NRA Announces 2026 Golden Bullseye Award Winners

American Rifleman Staff

posted on December 29, 2025

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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 NRAWomen.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 CEO 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