and covers rings 7 through 10, so "in the black" means a 4 or better with a rifle but a 7 or better with a pistol.

**Do all ISSF targets have an inner ten?**

No. The 25m rapid fire target has no inner ten; scoring there is whole rings at speed. The 50m rifle target's 5 mm inner ten is checked with a plug gauge when scores tie, and the precision pistol targets use a 25 mm inner ten the same way.

**What happens when a shot hole touches the next ring?**

A hole that touches the outer boundary of a higher ring scores that higher value. Gauges settle the close calls: the gauge is centred on the hole and its edge represents the bullet's true radius, so the printed ring dimensions decide the score, not the eye.

**Which target does 25m sport pistol use?**

The same 50 mm ten-ring target as 50m free pistol: 200 mm black, 500 mm scoring circle, ring 1 at the paper edge. Sport pistol and free pistol share the precision geometry; only the course of fire differs.

## FAQ
**Q: What size is the black circle on a 10m air rifle target?**
A: The black aiming disc is 30.5 mm in diameter and covers rings 4 through 10. On the 10m air pistol target the black is 59.5 mm and covers rings 7 through 10, so a shot in the black is a 7 or better on pistol but a 4 or better on rifle.

**Q: Do all ISSF targets have an inner ten?**
A: No. The 25m rapid fire target has no inner ten at all. The 50m rifle target has a 5 mm inner ten, and the precision pistol targets use a 25 mm inner ten. Air pistol and air rifle targets also carry inner tens, which matter for tie-breaking rather than score value.

**Q: What happens when a shot hole touches the next ring?**
A: A hole that touches the outer boundary of a higher ring scores that higher value. This is why the exact printed ring dimensions matter: the boundary line is the scoring line, and gauges extend it into a circle around the hole.

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