Flip through the following pages and tell us if you don’t sense a cool factor oozing from some age-old hardware. A lever-action rifle first released in the 19th century now looks like it belongs in a zombie movie; a shotgun with roots a hundred years deep displays 21st-century racecar looks; a new cartridge pushes magnum velocities from a short barrel to make it suitable for use with a suppressor—these products and more top our list of favorites for 2026.
These are American Hunter’s 2026 Golden Bullseyes, our annual celebration of design, innovation, performance and value on behalf of American hunters.
To qualify for consideration, a product must have been: recently introduced and available to consumers prior to nomination; used/tested by AH staff or our contributors; reliable in the field, meeting hunters’ expectations; readily perceived as a value by consumers; innovative in design; and styled in a manner befitting the trade and the hunters who look to it for their inspiration.
These awards, and a personal presentation of the NRA Media 2026 Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award to Henry USA CEO Anthony Imperato, are presented at an exclusive event at the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Houston, this year on April 17.
Rifle of the Year: Henry SPD HUSH
The Henry Special Products Division (SPD) exists to push the limits of Benjamin Tyler Henry’s lever-action creation of 1860, and its Henry Ultimate Suppressor Host (HUSH) does just that. This ain’t the gun Lincoln shot on the White House lawn in 1861. This is the Henry Ultimate Suppressor Host (HUSH), a 21st-century lever action—and we love it.
The HUSH lever-action, tube-magazine-fed, hammer-fired rifle is built on a blued-steel receiver with a side loading gate and transfer bar safety, and chambered in .30-30 Win., .45-70 Gov’t., .45 Colt, .44 Mag./.44 Spl. and .357 Mag./.38 Spl. The receiver is drilled and tapped for sights, and the gun leaves the factory with a carbon-fiber Pic rail atop it. The stainless-steel barrel is wrapped in carbon fiber, and it’s threaded to accept a suppressor. The barrel measures only 16.5 inches long to make the gun’s balance point just about right when a can is attached. The furniture is a black laminated American hardwood butt and a black aluminum TAPCO fore-end with M-LOK slots running its length.
The blacked-out look with shiny steel accents exudes cool, and the accuracy this barrel delivers is even cooler. We think ol’ Benjamin Tyler Henry would be proud of this rifle that bears his name. henryusa.com
Shotgun of the Year: Browning Citori 825
The Citori 825 over/under delivers everything admired by Citori 725 fans. A low-profile receiver, a strong, sturdy full-width hinge, a tapered locking lug that Browning boasts “wears in, not out”—they’re all here. But the modernized 825 represents a new era of Citori design.
The traditional hard-edge, H-shape receiver-to-fore-end connection is replaced with a curved, more fluid interface that pairs perfectly with the new barrel/receiver wing design. Now the back-bored barrels taper smoothly as they blend into the receiver rather than stepping down into it. The pyramid shape of the tang-mounted safety/selector provides more surface area to make it easier to engage. Browning’s enhanced Fire Lite 2 mechanical trigger features a delay mechanism with a higher pivot point than its predecessor to deliver a lighter, crisper pull with less overtravel. The mechanical reset on the Field model connects more quickly, too, which improves the second trigger pull.
The Citori 825 is available in 24 models including the Field, Field Small Gauge, Gran Field and Feather. Its sharp lines, combined with expertly applied finishes to finely grained wood furniture, deliver pride of ownership for the next generation of Browning fans. browning.com
Pioneer of the Year: Anthony Imperato, CEO, Henry USA
What the lever-action is today is because of Anthony Imperato.
Anthony was born into a gunmaking family. His father, Lou, was a businessman who saw opportunity. The family did everything: retail, distribution, manufacturing. They owned Iver-Johnson twice. But they also did Colt Blackpowder Signature Series revolvers, youth bolt actions, pump guns and even a .22 survival rifle.
Anthony became a vice president and eventually the president of Henry Repeating Arms, a company founded in 1997 on an idea that’s perhaps more relevant today than it was then: that people want affordable, good-looking .22 lever actions. Everybody calls them Golden Boys now, or Silver Boys, but at first it was simply the Henry Lever Action. And that basic gun—in gold or silver, with some engraving, some stock carving and a lot of heart—became a humble little platform that has recognized everything from Eagle Scouts to first responders to American military heroes. It’s a beautiful gun that becomes a personal treasure.
