The coveted Golden Bullseye Awards, now in their 22nd year, were created as a way for us to publicly recognize the firearm industry’s best-performing, highest-value and most innovative products from the previous year. This year, we were blessed with a sizable crop of great new guns that could have won an award, but below you will find our consensus winners.
“Last year was one of massive new-product introductions from the recreational shooting sports industry,” said NRA Publications Executive Director Doug Hamlin. “As a result, the editorial staff had some tough decisions to make to identify the best all-new products.”
2024 Handgun Of The Year: EAA MCP35 PI Ops
The situation looked bleak for fans of the P35 platform five years ago when Browning terminated its long-running Hi Power line, but the rest of the industry was unwilling to let such an important design fade into history. Now, according to Field Editor Justin Dyal in “Low-Profile High Powers,” not only is the High Power back, but thanks to the EAA MCP35 PI Ops, shooters can own factory-made handguns in a configuration that previously would have required an expensive trip to the gunsmith.
Featuring a carry-length barrel, an extended beavertail, an undercut trigger guard, an accessory rail and an optic-cut slide—while losing the magazine-disconnect safety—he said the gun possesses many of the characteristics of the ultimate custom-carry P35.
“I couldn’t help but look at the Girsan and wonder if the new pistol becomes a base gun for projects. Many of the things that would have required extensive artisan effort are built in with the MCP35 PI Ops,” Dyal said. “Now at a more modest cost, shooters might add some checkering to the frontstrap, tune the trigger pull to their specification or swap to a thumb safety of their preferences.”
For being the first to bring the High Power fully into the 21st century, and for doing so economically, the EAA MCP35 PI Ops was an easy choice for Handgun Of The Year. For more information, visit eaacorp.com.
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