Why a CFSC Pass Mark of 80% Means Almost Nothing on the Range
By Travis Bader, founder of Silvercore Outdoors. Personally teaching CFSC and CRFSC since 1994.
The pass mark for the Canadian Firearms Safety Course is 80%, and you need it twice: once on the written multiple choice test and once on the practical handling test. Score below 80% on either one and you have not passed the course. The Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course works the same way. That is the answer people search for, and it is the least important thing I can tell you about the CFSC.
I have been teaching this course since 1994. Silvercore has certified most of the firearms instructors currently teaching in British Columbia, and I have watched thousands of students walk out with a course report in hand. Here is what that 80% actually proves, what it does not, and why the students who fixate on the number are usually the ones I keep the closest eye on.
What the tests actually are
The CFSC is a federal curriculum set by the RCMP Canadian Firearms Program, delivered over a minimum of eight hours of classroom instruction. There is no live fire. At the end you complete two evaluations: a written multiple choice test and a practical test where an examiner hands you real, deactivated firearms and asks you to handle them safely. You demonstrate ACTS and PROVE, you work through different action types, and you show that safe muzzle direction and trigger discipline are habits rather than answers you memorized.
The practical test is where the course earns its keep. Anyone can study a workbook. Standing in front of an examiner with a firearm in your hands, under a bit of pressure, shows whether the safety fundamentals actually landed.
Passing is the floor, not the ceiling
An 80% pass mark is an academic threshold. It tells the Canadian Firearms Program that you answered enough questions correctly and handled the firearms safely enough, on one day, in a classroom. It does not tell anyone that you are competent on a range, ready to hunt, or prepared to store and transport firearms correctly for the next twenty years without supervision. Those are different skills, built through practice and good habits after the course, and the course report is simply your licence to start building them.
Something we see year after year: the students who arrive most confident, often people who grew up around firearms, are frequently the ones who struggle most with the practical test. They have habits, and some of those habits are wrong. The student who has never touched a firearm often does better, because they have nothing to unlearn and they take the material seriously. If the 80% feels beneath you, that feeling is worth examining before test day.
You cannot challenge the test
This catches experienced shooters out constantly. There is no challenge or test-out option for the CFSC or CRFSC. That route was removed in 2015. Everyone takes the full in-person course, including lifelong hunters, former military, and applicants trained outside Canada. Some of what is on these tests is specific to the course material itself, and general firearms knowledge, even a lifetime of it, does not cover it.
What happens if you fail, and what happens when you pass
Fall short on either test and you can retest, though how that is handled varies by provider and you may be paying for another seat. Far cheaper to show up prepared. Pass both and your instructor issues a course report, which is the document the RCMP requires before it will process your Possession and Acquisition Licence application. The CFSC qualifies you for a non-restricted PAL covering rifles and shotguns. If you want restricted privileges, primarily handguns, you also complete the CRFSC.
How to show up ready
Study the theory before you arrive, treat the classroom day as reinforcement rather than a first exposure, and slow down on the practical. We wrote a full post on exactly this: Pro Tips to Pass Your CFSC/CRFSC. If you want structured preparation you can do from the couch, our online firearms safety course walks the curriculum before your in-person date.
And once the test is behind you, remember what the number meant. The 80% got you a licence to learn. The range time, the mentorship, and the standards you hold yourself to when nobody is watching are what make you a safe firearms owner.
Continue on the Silvercore Path
- → Pro Tips to Pass Your CFSC/CRFSC
- → CFSC and CRFSC in BC: The Complete Guide
- → Canadian Firearms Safety Course (CFSC and CRFSC) at Silvercore
- → The Silvercore Club
Book your course
You can take the CFSC and CRFSC in a single weekend at our locations across BC, taught by instructors we certified and stand behind. Once you are licensed, the Silvercore Club keeps you sharp and has your back, with $5 million in liability coverage for your lawful firearms activities, free online courses, and partner discounts, for $59 a year.
About the author
Travis Bader is the founder of Silvercore Outdoors, Canada's largest firearms safety training company. He has personally taught the Canadian Firearms Safety Course and Canadian Restricted Firearms Safety Course since 1994, and through Silvercore has trained and certified most of the firearms instructors currently teaching in British Columbia. Travis has been qualified as an expert witness in firearms matters at the Federal Court of Canada and the Provincial Court of British Columbia.
Sources: RCMP Canadian Firearms Program CFSC/CRFSC curriculum and testing requirements. Pass mark and course structure verified August 31, 2026.
Travis Bader
Silvercore Outdoors