But Anthony didn’t stop there. As some of the oldest names in American gunmaking struggled to find a role for the lever action, he thought outside the box. He moved beyond rimfires into .30-30, .357 Mag., .44 Mag. and .45-70. Henry USA reevaluated what a lever-action could be, and it turns out it can be a .223 and a .308 and even a 6.5 Creedmoor called the Long Ranger. Henry USA also now makes traditional revolvers,
single-shots, shotguns—all made in America by American workers. Anthony tried unconventional things not just with his guns but with his marketing—crazy things like putting a thousand shooters on the line with lever-action Henrys. Today, the first true production lever-action rifle, the Original 1860 Henry, is still offered.
A big part of his success has been his heart. Anthony started “Guns for Great Causes,” which contributes to children’s hospitals and the families of ill children. He supports active duty service members, veterans and first responders. When it comes to Henry guns at a Friends of NRA banquet, realize those dollars raised from their sale go to benefit the shooting sports locally or nationally because Anthony Imperato is committed to the cause of freedom.
As the driving force behind one of America’s most iconic gunmakers, Anthony Imperato’s contributions continue to shape American firearm ownership and Second Amendment advocacy.
Ammunition of the Year: Federal 7mm Backcountry
The Federal 7mm Backcountry is a 21st-century centerfire cartridge designed for big-game hunting that launches trendy, heavy-for-caliber bullets from a 20-inch barrel with as much authority as any similar 7mm magnum cartridge that uses a 26-inch barrel. To accomplish this Federal increases internal pressure greatly, so the bullet exits the barrel with velocity of 3000 fps or more. To contain such pressure Federal reached outside the shooting industry and leveraged a special steel alloy, called Peak Alloy. The case material enables a maximum average pressure of 80,000 PSI, which is 15,000 PSI higher than most anything ever before sanctioned for commercial use.
The non-belted 7 BC is excellent for elk and moose. As more hunters have threaded suppressors to their rigs lately, their rifles have necessarily become longer, which isn’t always desirable in the backcountry. Now, thanks to wizardry accomplished by Federal, they may enter the field with a can-fitted magnum rifle that measures no longer than a 7mm magnum of not long ago. It’s a concept whose time has come. federalpremium.com
Optic of the Year: GPO Centuri 4-16x44i FFP Super Compact Riflescope
Hunters looking to shave weight and bulk from a rig often turn to a low-power variable optic (riflescope). The problem is most of them don’t always look right on a bolt gun, many lack parallax adjustment because, well, they are low-power, never zooming past 10X, and many of them cost a small fortune. Now German Precision Optics (GPO) has introduced a solution. Its Centuri 4-16x44i FFP Super Compact accomplishes quite a lot for such a small package.
Consider its specifications: 9.9 inches long; 20 ounces; a one-piece 30mm main tube for maximum internal adjustment; focal length of 4-16X for maximum do-all usage; a mil reticle in the first focal plane coupled with mil-based turrets with a zero-stop locking reset; 3.75 inches of eye relief; double HD glass elements for maximum light transmission and clarity, and GPO’s Passiondrop hydrophobic lens coatings; and a third turret offering parallax adjustment.
GPO says it’s designed for ultralight tactical rifles, but we like it atop a short-action bolt gun. At a retail price of $734.99, it may just be the perfect fusion of value and performance. gpo-usa.com
Gear of the Year: Spartan Precision SpringBok Tripod
Have you ever heard a guide grouse that hunters are too dependent on shooting aids—that they take too long to set up on sticks and thus miss shots on game? We say hunters are not dependent enough on them. What everyone should do is pick a system then rehearse with it until he is comfortable employing it without a thought. Spartan Precision’s system is designed around its unique MagnaSwitch, magnetic attachment ports affixed to rifles in many ways: M-LOK, Pic rail, sling swivels or even permanent adapters inset into a rifle’s fore-end. With Magna-Switch a hunter does not enter the field with a bipod affixed to his rifle but is still ready to employ a rest at a moment’s notice.
Spartan Precision’s Springbok tripod is made of silicone, aluminum and carbon fiber to weigh just 1.7 pounds. It adjusts from 34-60 inches without any mechanical adjustment so you can go from prone to standing in seconds. Its twistable head allows you to pan left and right to track game. And of course it uses the MagnaSwitch attachment system. It retails for $350, a small price to pay for a lifetime of steady shots. javelinbipod.com
