The shooting logbook and the 3 controlled sessions: spacing counts as much as the number
Published on · 19 min read · Anthony Baillon
The shooting logbook is often reduced to one sentence: "three controlled shoots in twelve months". That is correct, but it leaves out half the rule: those three sessions must also be at least two months apart. It is this second bound, rarely put forward, that decides the calendar.
What the text says, word for word
The three-controlled-sessions rule is no longer where many club pages go looking for it. It sits in article 3 of the arrêté of 28 April 2020, made for the application of article R. 312-5 of the code de la sécurité intérieure1:
"For a first application to acquire firearms mentioned in article 1 of the present arrêté, the attestation bears on the shooter's participation, during the twelve months preceding the application, in three controlled shooting practice sessions, at least two months apart."
Three elements, easy to miss. The text speaks of participation, not results: your score on the target does not enter into it. It sets a window of twelve rolling months before the application, not the calendar year. And it imposes a minimum gap of two months between sessions, which turns a counting condition into a calendar condition.
The Ministry of the Interior confirmed this in its answer to written question no. 29746, published 17 November 2020: the shooter "must still show, during the twelve months preceding the application, three controlled shooting sessions, at least two months apart"8. The FFTir says the same in its 2020 circular9.
Why so many pages cite dead texts
If you go looking for the rule, the triptych "R312-40, R312-43 and the arrêté of 16 December 1998" comes up page after page. All three are obsolete, and we were caught by them ourselves at the start:
- R312-43 — the one that imposed the logbook and the daily register — has been repealed since 1 July 2020, by article 3 of decree no. 2020-486 of 28 April 202023.
- The arrêté of 16 December 1998 — the one on the minimum number of controlled shooting sessions, the logbook and the daily register — is repealed by article 7 of the arrêté of 28 April 20201. That text is where the annual count people still quote came from.
- R312-40 was first replaced on 1 July 2020 by the same decree2, then rewritten entirely on 1 January 2024: its version in force deals only with firearm quotas and says nothing about controlled sessions or the logbook43.
The substantive rule has not disappeared. It simply changed legal support — and that move is what many pages failed to follow.
The corridor: between four and twelve months
Both bounds come from the same sentence, but they are rarely presented together. They do not pull the same way: one stops you going too fast, the other stops you dawdling.
The corridor: between 4 and 12 months
Assumption: identical gap between the 1st and 2nd session, then between the 2nd and 3rd; the bar shows the time elapsed between the 1st and the 3rd
The arrêté of 28 April 2020 imposes two bounds at once: at least two months between two sessions, and all three sessions within the twelve months preceding the application1. In green, the cadences that produce three qualifying sessions; in orange, those that leave only two.
Voir les données
| Gap between two sessions | 1st → 3rd session | Three qualifying sessions? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 months | 3 months | No | Under the two-month minimum |
| 2 months | 4 months | Yes | The shortest run the text allows |
| 4 months | 8 months | Yes | Comfortable, everything inside the window |
| 7 months | 14 months | No | The first session is over twelve months old |
The floor: four full months
Two months between the first and second session, two months between the second and third: four months is the shortest run the text allows. No club, no league and no prefecture can shorten it, and nobody can issue you a favorable opinion after six weeks of practice, however often you shoot.
For an impatient first-time applicant this is counter-intuitive: shooting more often shortens nothing, only the calendar counts.
The ceiling: the first session must not expire
The other bound is more insidious, because you do not see it coming. All three sessions must fall within the twelve months preceding the application. A session done thirteen months ago is not a session held in reserve: it has left the window, and has to be done again.
Concretely, if you space your sessions seven months apart — which happens fast when you miss a validation slot, a summer goes by, then an injury — your first session is fourteen months old on the day of the third. You have indeed done three controlled sessions. Only two of them still count.
