Now in its 19th year, readers count on American Hunter’s Golden Bullseye Awards to denote excellence. Indeed, these days many companies knowingly strive to hit the mark—to produce innovative products that catch our attention. After all, any product worthy of our gold standard must meet or exceed American Hunter’s expectations of innovation—and they absolutely must provide hunters with value for their money.
2020 Rifle of the Year: Remington Model 700 American Hunter
To build a practical rifle for American hunters by American hunters we went to Ilion, N.Y., where Remington has made American arms since 1816.
To the Model 700, the most popular bolt-action rifle platform in the world, we added a cold-hammer-forged, fluted, 20-inch barrel to minimize length and ease handling. Its heavy contour ensures maximum rigidity while firing to enhance accuracy. Its muzzle is threaded to accept a suppressor. A fat bolt handle ensures a good grip for quick cycling. Remington’s X-Mark Pro trigger is single-stage, adjustable and factory-set to 3.5 pounds’ pull weight. All exterior metalwork wears Cerakote, and the magazine is engraved with the nameplate of everyone’s favorite hunting magazine.
A composite Bell & Carlson stock with an aluminum bedding block presents a stable, consistent, weatherproof interface with the barreled action. Its comb height and cheekpiece provide natural eye-to-scope alignment.
The rifle is chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, and it weighs only 6.9 pounds. Our range sessions verified our hopes and expectations: This thing’s a shooter. Remington cataloged it this year … there’s still time to purchase one of your own. MSRP: $1,349; remington.com.
