Reviews SHOT Show 2026: Top Brass Awards! David Lane January 21, 2026 Join the Conversation At RECOIL, we review every product fairly and without bias. Making a purchase through one of our links may earn us a small commission, and helps support independent gun reviews. Read our affiliate policy. Find out more about how we test products. RECOIL Network gave out the first Top Brass Awards at SHOT Show 2026! Brands that brought new products, new ideas, and bold innovation to the market. Top Brass Awards come from all of the RECOIL Network brands, including RECOIL Magazine, Gun Digest, CONCEALMENT, CARNIVORE, OffGrid, and CANCON. Here are just a few of our winners! RECOIL Top Brass Phoenix Award: FN SCAR Reborn from the ashes of the first generation of FN SCAR, the king lives on in the second generation. Improved in almost every way, this new version continues to impress us. We got the first hands-on look at the new SCAR and have all the details of what makes it great and how it changed from the original design. Take a look: The Next Generation Of The FN SCAR: The King Is DEAD – Long Live The King [EXCLUSIVE HANDS ON]! CONCEALMENT Top Brass Award For Best Accessory: TriggerTech ACE Trigger System Building their name in the bolt-action and AR trigger space, TriggerTech now offers that high level of design with an unbeatable crisp, Zero Creep trigger for Glocks gen 1-5. Tunable by the user for a pull weight between 2.5 and 6 pounds, this is the most crisp, smoothest, and surprising trigger we’ve seen for the Glock platform. CANCON Top Brass Giggle Maker Award: Maxim Defense PDX SD We see lots of new and interesting things at every CANCON, but this year, the one that never failed to light up someone’s face was the Maxim Defense PDX SD! Less than 24” end to end, this ultra-short, ultra-compact little gun sounds and shoots like you can’t believe. Built to be the ultimate in small gun technology, the Maxim PDX SD is more than the sum of its parts and delivers a tiny gun that everyone loves to shoot. Gun Digest Top Brass Best New Precision Rifle Award: Seekins SIC This absolute polearm of a rifle from Seekins left us incredibly impressed. It's available in 7 different calibers ranging from badass magnums down to 6.5 Creedmoor and .308 Winchester, but you don't have to choose just one. This modular rifle developed for U.S. Special Operations is hyper modular, allowing you to quickly and easily swap calibers for your mission on the fly using a just a T25 stored in the buttpad. All of this coolness doesn't come cheap, but if you can afford it, this is one hell of a precision rifle. Recoil Top Brass Innovation Award: PSA Mixtape .338 ARC The .338 ARC cartridge is super cool and potentially very quiet, and that calls for awesome guns chambered in it. PSA did that in spades with their announcement of a .338 ARC Sabre Mixtape! The original version in .300 BLK was already impressive, but we're excited to see what it can do in the new chambering. Why you can trust RECOIL Since our founding in 2012, RECOIL remains the premier firearms lifestyle publication for the modern shooting enthusiast. We deliver cutting-edge coverage of guns, gear, accessories and technology. We go beyond basic reviews, providing no B.S. buyer’s guides, hands-on testing and expert analysis on everything from firearms and survival equipment to watches and vehicles. Our reviewers are the backbone of our operation and come from diverse shooting backgrounds: Former law enforcement, military veterans, competitive shooters, seasoned hunters and plain old firearms enthusiasts. Furthermore, we’re not just gun experts, but dedicated journalists who adhere to the strictest standards of our profession. At RECOIL, editorial independence is the foundation of everything we publish and the cornerstone of reader trust. 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