We review firearms by judging them on characteristics that are the most important to consumers – like ergonomics, accuracy, safety, recoil and more. After that, our experts assign each weapon an overall rating which we use to compare firearms to others in their class.
Best Bolt Action Rifle
The bolt action rifle is an American favorite. Currently the American shooting public enjoys a greater selection and a higher quality of bolt action rifle than ever before. After the MSRP of a bolt action rifle passes a certain point (as the ones in this...
Best Bolt Action Rifle for the Money
Many new hunters, or those looking for a second rifle, want a firearm that will consistently perform at a minimal cost. A nice bolt action rifle doesn’t need to break the bank and there are plenty of options that retail for under $500.
In this ranking s...
Browning X-Bolt Review
The term cult following gets thrown around a lot, but in the case of Browning it’s nearing the truth (It has been pointed out to me that a block of wood bearing a Buckmark logo could be a good seller). Some people even go so far as to have Browning’s ver...
CZ 550 Review
The folks at CZ have been building tough, reliable, Mauser-style controlled round feed actions almost as long as Mauser has. CZ, for the most part, specializes in offering rifles with old-world aesthetics and a decided lack of modern bells and whistles....
Howa 1500 Review
The Howa 1500 is the twin to the Weatherby Vanguard. For the most part only a stamp machine somewhere in Japan knows the difference between these two rifles. This is the case because Howa has been making very accurate rifles for decades and Weatherby...
Marlin X7 Review
This rifle was voted the deserved title of “Best Value” based upon a combination of features and MSRP. Marlin is a very old company that has largely worked in the lever action market. For over a century American gun nuts have bought half a dozen Win...
Mossberg 4x4 Review
The Mossberg 4x4 is a rifle that that visually emulates its namesake. The first look at the rifle makes you think that you would not have a problem dragging it around in the mud or maybe slapping it off a few rocks. This is not to say that the 4x4 won’t b...
Mossberg ATR 100 Review
The Mossberg ATR is Mossberg’s first venture into the low-priced centerfire market and has been around for a few years now. The rifle is intentionally as plain as it gets. The only thing that sets it apart from the rest of its budget bolt action contemporaries i...
Remington 700 Review
Based on several preceding designs by Remington, the 700 action is the final evolution of a concept that Remington began working with in 1948. What Remington wanted to create was a bolt-action rifle that would give the same reliability as existing models...
Remington 770 Review
The Remington Model 770 is the company’s latest foray into the first-time hunter rifle market. Following in the footsteps of Remington’s first budget rifle, the Model 710, the 770 comes as close to a right-out-of-the-box hunting tool as possible. Th...
Rossi Model 92 Review
One of the most iconic images in our cinematic history is the American cowboy with his lever action rifle. John Wayne had his 1873 Winchester. Chuck Connors had an 1892 Winchester. Even Zoe carried a mare’s leg 1892 in the “Firefly” universe. The lever...
Ruger American Review
The Ruger American is the company’s first venture into any kind of entry-level bolt gun, although the price of all Ruger products has always been very reasonable for what you get. The American is a big divergence from the company’s previous bolt action off...
Ruger M77 Hawkeye Review
The second incarnation of the Ruger 77 has met with nothing but success. The Mark II is a controlled round feed action with dual-opposed locking lugs and a non-rotating claw extractor. In many ways the Mark II filled the gap left in the market when the...
Sako A7 Review
Sako has been around for a long time but only sold its offerings on the European market until about 1950 when it began offering mini-Mauser type actions and rifles chambered for varmint hunters or target shooters in the US. For a long time the only Sako...
Savage 110 Review
Imagine for a moment that it is around 1957, your name is Nicholas Brewer and you work for Savage Arms. Your boss walks into the office one day and says “Nick, we need you to design a bolt action rifle for us. This gun has to be as accurate and dependable a...
Savage Axis Review
With the Savage Axis we see yet another repackaging of Savage’s previous highly successful bolt action rifles. The Axis does have a few differences though. The first thing noticeably different is the safety, which has been moved back to the tang. Tang s...
Stevens 200 Review
The Stevens 200 is intriguing, not because it is different from existing products, but because it is the same. The 200 is basically a repackaging of Savage’s tried and true 110. The 110 in its various incarnations has never been a pretty gun or particularly s...
T/C Venture Review
Thompson Center is best known for single-shot rifles like the Encore, but its bolt action offerings are interesting. T/C seems to like their rifles to be different and the Venture is no exception. For starters, the Venture has three locking lugs. This...
Thompson Center Icon Review
Thompson Center is a relatively recent competitor in the bolt-action market. In spite of the difficulties facing a recent market entrant, T/C is doing well with the Icon rifle and it possesses some features that cannot be found elsewhere, which isn’t e...
