The 1911 platform: the complete guide before you buy
The 1911 pistol in 9mm or .45 ACP: capacity, weight, eligibility for IPSC Classic, TAR and 25 m, .22 LR versions, prices in France and budget per year.
Guides
Gear, technique, and the French rules behind owning and shooting a pistol.
9mm ammo: what 115, 124 and 147 grain actually change
Bullet weight changes recoil, how the pistol cycles and the power factor. What manufacturer figures and reviews say about 115, 124 and 147 grain 9mm.
DA/SA, single action only or striker-fired: which to choose
A hammer-fired pistol changes trigger weight between the first shot and the next ones; a striker-fired pistol does not. What that means on the range.
Glock 19: the complete guide before you buy
The most copied compact 9mm on the market: 670 g, 15 rounds, a trigger that divides opinion. What it does well, what it does less well, and who it suits.
Pistol malfunctions: recognize the symptom, then find the cause
Slide that will not close, stovepipe, a round that does not fire, two cartridges at once: each symptom, its immediate drill and the order to seek the cause.
Pistol reliability: three notes per malfunction to find the cause
Pistol, ammunition lot, magazine: three notes taken at each malfunction are enough to find what is at fault. The method, the rate per thousand, break-in.
Reloading log: recording your loads so they teach you something
A reloading log: eleven columns, group and distance included, on paper or in a spreadsheet. A printable template, the measuring tools and what they cost.
Beretta 92X Performance: the complete guide before you buy
Beretta 92X Performance: 1,350 g of steel, 3,000 then 1,500 g breaks, an Optic Ready version, eligibility for Production, TAR and 25 m, prices and budget.
Competition 9mm pistols compared: eleven guns side by side
Eleven competition 9mm pistols compared: weight, trigger, capacity, IPSC Production and TAR eligibility, .22 LR versions and prices recorded in France.
CZ Shadow 2: the complete guide before you buy
What makes it stable, what its weight changes from one event to another, its double-action first shot, and how it compares with the Beretta 92X.
Dan Wesson DWX: the complete guide before you buy
Dan Wesson DWX: single action only, 1,276 g, 19 + 1 rounds of 9mm, CZ magazines. Allowed in Standard, Optics and Open, excluded from IPSC Production.
Glock 34: the complete guide before you buy
The Glock 34 Gen5 MOS in figures: 743 g, a 2,447 g trigger, a 135 mm barrel that bars it from Production and TAR, new price and budget per year.
Pistol magazines for sport shooting: how many, which, what price
How many magazines to own, what they cost, what buying one takes in France, the capacity each discipline allows, base pads, magwells and magazine care.
Sport shooting pistol maintenance: clean, lubricate, replace
Cleaning after every session, lubrication at the friction points only, a dry barrel for shooting: what the Glock and CZ manuals say, and the yearly budget.
Red dot sight on a pistol: benefits, price, zeroing and rules
What a red dot changes compared with iron sights, its price from €309 to €1,099, the footprint, zeroing to the click and what the rulebooks allow.
Pistol trigger for sport shooting: weight, reset, adjustment, rules
Take-up, wall, overtravel, reset: what makes up a pistol trigger, factory pull weights in grams, the minimums set by the rulebooks and the risk of lightening.
Smith & Wesson M&P: the complete guide before you buy
Smith & Wesson M&P9 M2.0 and Competitor: weight, measured trigger, IPSC Production and TAR eligibility, .22 LR version, new prices and budget per year.
Staccato and the 2011 platform: the guide before you buy
Staccato and 2011 pistols: range and weights, triggers from 1,134 to 2,041 g, IPSC and TAR eligibility, magazines, prices recorded in France, yearly budget.
Walther PDP: the complete guide before you buy
Walther PDP in polymer or with a steel frame: weights, a 2,500 g trigger, eligibility for IPSC Production and TAR, dated new prices and budget per year.
First sport shooting pistol: which one to choose, and when to buy it
Which pistol to start sport shooting with? The four possible routes, their pros and cons, their prices, the wait before buying and the yearly budget to plan.
Sport shooting budget: what the first year and the following years cost
License and club, medical certificate, firearm, safe, ammunition: the sport shooting budget for the first year, then the following years, by firearm chosen.
Renewing your FFTir license: dates, EDEN and pitfalls
FFTir license renewal for 2026-2027: the club acts in ITAC from 24 August, and the old license stays valid until 30 September. Cost, certificate and risks.
Shooting without a club: what an FFTir license really requires
No FFTir license without a club: the club issues it. Without a license: two introductory sessions a year, air guns outside that cap, and Category D.
Which pistol for which FFTir discipline?
Air pistol, .22 LR, 9mm or revolver: the FFTir events open to each pistol, the equipment-control thresholds, new prices and the ammunition budget per year.
French Category B firearm authorization: timelines, file and renewal
French Category B authorization: one five-year title, four to seven months after the license, the SIA file, silence that means refusal, and the budget.
The French SIA account and the sport shooter's digital gun rack
The French SIA account for sport shooters: documents to open it, the SIA number, six months to correct the gun rack, five days to confirm a firearm purchase.
9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum or .45 ACP: which caliber for which event
Price per round, events allowed, energy, power factor: 9mm, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 ACP and .22 LR compared for sport shooting, with the figures.
IPSC in France (TSV): divisions, Minor/Major and how to start
Tir sportif de vitesse, the FFTir's IPSC: the 2026 divisions, Minor or Major, the hit factor, the Category B pistol and the budget to plan for each year.
Sport shooting target dimensions: the ISSF figures, discipline by discipline
An 11.5 mm 10 ring on the 10 m pistol target, a 0.5 mm white dot on the rifle target: the official ISSF dimensions of targets from 10 to 300 m, and TAR's.
9mm or .22 LR: which caliber to start sport shooting with?
.22 LR costs half as much per round as 9mm, for the same packaging, and recoils ten times less. 9mm opens practical and service-firearm shooting. The figures.
The FFTir medical certificate: validity, statements and price
FFTir medical certificate: under a year old for every license, at any age, no questionnaire. The statements that matter, who may sign it and about €30 a year.
French Category B firearm and ammunition quotas: 15 firearms, 3,000 rounds
French Category B quotas: 15 firearms, 6 for a first-time holder, 3,000 rounds bought per firearm per year, 1,000 in stock, 10 magazines, and what it costs.
French firearm categories A, B, C and D: the classification and the C1b notation
French firearm categories A, B, C and D: what each one requires, from prohibition to free purchase, the C1b notation decoded, round thresholds and myths.
The shooting logbook and the 3 controlled sessions: the rule and its calendar
Three controlled sessions at least two months apart within the twelve months before the application. The shooting logbook is gone: the club register counts.