The date that counts is the filing date, not the third session. Between the third stamp and the filing on your SIA account, time passes while your club processes the opinion, then the regional league and the federation certify it in ITAC9. If your first session is eleven and a half months old at the third shoot, the margin is thin.
"Two months" or "sixty days"? Clubs disagree
The text writes "two months". It does not convert them into days, and we found no public document that settles it. The result: two readings coexist, each stated in black and white.
| Reading | Wording found | Effect on 1 January → 1 March |
|---|---|---|
| Date to date | "the previous controlled shoot was carried out at least 2 months earlier"15 | Session accepted |
| In days | "3 shoots within the club, at least 60 days apart"14 | Session refused (59 days) |
The gap looks theoretical. It is not: between 1 January and 1 March in a non-leap year, 59 days elapse. The same session passes at one club and not at another. And since it is the club president who runs the check and signs, it is their reading that governs your file — the ministry expressly transferred that control to presidents, who "engage their responsibility, including criminal"8.
The remedy is simple: ask your club before the second session, not after the third. And if you have no answer, aim wide — two months and a week costs nothing.
The logbook is no longer compulsory — and still required
This is the apparent contradiction that throws people most. Both statements are true at once, because they sit on different floors.
| Floor | What is imposed | The shooting logbook |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation (arrêté of 28 April 2020) | Three controlled sessions two months apart over twelve rolling months; checked by the president, with a nominative list kept up to date, which remains compulsory1 | No longer required: article R312-43 of the code, which imposed it, was repealed on 1 July 202023 |
| The federation | "Nothing beyond what the arrêté provides"; a record of attendance is only advised9 | The medium is free: notebook, badge, logbook917 |
| The regional league | May add its own requirements | Some expressly keep it15 |
| The club | Validation slots, minimum membership time, round count1315 | Often kept "for information"14 |
A club in the Gironde puts it plainly: the shooting logbook "is no longer legally compulsory but the Aquitaine league has decided to keep it"15. A shooting society in Meurthe-et-Moselle owns the same choice, having "decided like many clubs to keep the principle of the shooting logbook"14. Neither is wrong: they apply a rule that simply is not the code's.
On the prefecture side the shift is clear: the lists of documents to supply that we consulted no longer ask for a logbook, but for the FFTir prior opinion in the original1112. The service-public factsheet F2250, verified 20 March 2025, makes no mention of a logbook either7.
What the text never said
Two very widespread requirements appear nowhere in the arrêté in force, which does not make them illegitimate — only optional.
- The 40 rounds per session. It is a custom, taken up by leagues and clubs alike: "a shoot of at least 40 rounds will be carried out on the corresponding targets under the control of the authorised person" on one side16, "the shooter must fire at least 40 rounds" on the other15. The figure does not appear in the 2020 arrêté.
- Which caliber to use. The arrêté is silent. Some clubs apply a largest-caliber rule — the shooter shoots "in principle with the largest-calibre firearm in their possession, or with a club firearm if they own none yet"15 — which remains the practical answer when you hold nothing yet. If you are undecided on the caliber of your future firearm, we compared 9mm and .22 LR with the figures behind it.
One last word on introductory sessions: they do not count as controlled sessions. Article R312-43-1 covers them separately, and limits them to two per twelve-month period for a non-member618.
Renewal no longer requires three sessions a year
This is the most important change of the 2020 reform, and the least relayed. Article 4 of the same arrêté replaced a count with a notion1:
"For a renewal of authorisation to hold firearms mentioned in article 1, the attestation bears on regular shooting practice […] throughout the period of the previous authorisation. An absence of shooting practice for at least twelve consecutive months during that period bars the issue of that attestation and the federation's favorable opinion."
Renewal: what the text requires, what people still read
Number of controlled sessions across a five-year authorization
Article 4 of the arrêté sets no number: it speaks of regular practice, and only an absence of twelve consecutive months bars a favorable opinion1. The FFTir draws the conclusion itself: one shoot a year, at least, remains necessary9. A club may be stricter, but that is then its rule, not the law18.