Tikka T3 Review
Tikka is an offshoot of Sako and is essentially the vehicle Sako has chosen to market its lower-priced rifles to the American shooters. Tikkas tend to be a bit more in keeping with American tastes than many of Sako’s offerings and so far, the Tikka b...
Weatherby Vanguard Series II Review
The Vanguard rifle imported by Weatherby has been around for a long time. This action is a push feed design that features a relatively large rotating extractor affixed to one of the bolt lugs and an enclosed bolt face. In design the Vanguard is very...
Weatherby Vanguard Synthetic Review
The Weatherby Vanguard has been around for a while now. It was originally introduced to give people the option of having the Weatherby name without the high price tag of the company’s very popular, but rather expensive, Mark V rifles. The Vanguard i...
Winchester Model 70 Review
In the beginning, Peter Paul Mauser invented the 98. America “borrowed” the design for the 1903 Springfield, was sued, paid up and then after WWII Winchester “borrowed,” it again when Mauser wasn’t really in a position to complain. The Model 70, “The ...
Smith & Wesson 642 for Concealed Carry
I have spent the better part of 5 years trying to find the right handgun for concealed carry, during which time I have actually carried 3 different handguns before finding the Smith & Wesson 642. All 3 of these previous handgun choices were fun to...
Best Full Size Metal Frame Pistol
Full-sized, metal-framed pistols are becoming a bit more difficult to find in modern times. When the Glock 17 first hit the market, few people would have imagined that less than 30 years later polymer-framed guns would rule the market, yet they do today.
When...
Best .22 Pistol for Plinking
Anybody interested in cheap plinking or target practice should own a 22 pistol. Not only is shooting a 22 very economical, but it’s a lot of fun and can help novice shooters develop proper form before moving on to higher calibers. In this comparison c...
Best Full-Size Polymer Handgun
Polymer Pistols are known for being lightweight, durable and very reliable. In this ranking we look at full-size Polymer Pistols and judge them on qualities that are important for those choosing a duty weapon or self defense firearm.
KEY...
Beretta 92 Review
The Beretta 92 pistol was selected as the primary sidearm of the United States military in 1985. Definitely making it a battle proved handgun. The gun also serves a great number of police officers and armed citizens in the US and abroad.
As a military...
Browning Buckmark Review
While the multitude of .22 pistol options available on the market today flood magazines and online advertising with copycat style and look to their higher caliber counterparts, few pistols have a distinct enough look to compare with the Browning Buckmark....
Browning Hi Power Review
Under development at the time of his death, many people claim that the Hi Power was John Moses Browning’s ultimate handgun design. While Browning’s name is most often associated with the 1911 pistol, the Hi Power was an evolution beyond that gun.
Browning die...
Charter Arms Chic Lady Revolver Review
The time for women to prioritize their security and safety is already overdue. One of the most effective way for women to protect themselves is unarguably firearms. Manufacturers have got the hint and have started designing models focused on woman and ...
Colt 1911 Review
Entire books can be, and have been, written about the Colt 1911 pistol. This handgun was developed by legendary gun maker John Moses Browning, and was adopted by the United States Army as its standard sidearm. More than 100 years later the same basic...
CZ 75 Review
One of the most prolific pistol designs in history is the CZ 75. Czeska Zbrojovka (CZ) developed the CZ 75 in the former Czechoslovakia. This pistol entered production in 1975 and remains one of the company’s most popular firearms.
In addition to...
IWI Jericho 941 Review
Originally developed by Israel Weapon Industries, the Jericho 941 has been exported to the US market under the names of Baby Desert Eagle and Uzi Eagle. The current US importer is Magnum Research. This company brands the Jericho 941 as the Baby Desert...
Kahr T9 Review
Most people think of Kahr pistols as being small, thin and compact. While being small in size is an accurate description for most of the company’s guns, the T9 is actually a full size pistol with a 4-inch barrel and metal frame.
Shooters will find t...
Magnum Research Desert Eagle Review
If size is your only criterion for what makes a great handgun, the Desert Eagle pistols from Magnum Research will rank at the top. These guns are large and chambered in powerful cartridges. Current production pistols are chambered in .357 Magnum, .44...
SIG Sauer P220 Review
The SIG Sauer P220 was introduced in 1976, as a full sized handgun that launched the company to the forefront of modern pistol design. This pistol is extremely accurate and easy to operate. This design influenced many future pistols including the top...
SIG Sauer P226 Review
The Chosen SIG Sauer P226 is proven in combat as a serious pistol and therefore has been selected by the US Navy SEALs. It is extremely durable, very reliable and highly accurate. For these reasons, this firearm tops the list for best full-size, metal-frame...
Smith & Wesson 642 Review
The S&W 642 is a great gun, right out of the box. In this article I will discuss the specifications and why I choose this gun for my concealed carry weapon.
