2020 Rifle of the Year: Christensen Arms MPR

Every year, Shooting Illustrated staff members gather to review the firearms, optics, gear and ammunition launched in the past year. Out of this group, they choose the best of each category, which become the recipients of the next year's Golden Bullseye awards. For 2020, SI staffers chose the Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle as the Rifle of the Year. Here's what SI Rifles editor Steve Adelmann had to say about the gun:

The Modern Precision Rifle handled extremely well throughout my test. Its action cycled smoothly, while extraction, ejection and feeding were all flawless. The test gun’s trigger broke cleanly and consistently, shot after shot. Accuracy was excellent and were it not for the fact that I included one factory hunting load that seldom shoots accurately, the sample rifle would have bested all others I have tested in the overall accuracy department.

Of the three good loads I used, the worst group fired measured .72 MOA in extreme spread. The best group of the day was just .19 MOA. That is fantastic performance from a factory rifle that weighs in at less than 8 pounds. This rifle would be an excellent choice for back-country hunting over long distances or for other situations where shedding weight without sacrificing accuracy or velocity is most important.

For the full review of the Christensen Arms Modern Precision Rifle, click here.

To qualify for consideration for a Golden Bullseye Award, the product must have been recently introduced and available to consumers prior to the selection of the Golden Bullseye Awards. Each potential product has to have been used/tested by a staff member or regular contributor to the magazine and/or affiliated media. In that testing, the product must be reliable in the field, meeting or exceeding the evaluator’s expectations. It must be innovative in design and function, readily perceived as a value to the purchaser and styled in a manner befitting the shooting and hunting industry and, perhaps more importantly, its enthusiasts.