Voir les données
| Per year | Over five years | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum in the text | 1 session | 5 sessions | Arrêté of 28 April 2020, art. 4 — regular practice, no 12-month break |
| Rule still displayed | 3 sessions | 15 sessions | Inherited from the arrêté of 16 December 1998, repealed 30 April 2020, still repeated by clubs |
No number of sessions is set. The only threshold is a break of twelve consecutive months, from which the FFTir draws its own conclusion: "One shoot a year, at least, therefore remains necessary"9. A club in the Hautes-Pyrénées repeats the sentence word for word17.
The arithmetic holds by itself: to never let twelve consecutive months pass without shooting on a five-year authorization, four sessions are not enough — you need at least five.
Many clubs nevertheless still display three sessions a year, one of them writing that "3 shoots per calendar year, at least, are therefore necessary"18. That is not an error on their part if they own it as an internal rule: a club may be stricter than the text. It becomes one if you read it and believe the law imposes fifteen sessions over five years.
The third case: acquiring another firearm when already authorized
The arrêté contrasts only two situations, first application and renewal. That leaves a case common after a few years of practice: a holder already authorized who wants to acquire another firearm. The FFTir expressly groups it with renewal — "for a renewal of authorisation to hold firearms (and by extension for a new acquisition request): the attestation bears on regular shooting practice"917. In other words: no fresh cycle of three sessions two months apart, regular practice is enough.
Since the SIA opened to sport shooters on 27 February 2024, the question comes up less often anyway: the authorization has become single and global, valid five years for a quota of 15 firearms (6 for a first-time holder). As long as you stay inside that quota, adding a firearm no longer means a new prefectural authorization, but a single authorization active on your SIA account1110.
Five calendars that do not line up
The other difficulty lies not in the rule itself, but in its collision with four other deadlines that neither start nor end at the same moment.
| What runs | Over what period | From when |
|---|---|---|
| Controlled sessions (1st application) | 12 rolling months, 2-month minimum gap18 | The filing date of the application |
| Prior opinion (the "green sheet") | 3 months1213 | Its signature by the club |
| Category B authorization | 5 years, single and global since 27 February 202471020 | Its issue |
| Renewal of the authorization | To be filed no later than 3 months before expiry2011 | The expiry date |
| Ammunition quota (3,000 per firearm) | Per 12-month period57 | The issue of the authorization |
The trickiest line is the second. The prior opinion is valid three months only: one club writes it in as many words, "this form is valid for 3 months only"13, and one prefecture requires the club's stamp and signature to be "less than three months old"12. Having it signed too early means having it redone.
Add your club's own calendar, which sometimes validates sessions only in fixed slots, and the federal licence, whose renewals open in late August for a season starting 1 September19. Missing a validation slot does not cost a fortnight: it can cost a month, and shift everything else.
If your sessions are badly spaced
You usually notice while filling in the application. Nothing is lost, and four ways out exist — the first two are the simplest.
- Do another session and recompute the window. A session that does not qualify does not cancel the others. Add one that respects the two-month gap with its neighbor, then check that the oldest of the three qualifying sessions is still under twelve months.
- Delay the filing rather than rushing it. Since the window counts back from the application, waiting three weeks can be enough to bring a session inside the required gap — provided the oldest does not drop out the other end.
- Shoot at another approved association. The arrêté asks that sessions be carried out "within an approved sports association affiliated to the Fédération française de tir", without requiring it to be the one you belong to1. It is a real way out when your club's validation slots are saturated — but tell your president, since they are the one who signs the attestation.
- Go through a competition. One league accepts that an event run under FFTir control gives rise to validation16. Careful: the page that says so describes the pre-2020 regime, logbook and daily register included. It is neither a national rule nor a practice you can assume survived the reform — confirm it locally before counting on it.
