Hunters Guide

Canada · CFSC

CFSC Practice Test

By Hunters Guide. Last reviewed September 18, 2026.

A weathered wooden bench beside a gravel path on an overcast morning, damp grass either side.

The CFSC written examination is 50 multiple-choice questions and the pass mark is 40 points, or roughly 80%. The 24 questions below are original practice items covering firearm evolution, safety practices, ammunition, operating actions, firing techniques, firearm care, owner responsibility, storage transport. Every answer includes an explanation.

These are practice questions, not the official exam. They are written from published curriculum topics rather than copied from the Canadian Firearms Safety Course question bank, so a good score here means you are ready to book a real exam, not that you are certified.

Canada practice questions

  1. 1Which three assemblies make up any firearm?

    1. Barrel, action, stock
    2. Barrel, magazine, scope
    3. Action, trigger, safety
    4. Stock, sights, sling
    Show the answer

    Barrel, action, stock

    Every firearm reduces to these three, whatever its age or type. Learning to name parts by assembly is what lets you follow instructions for an action you have not handled before.

  2. 2A firearm's chamber is part of which assembly?

    1. The stock
    2. The barrel
    3. The trigger group
    4. The magazine
    Show the answer

    The barrel

    The chamber is the rear portion of the barrel where the cartridge sits. Knowing this matters because proving a firearm safe means inspecting the chamber and then the bore, which are the same component.

  3. 3What distinguishes a repeating action from a single shot?

    1. It fires faster
    2. It holds more than one cartridge and can reload the chamber without handling a new round
    3. It has a longer barrel
    4. It uses centrefire ammunition
    Show the answer

    It holds more than one cartridge and can reload the chamber without handling a new round

    The practical consequence is that clearing the chamber on a repeater does not make it safe. The magazine must be dealt with first or the action simply feeds another round.

  4. 4What do the letters ACTS stand for?

    1. Aim, Cock, Take, Shoot
    2. Assume every firearm is loaded; Control the muzzle direction; Trigger finger off the trigger; See that the firearm is unloaded
    3. Approach, Clear, Transport, Store
    4. Action, Chamber, Trigger, Safety
    Show the answer

    Assume every firearm is loaded; Control the muzzle direction; Trigger finger off the trigger; See that the firearm is unloaded

    ACTS is the four vital practices applied to every firearm, every time, with no exception for familiar firearms or ones someone has just proven to you.

  5. 5In PROVE, what does the R require?

    1. Reload the magazine
    2. Remove all cartridges, including the magazine
    3. Rest the firearm
    4. Return the firearm to its case
    Show the answer

    Remove all cartridges, including the magazine

    PROVE runs Point, Remove, Observe, Verify, Examine. Removing the source of ammunition comes before inspecting the chamber, because doing it the other way lets the magazine refill what you just cleared.

  6. 6Someone hands you a firearm and says it is unloaded. What do you do?

    1. Accept it, since they just checked
    2. Prove it safe yourself before doing anything else
    3. Check only if the action is closed
    4. Ask a second person to confirm
    Show the answer

    Prove it safe yourself before doing anything else

    Another person's word is not a condition you can verify. You prove every firearm you take control of, and you do it in front of them, which is normal courtesy rather than an insult.

  7. 7What is the difference between rimfire and centrefire ammunition?

    1. Rimfire is more powerful
    2. The priming compound sits in the rim of a rimfire case and in a central primer on a centrefire case
    3. Rimfire is only used in shotguns
    4. Centrefire cannot be reloaded
    Show the answer

    The priming compound sits in the rim of a rimfire case and in a central primer on a centrefire case

    Where the primer sits determines how the firing pin must strike it, and centrefire cases can be reloaded because the spent primer is replaceable.

  8. 8A cartridge chambers in your firearm. Is it therefore safe to fire?

    1. Yes, if it chambers it fits
    2. No. Several cartridges will chamber in the wrong firearm while producing pressures the action cannot contain
    3. Yes, if the case is the same length
    4. Only if it is centrefire
    Show the answer

    No. Several cartridges will chamber in the wrong firearm while producing pressures the action cannot contain

    Fit is not authorisation. The only authority is the cartridge designation stamped on the barrel, matched to the headstamp on the case.

  9. 9You pull the trigger and nothing happens. What is the first thing you do?

    1. Open the action immediately
    2. Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and wait, in case it is a hangfire
    3. Shake the firearm
    4. Remove the cartridge and inspect it
    Show the answer

    Keep the muzzle pointed in a safe direction and wait, in case it is a hangfire

    A hangfire is a delayed ignition, and opening the action into your own face during one is how people get seriously hurt. Wait with the muzzle controlled before you investigate.

  10. 10On a pump action, what does the action bar lock do?

    1. Prevents the trigger moving
    2. Holds the fore-end closed, and usually must be released before the action can be opened on an unfired round
    3. Locks the safety on
    4. Secures the magazine
    Show the answer

    Holds the fore-end closed, and usually must be released before the action can be opened on an unfired round

    Not knowing the release is why people force a pump action. Finding and using it is part of proving that particular firearm safe.

  11. 11Why must the magazine be removed before the chamber on a semi-automatic?

    1. It is not required
    2. Because cycling the action with the magazine fitted simply chambers the next cartridge
    3. To protect the extractor
    4. To disengage the safety
    Show the answer

    Because cycling the action with the magazine fitted simply chambers the next cartridge

    Order matters on any firearm that feeds itself. Chamber first is the single most common error in proving a semi-automatic safe.

  12. 12What must you do after removing the magazine and cycling the action?