Out of the box, my gunsmith measured the trigger pull at 11 pounds, which is challenging,...
Smith & Wesson MP45 Review
Something about the company
A part of the American gun history, Smith & Wesson has been around since 1852. Their pistols and revolvers are part of standard equipment in police forces and armies around the world, as well as part of the popular culture,...
Tanfoglio Witness Review
The Tanfoglio Witness is an inexpensive Italian handgun that is a clone of the CZ 75. It is imported into the United States by European American Armory (EAA) Corporation. It is often referred to as the “EAA Witness” for that reason.
When introduced in ...
Best Pump-Action Shotgun
Which is the right pump shotgun for you? Nothing is more American than a Pump-Action Shotgun. Known for their dependability and economic price, pump-actions have become popular in everything from trap shooting to home defense and make a great first shotgun....
Benelli Nova Review
Always wanted a Benelli but thought you could never afford one? Too many Benelli’s to choose from? Got a thing for Italians?
While the selection of Benelli models and configurations does seem endless, the options for the Italian shotgun that gets a...
Browning BPS Review
Another tough contender in our pump action comparison is the Browning BPS. The BPS is essentially a direct knockoff of the Remington 870 Wingmaster; however, Browning made a few stylistic and feature changes like: a thumb-operated grip safety on top of...
Chiappa Triple Crown Review
Chiappa Firearms has produced their Triple Crown shotgun. As the name implies, there are three barrels of 12-gauge, 3-inch magnum awesomeness! The third barrel rests on top of and is incorporated into a traditional double barrel platform to form a pyramid...
Harrington & Richardson Pump Review
One of our honorable mentions is the Harrington & Richardson (H&R) pump action shotgun. This is a very basic, entry-level machine for tossing shells and a great starter for youth shooters or those who are grossly uninformed about shotgunning.
We've u...
Ithaca 37 Review
The Ithaca 37 has got quite a name and reputation behind it: many years of solid craftsmanship, care of design and innovative manufacturing. The look and feel in some ways surpassed the upper-deck Remington and a high-end discontinued Winchester model...
Maverick 88 Review
We promise to resist the urge and call the “more-plastic-than-I-am-comfortable-with” Maverick, Mexico’s answer to the polymer pistol. So sit down and keep on reading.
What we will say, in the hopes of reassuring you, is that many of the parts are o...
Mossberg 500 Review
At the absolute halfway point between the best of the best and the worse of the best, we casually trip over the Mossberg 500, pump action. Such subtle differences in all these models/manufacturers make this a grueling task because all these guns are excellent.
The...
Remington 870 Express Review
You are probably wondering how we could put the 870 Wingmaster in the top slot and kick the 870 Express down to fourth place. And believe us, we get it, but there are some major differences to contend with here.
This Remington 870 shotgun shoots great....
Remington 870 Wingmaster Review
Rarely does a firearm hold it’s own against the ongoing competition year after year. Something even more rare is a shotgun holding it's own generation after generation, in it’s original form, unaltered despite ever-changing trends and “coolness facto...
Weatherby PA-08 Review
The Weatherby PA-08 presents beautifully and has a great feel to the gun. The walnut forend and stock is pretty top notch, lending a much higher-end display that one would see on a shotgun at twice the price range.
We didn't have very high hopes for...
Winchester SXP Review
“Yeaahhh, everybody’s shootin’, chuka-chuka, pow-pow!”
Gotta love that Winchester commercial with the catchy little ditty of a theme song. Certainly it's as memorable as the Winchester name, but only time will tell if the Winchester SXP pump-action is as w...
About Our Firearm Rankings
It is always difficult to rank firearms. There’s a good chance you won’t always agree with our conclusions because a large part of choosing a firearm is based on your personal preference. It is also true that there is no accounting for taste and unfortunately when you rate firearms you are in the tricky business of quantifying taste. That being said, we’ve got your needs, as a prospective buyer, in mind as we write each review – judging features that we think would most to you.
Our Ranking and Comparison charts are another great resource available to you when making your purchase. Our goal is to help you quickly see what areas a certain gun excels in, as well as where it struggles. We hope this will save time for both the expert and educate the novice.
We review each firearm on characteristics most important to the average consumer. As always our reviews are completely unbiased. Click on one of the following categories to see the latest reviews. More are always being added so check back often!
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About Our Firearm Reviews
It can be hard to find honest and unbiased reviews nowadays. There seems to be no middle ground between the glowing write-ups given by most firearm reviewers and the thrashing a firearm might receive on a forum by a disgruntled customer. We strive to provide you with honest reviews since few firearms are pure junk and even fewer are perfect. Our experts analyze the different aspects of the firearm, finding were it excels and where it may lack. We then let the consumer decide what ranking factors matter most to them.