What to take away
Write down the dates, not just the sessions
The rule fits in one sentence: three controlled sessions, at least two months apart, within the twelve months preceding the application. It is not only a number of sessions to reach, it is also a calendar to hold.
The shortest run lasts four months. The longest fits inside a twelve-month window, filing included — so a little under twelve months between the first and third session. Between the two, all is well; outside, a session does not count — too close on one side, expired on the other.
The rest — paper logbook, 40 rounds, caliber, validation slots, minimum membership time — belongs to your league and your club. Those requirements are legitimate and must be complied with, but it helps to know they do not come from the code de la sécurité intérieure: that is what explains why two shooters in two départements get two different answers.
The most useful habit, to finish: write down the date of each controlled session the same day, not from memory six months later. The same reflex that makes a malfunction log worth keeping applies here.
Sources 20 references
Texts verified in their version in force on Légifrance; league and club practices cited as published, as examples and not as general rules. Click a note marker in the text to highlight the matching source.
- Légifrance — arrêté of 28 April 2020 on favorable opinions and attestations issued by federations, made for the application of article R. 312-5 of the CSI (JORF no. 0104 of 29 April 2020): art. 2 (scope of the opinion), art. 3 (first application), art. 4 (renewal), art. 6 (withdrawal), art. 7 (repeal of the arrêté of 7 September 1995 and of "the arrêté of 16 December 1998 on the minimum number of controlled shooting practice sessions, the shooting logbook and the daily register"). Version in force since 30 April 2020, unamended to date.
- Légifrance — decree no. 2020-486 of 28 April 2020: its article 3 repeals article R312-43 of the CSI (shooting logbook and daily register) and replaces article R312-40; its article 13 sets entry into force on the first day of the third month, i.e. 1 July 2020.
- Légifrance — CSI, "Tir sportif" sub-paragraph, status of the articles: R312-43 repealed on 1 July 2020, R312-41 repealed on 1 January 2024.
- Légifrance — article R312-40 of the CSI, version in force since 1 January 2024 (decree no. 2023-557 of 3 July 2023): firearm quotas, no mention of a controlled session or a shooting logbook.
- Légifrance — article R312-47 of the CSI, version in force since 1 January 2024 (decree no. 2023-557 of 3 July 2023): 3,000 rounds per firearm under 2° of article R312-40, per twelve-month period from the issue of the authorization.
- Légifrance — article R312-43-1 of the CSI, version in force since 10 February 2022: introductory shooting sessions for non-members, two at most per twelve-month period.
- service-public.gouv.fr — factsheet F2250, Category B firearms for a sport shooter, verified 20 March 2025: 5-year authorization, 6 firearms for a first-time applicant and 15 thereafter, 3,000 rounds per firearm per 12 months, prefectural answer within 3 months, silence amounting to refusal.
- Assemblée nationale — written question no. 29746, answer from the Ministry of the Interior published 17 November 2020: maintenance of the three sessions two months apart, transfer of the check to club presidents.
- FFTir — 2020, new regime for issuing prior opinions, circular published 7 May 2020: removal of the shooting logbook, retention of the three spaced shoots, renewal "and by extension […] new acquisition request" handled on regular practice, "one shoot a year, at least, therefore remains necessary", record of attendance left to the club's choice, certification by the league and the federation through ITAC, entry into force on 1 July 2020.
- Préfecture du Gard — sport shooters: "since 27/02/2024 and the opening of the SIA to sport shooters", single global authorization of 5 years, 15 firearms, 6 for first-time holders.
- Préfecture des Deux-Sèvres — application and renewal for sport shooters, page updated 4 October 2024: single global authorization of 5 years, quota of 15 firearms (6 for first-time holders), transfer by the dealer conditional on the single authorization in the SIA, FFTir favorable opinion as an original document, renewal entered at least 3 months before expiry; no shooting logbook among the documents to supply.