    1. Close the action and apply the safety
    2. Look into the chamber and then down the bore to confirm both are clear
    3. Assume it is clear
    4. Dry fire to confirm
    Show the answer

    Look into the chamber and then down the bore to confirm both are clear

    PROVE ends with examining the bore for exactly this reason: an empty chamber above an obstructed barrel is still a dangerous firearm.

  13. 13What must you establish before every shot?

    1. The wind direction
    2. A positively identified target and a safe backstop beyond it
    3. The exact range
    4. The ammunition brand
    Show the answer

    A positively identified target and a safe backstop beyond it

    You are responsible for the projectile for its entire flight, which can be kilometres. What is behind the target is as much your decision as the target itself.

  14. 14Which shooting position is the most stable?

    1. Standing
    2. Prone
    3. Kneeling
    4. Sitting
    Show the answer

    Prone

    Prone puts the most body contact on the ground and the least muscular effort into holding the firearm. Stability descends through sitting and kneeling to standing, which is the least steady.

  15. 15You hear a weak report and feel almost no recoil. What has likely happened?

    1. A normal light load
    2. A squib, with the projectile possibly lodged in the barrel
    3. A hangfire
    4. A misfire
    Show the answer

    A squib, with the projectile possibly lodged in the barrel

    The danger is that it feels close enough to a normal shot to continue. Unload, and check the bore before another round goes behind a stuck one.

  16. 16Before cleaning a firearm, what is the first step?

    1. Disassemble it
    2. Prove it safe, with ammunition removed from the area
    3. Apply solvent
    4. Check the sights
    Show the answer

    Prove it safe, with ammunition removed from the area

    Cleaning incidents happen because the firearm was assumed clear. Ammunition leaves the room as well, so a live round cannot find its way back into the action.

  17. 17Why must a barrel obstruction be cleared before firing?

    1. It reduces accuracy
    2. Because pressure behind an obstruction can rupture the barrel
    3. It damages the finish
    4. It affects the sights only
    Show the answer

    Because pressure behind an obstruction can rupture the barrel

    Mud, snow, a cleaning patch, or a lodged projectile all do the same thing. The barrel is a pressure vessel and an obstruction turns it into a failure point.

  18. 18Is safe storage of a firearm a legal requirement or a recommendation?

    1. A recommendation from the manufacturer
    2. A legal obligation of the owner and user
    3. Required only for restricted firearms
    4. Required only when children live in the home
    Show the answer

    A legal obligation of the owner and user

    Storage requirements are law, not guidance, and they apply whether or not anyone else lives in the home.

  19. 19What must you do if a firearm is lost or stolen?

    1. Nothing, if it was insured
    2. Report it to police as soon as possible
    3. Wait 30 days in case it is found
    4. Tell the retailer you bought it from
    Show the answer

    Report it to police as soon as possible

    Reporting promptly is both a legal duty and the only thing that gives police a chance of recovering it before it is used.

  20. 20Who is responsible for a firearm you have lent to someone else?

    1. Entirely the borrower
    2. You remain responsible for lending it appropriately, and the borrower must be licensed
    3. Nobody, once it leaves your hands
    4. The retailer
    Show the answer

    You remain responsible for lending it appropriately, and the borrower must be licensed

    Lending to an unlicensed person is an offence by you. Your responsibility does not end at the doorstep.

  21. 21How must a non-restricted firearm be stored?

    1. Loaded, in a locked cabinet
    2. Unloaded, and either fitted with a secure locking device or locked in a container that cannot readily be broken into
    3. Unloaded, anywhere out of sight
    4. With the bolt removed only
    Show the answer

    Unloaded, and either fitted with a secure locking device or locked in a container that cannot readily be broken into

    Unloaded is the baseline, and then it must be either locked itself or locked away. One without the other does not meet the requirement.

  22. 22How must ammunition be stored relative to a non-restricted firearm?

    1. Always in the same container
    2. Separately, or locked up, so that it is not readily accessible with the firearm
    3. Always in the magazine
    4. There is no requirement at all
    Show the answer

    Separately, or locked up, so that it is not readily accessible with the firearm

    The purpose is to make a stored firearm not immediately usable. Verify the current wording in the Storage, Display, Transportation and Handling regulations, which is where the detail lives.

  23. 23What condition must a firearm be in during transport?

    1. Loaded, with the safety on
    2. Unloaded
    3. Loaded, if it is out of sight
    4. Either, on private property
    Show the answer

    Unloaded

    Transport condition is unloaded without exception. Additional requirements apply to unattended vehicles and to restricted firearms.

  24. 24Why is displaying a firearm treated separately from storing it?

    1. It is not, the rules are identical
    2. Because a displayed firearm is visible and accessible, so it carries its own requirements to be unloaded and secured
    3. Display is unregulated
    4. Only museums may display firearms
    Show the answer

    Because a displayed firearm is visible and accessible, so it carries its own requirements to be unloaded and secured

    Display trades concealment for visibility, which is exactly why it has its own rules rather than inheriting the storage ones.

Passing the course is one step. For what happens after it, and what the licence costs, read How to Get a PAL in Canada.

Practise one topic at a time

Frequently asked questions

Is this the real Canadian Firearms Safety Course exam?

No. These are original practice questions written from published curriculum topics. They are not reproduced from the official question bank, and passing them does not certify you to hunt in Canada.

What topics does the Canada exam cover?

The questions on this page cover firearm evolution, safety practices, ammunition, operating actions, firing techniques, firearm care, owner responsibility, storage transport. The official course covers the same ground in more depth.

Do I need a separate licence to hunt in another province?

Yes. Canadian hunting licences are province-specific, so a Canada licence does not authorize you to hunt elsewhere. Your hunter education credential is generally recognized across provinces, but the licence is not.