NRA Women awarded Ruger the 2025 NRA Golden Bullseye for Rifle of the Year for its Ruger American Rifle Gen II, presented at an invitation-only breakfast during the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits, April 25, 2025.
For years it was a challenge for NRA Women to name a “Gun of the Year” simply because there weren’t enough worthy candidates. If it wasn’t an expensive custom gun, it was too big, too small, too long, too short … too pink … well, you get the idea. Thankfully, many of our industry’s most popular gun makers are figuring out how to build guns for everyone, including those that women can and will shoot. For out-of-the-box rifles, a key to their success with women can be summed up in one word: modularity. The notion of adding adjustable features in areas critical to a great fit was best exemplified last year in the Ruger American Rifle Gen II—a follow up nearly 15 years after the 2010 introduction of Ruger’s value-minded hunting rifle. NRA Media’s Karen Mehall and seven other women discovered the female-friendly attributes of this rifle during a training course at the FTW Ranch in Texas, sending hundreds of rounds way, way downrange. An adjustable length of pull and comb height allowed for a comfortable and accurate fit for each of the women; while its light weight and adjustable trigger made it a breeze to handle and shoot—especially for women with smaller hands and those new to shooting. Karen, with the rifle chambered in 6.5 Creedmoor, went on to take a blackbuck in the Texas Hill Country and a southern Texas whitetail doe later in the year. —NRAWomen.com Editor-in-Chief Ann Y. Smith