- Préfecture de Meurthe-et-Moselle — documents to supply, Category B sport shooting (PDF, updated 4 September 2020): "prior opinion of the Fédération Française de Tir in force (original green sheet) with stamp and signature of the shooting society less than three months old"; no shooting logbook in the list.
- Tir Sportif Vercellois (Vercel, Doubs) — issuing prior opinions: "this form is valid for 3 months only"; internal six-month membership rule for new shooters.
- Société de Tir de Nancy — controlled shoots: "3 shoots within the club, at least 60 days apart"; shooting logbook kept by the club's choice.
- CTC Castelnau-de-Médoc (Gironde) — shooting logbook and knowledge test: logbook maintained by the Aquitaine league, 3 stamps in the last 12 months at least 2 months apart, 40 rounds, largest-caliber firearm or a club firearm, prior multiple-choice test.
- Ligue de tir Midi-Pyrénées — shooting logbook: "a shoot of at least 40 rounds will be carried out on the corresponding targets under the control of the authorised person", knowledge test, validation possible through participation in a competition run under FFTir control. Undated page describing the regime prior to 1 July 2020 (compulsory shooting logbook, daily register): cited as an example of practice, not as the state of the law.
- Cible Tarbes Pyrénées, shooting club in Tarbes (65) — controlled shoots, new regulation, page updated 9 May 2020: restatement of the federal circular — distinction between first application and renewal, new acquisition request handled as a renewal, absence of twelve consecutive months, record-keeping medium left to the board's choice.
- ASTAC Albi — frequently asked questions: "3 shoots per calendar year, at least, are therefore necessary" — an internal rule owned as such ("arrangements adopted for ASTAC", with no required gap between those shoots) substituted for the federal sentence; introductory sessions limited to two per twelve months.
- FFTir — EDEN licence protocol, 2026/2027 season: creations and renewals open Monday 24 August 2026, season open from 1 September 2026, medical certificate less than a year old required.
- Légifrance — CSI, "Dispositions générales" section, articles in force since 29 June 2024 (decree no. 2024-615 of 27 June 2024): article R312-13 (authorization granted for five years) and article R312-14 (renewal request presented no later than three months before expiry).
Your club and your league decide your file. The rule above is the text in force, but the check and the signature belong to your club president, and your regional league may add requirements of its own. Ask them how they count the two months, and which slots validate a session, before planning your dates. Nothing here replaces the answer you get from them.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to complete the 3 controlled sessions?
Four full months at minimum: two months between the first and second session, two months between the second and third. And twelve months at most, since all three sessions must fall inside the twelve months preceding the application. The usable corridor therefore runs from 4 to 12 months.
Is the shooting logbook still compulsory?
Not as a matter of law. Article R312-43 of the code de la sécurité intérieure, which imposed it, has been repealed since 1 July 2020. Many clubs and some regional leagues carry on keeping it, and may require it: that is then a federal or club rule, not an obligation under the code.
Do you need 3 controlled sessions a year to renew an authorization?
No. Since 1 July 2020, the renewal attestation bears on regular practice, and only an absence of practice of twelve consecutive months bars a favorable opinion. In practice one session a year satisfies the text — your club may ask for more.
Do you have to redo three sessions to acquire another firearm?
Not if you already hold an authorization. The FFTir groups a holder's new acquisition request with renewal: the attestation then bears on regular practice, not on three sessions two months apart. The three sessions concern only a first application. And since the single global authorization opened on 27 February 2024, adding a firearm within your quota no longer goes through a fresh prefectural authorization.
Does two months mean 60 days?
The text says two months, without converting it into days. Some clubs count date to date (10 January to 10 March), others state a 60-day minimum. Between 1 January and 1 March the gap is 59 days: the same session passes at one club and not at the other. Ask your club how it counts.
Can a controlled session be done at another club?
The arrêté says the sessions are carried out within an approved sports association affiliated to the Fédération française de tir, without requiring it to be the one you belong to. That said, it is your own club president who signs the opinion: tell them beforehand, not afterwards.