FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2025   ■   INDUSTRY

NRA Announces 2026 Golden Bullseye Award Winners

Fairfax, VA - For the 24th year, NRA Media is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 NRA Golden Bullseye Awards. While there have been changes to a reorganized NRA Media this year, including a name change from NRA Publications, the Golden Bullseyes continue as they have for nearly a quarter century. Golden Bullseye Awards are given not only for new, innovative products offered by the firearm, ammunition, and optics industries, but also for four awards recognizing individual contributions to freedom and the shooting sports.

"I’ve been with NRA since the beginning of these awards, and the Golden Bullseye Awards have become a coveted symbol of excellence and innovation in firearms, ammunition, optics, and accessories," said Executive Director of NRA Media Michael J. Sanford. "These decisions are not made lightly. I appreciate the time and energy put into not only reviewing these products for NRA members but also the deliberative process used by NRA Media's editors in selecting the awardees.”

Golden Bullseye Awards are selected by the staff of “NRA Official Journals” American Hunter and American Rifleman across a series of categories for each magazine. They are then reviewed and approved by NRA Media management.

There is a “Woman of the Year” nominated by the editors of NRA Women.com, and this year's recipient, Tanisha Moner, has brought firearms training to thousands of women through Legally Armed in Detroit (L.A.I.D.), stepping in to lead its signature event in 2025 when founder Rick Ector wasn’t able to do so.

NRA Media bestows the Golden Bullseye “Freedom Award” this year to Stephen P. Halbrook, an attorney, scholar, and author, whose defense of the Second Amendment is second to none. Halbrook has won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, and his scholarship has contributed to our understanding of the Second Amendment—and continues to do so.

Shooting Sports USA, NRA’s digital property for competitive shooters, named the “Competitor Award” to four-time Olympic Gold Medalist Vincent Hancock, not just for his winning ways on the skeet field but for his leadership in coaching and mentoring the next generation of athletes.

The NRA Publications Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award specifically honors outstanding personal achievement. The Pioneer Award spotlights the exemplary achievement and cumulative body of work of an individual, or members of a family, team, or partnership, responsible for the development and introduction of shooting equipment that has made a profound, positive, and enduring impact on the way Americans shoot and hunt.

The 2026 recipient is Anthony Imperato, the founder and President of Henry Repeating Arms. For decades, Henry, under Imperato’s leadership, has kept the legacy of the lever-action rifle alive right here in the United States. Imperato’s leadership in the NRA and the Second Amendment has been exemplary. Imperato’s company, best known for its .22s, now makes handguns and a complete line of rifles. Henry has done nothing less than make lever actions cool again.

The 2025 Golden Bullseye Awards, as well as the Pioneer Award and the Freedom Award, will be presented in person at an invitation-only event during the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, Texas.

To qualify for consideration for a Golden Bullseye Award, the product must have been:

  • Recently introduced and available to consumers prior to the selection of the Golden Bullseye Awards
  • Used/tested by a staff member or regular contributor to the magazine and/or affiliated media
  • Reliable in the field, meeting or exceeding the evaluator’s expectations
  • Innovative in design and function
  • Readily perceived as a value to the purchaser
  • Styled in a manner befitting the shooting and hunting industry and, perhaps more importantly, its enthusiasts.

2026 NRA Golden Bullseye Awards

American Rifleman 2026 Golden Bullseye Awards

Rifle Of The Year

Tikka T3x Ace Target

Shotgun Of The Year

Benelli Nova 3 Tactical 922R

Handgun Of The Year

KelTec PR57

Tactical Product Of The Year

Springfield Armory Kuna

Optic Of The Year

Integrix iXF 4.5x28 mm Service Rifle Scope

Ammunition Product Of The Year

Hornady 338 ARC

Suppressor Of The Year

Ruger/Dead Air RXD

Accessory of the Year

Magpul MOE M0Lok QD Bipod

American Hunter 2026 Golden Bullseye Awards

Rifle of the Year

Henry SPD HUSH

Shotgun of the Year

Browning Citori 825

Ammunition Product of the Year

Federal 7 mm Backcountry

Optic of the Year

GPO Centuri 4-16x44i FFP Super Compact Riflescope

Gear of the Year

Spartan Precision SpringBok Tripod

NRA Women 2026 Golden Bullseye Award

Woman of the Year

Tanisha Moner

Freedom 2026 Golden Bullseye Award

Freedom Award

Stephen Halbrook

Shooting Sports USA 2026 Golden Bullseye Award

Competitor Award

Vincent Hancock

NRA Golden Bullseye 2026 Pioneer Award

Anthony Imperato

Founder and CEO

Henry Repeating Arms