Welcome to the eighth annual Ballistic’s Best Guns of the Year Awards! If you’re new here, congratulations! You’ve stumbled upon the wildest, most caffeine-fueled, brass-flinging gear showdown in the firearms world. Every year, our editorial crew, contributors, testers, and the brave souls who tolerate them gather for a monumental task: testing, scoring, and ranking more than 100 products across the firearms and gear spectrum.
- Yes—100+.
- Yes—it’s controlled chaos.
- Yes—we love every minute of it.
Over weeks of range sessions, evaluations, debates, and the occasional “Wait, who was holding the camera?” We run every entry through our multi-point scoring system. When the smoke clears and the spreadsheets stop screaming, we crown winners across each category and award them the coveted Ballistic’s Best. The firearms world’s equivalent of a heavyweight championship belt (minus the sequins).
Ballistic’s Best 2025 Categories
- AR-15s
- Full-Size Handguns
- Compact Handguns
- .357 Magnum Revolvers
- 1911s / 2011s
- Bolt-Action Target Rifles
- 9mm Pistol-Caliber Carbines
- 12-Gauge Defensive Shotguns
All-New 2025 Gear Categories
Because you asked…And because we love shiny things.
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- EDC Knives
- Suppressors (Three Divisions):
If 2024 was big, 2025 is outrageous. Expanding into blades and cans was the natural next step. After all, what’s a modern loadout without a trusty cutter and a civilized decibel rating?
How Ballistic’s Best 2025 Happens
Putting on Ballistic’s Best is like running a range day, science fair, and three-ring circus at the same time. Guns, gear, ammo, knives, suppressors, optics; it all moves through a tightly controlled testing process guided by our team leads and squads of hardened evaluators. They battle heat, cold, mud, spreadsheets, and our creative demands.
To our testers: You’re the real heroes, and the fact that you still answer our emails is proof of your legendary patience.
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What’s Next
Over the next few weeks, we’ll roll out every category with full breakdowns, scores, analysis, and, of course, the winners. If you’ve been waiting for the definitive word on the best firearms and gear of 2025, you’re in the right place.
Stay tuned right here on AthlonOutdoors.com as we unveil the champions of Ballistic’s Best 2025.
Spoiler: You’re going to want to make some room in your safe.
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