Now in their 20th year, the Golden Bullseye Awards are chosen annually to recognize the firearm industry’s best new offerings. Here is this year’s winner as selected by the editors of “The World’s Oldest And Largest Firearm Authority.”
Since its 1964 inception, Ruger has produced more than 8 million of its semi-automatic 10/22 rimfire rifles in 1,000-plus variants, but it wasn’t until 2021 that the company made a left-ejecting model for use by southpaw shooters. In his cover story about the Ruger 10/22 Competition Rifle Left-Handed Model titled "Left Out No More," Senior Executive Editor Kelly Young found the newest addition to Ruger’s Custom Shop to be a real performer packed with thoughtful upgrades. Among them are: a fluted, heavy-contour barrel; a rear bedding block; an integral 30-m.o.a. Picatinny rail; an improved bolt lock; a cleaning port in the rear of the receiver; and the company’s excellent BX-Trigger.
"[T]he left-hand 10/22 Competition managed extreme accuracy during its formal testing; I’ve personally never had a semi-automatic perform this well," Young revealed. "For a rimfire rifle to excel under American Rifleman’s demanding 10-shot, five-group protocol at 50 yards, both the shooter and the firearm must be acting harmoniously—as was certainly the case here." Between its superb performance at the bench and the opportunity that it affords underserved lefties to join in on the rimfire fun, the Ruger 10/22 Competition Rifle Left-Handed Model earned our recognition as Rifle Of The Year. ruger.com
About the Golden Bullseye Award:
The Golden Bullseye Awards were created two decades ago to recognize quality, innovation and value within the firearm industry, with the editors of the NRA Publications Division convening annually to nominate and select the standout performers from the previous year’s crop of new products. The discussions can get animated at times—as each year there are always more new guns, ammunition, optics and accessories worthy of accolade than we could possibly call out—but consensus eventually results in winners being selected, with the passionate back and forth serving as evidence of the firearm industry’s health and innovative spirit.
