Well, that was pretty thick of me. After posting the question above, I went to the ISSF site and found a partial answer within 5 minutes:
"The first air pistol championship was conducted in 1970. It was a 40 shot course of fire for both the men and the women. In 1982 the men’s course was increased to 60 shots. "
And the rest of the answer within 10 minutes:
1970 World Championship, Phoenix, AZ:
*Air Pistol, Men, 40 Shots
1) 383 ~ Marosvari, Kornel HUN
2) 382 ~ Stolipin, Vladimir URS
3) 382 ~ Vollmar, Harald GDR
*Air Pistol, Women, 40 Shots
1) 372 ~ Carrol, Sally USA
2) 372 ~ Rasskazova, Nin URS
3) 372 ~ Stoliarova, Nin URS
The Men's course was first contested at 60 shots in 1981 at the World Championships in Santa Domingo. The medalists were:
1) 580 ~ Nygord, Don USA
2) 578 ~ Diakov, Ljubtcho BUL
3) 576 ~ Skanaker, Ragnar SWE
The complete record of UIT/ISSF World Championship Match Results from 1897 to 2003 in PDF:
http://www.issf-shooting.org/_data/meda ... 7_2003.pdf