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. Some years there are runaway standouts, but more often than not, there are numerous contenders worthy of accolade within a given category, and the selection process to nail down a slate of recipients can require no small amount of rigorous discussion on the part of the editors. 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 Optic Of The Year: Trijicon RCR
There are many advantages to running a micro red-dot atop your pistol, and recent enclosed-emitter designs offer even more benefits, but these models’ sealed housings can complicate their installation aboard the mounting interfaces of standard optics-ready slides.
However, as Senior Executive Editor Kelly Young explained in “Next-Gen Ruggedness,” Trijicon’s decision to develop its new Ruggedized Closed Reflex (or RCR) around the use of capstan screws allowed these concerns to be side-stepped completely, permitting the new red-dot to be employed atop any standard RMR-footprint mount.“For the enclosed RCR in particular, such simple compatibility with one of the most popular mounting footprints in the industry, without the need for additional plates, is a big deal,” Young wrote.
Also big news was the RCR’s carry-friendly 1.95-oz. weight, top-mounted battery compartment, the impressive durability imparted by its waterproof, fogproof 7075-T6 aluminum housing, and that it offers a substantially larger field of view than its predecessor, the Type 2 RMR, thanks to its slightly raised viewing pane.
For developing a convenient-to-use and multi-functional optic that enjoys all the advantages of an enclosed-emitter red-dot, while eliminating its primary shortcoming, we awarded the Trijicon RCR Optic Of The Year. For more information, visit trijicon.com.
