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May 9th, 2025

Rob Leatham Wins SSUSA Golden Bullseye Competitor Award

rob leatham springfield armory pistol shooting golden bullseye competitor award NRA
Shooting Sports USA Editor John Parker presents Rob Leatham with NRA Golden Bullseye Competitor Award at the 2025 NRA Annual Meetings and Exhibits. SSUSA photo by Peter Fountain.

rob leatham springfield armory pistol shooting golden bullseye competitor award NRARob Leatham Wins Golden Bullseye Award
Renowned competitive pistol shooter Rob Leatham has received the inaugural (first-ever) Shooting Sports USA Golden Bullseye Competitor Award. Leatham received the award at the 2025 National Rifle Association Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Atlanta, Georgia. CLICK HERE for full story.

Winners of NRA Golden Bullseye Awards are determined by NRA Media staff, who represent more than a century of collective experience in the shooting industry. In particular, the NRA Golden Bullseye Competitor Award recognizes a competitive shooter who has displayed outstanding performance in competition and has “given back” to the shooting sports world by providing guidance and support to the next generation of competitive shooters.

“This award honors the highest level of achievement in competitive shooting — and there is no one more deserving to receive it first than Rob Leatham”, said John Parker, Editor-in-Chief ofShooting Sports USA. “For more than 40 years, Rob has set the bar — not just with his championship titles, but with his relentless pursuit of excellence, his sportsmanship and his influence on generations of competition shooters. He’s a competitor, a pioneer and a true ambassador of the shooting sports.”

Interview with Rod Leatham for The Armory Life

Competing since 1978, Leatham has amassed a remarkable record of success over the past four decades — eight-time IPSC World Champion, 11-time NRA Bianchi Cup Action Pistol Champion, 34-time USPSA/IPSC National Champion (Overall & Aggregate), eight-time Steel Challenge World Speed Shooting Champion, seven-time IDPA champion, and more.

rob leatham springfield armory pistol shooting golden bullseye competitor award NRA

Rob Leatham, By the Numbers:

34X USPSA / IPSC NATIONAL CHAMPION (Overall and Aggregate)
11X NRA BIANCHI CUP ACTION PISTOL CHAMPION
8X IPSC WORLD CHAMPION
4X USPSA CLASSIC NATIONALS AGGREGATE CHAMPION
14X USPSA / IPSC NATIONAL “SENIOR” CHAMPION
10X IPSC WORLD “TEAM” CHAMPIONS #TeamUSA
19X SINGLE STACK CLASSIC CHAMPION
3X AMERICAN HANDGUNNER WORLD SHOOTOFF CHAMPION
8X STEEL CHALLENGE WORLD SPEED SHOOTING CHAMPION
7X IDPA NATIONAL CHAMPION
2019 IDPA WORLD SENIOR CHAMPION
2006 ICORE INTERNATIONAL REVOLVER WORLD CHAMPION – LIMITED DIVISION​

“I am truly honored to have been selected as the first recipient of this new award from NRA’s Shooting Sports USA,” said Rob Leatham. “I have loved shooting all my life, and I’m humbled and thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to do this for a living with Springfield Armory. Thank you to Dennis Reese and the Springfield Armory team for making my dreams come true.”

» SEE Full Rob Leatham Career Feature Story and Interview

Rob Leatham has more than four decades behind the trigger as a professional shooter, trainer and expert. It is this background that has earned him the moniker of “The Great One”, or simply TGO. In fact, Springfield Custom created the “TGO 1″ handgun named in his honor and designed by the man himself. This special edition featured the Rob Leatham signature on the wood grips.

rob leatham springfield armory pistol shooting golden bullseye competitor award NRA

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February 7th, 2024

Springfield Armory Echelon Pistol Wins NRA Award

springfield armory echelon 9mm pistol central operating optics ready modular

If you are looking for a high-quality, full-size 9mm pistol, you may want to consider the new Springfield Armory Echelon, introduced last year. This full-frame 9mm handgun recently earned the 2024 Golden Bullseye Handgun of the Year award from the NRA’s Shooting Illustrated magazine. That’s impressive. Users report that the Echelon is accurate with a very good trigger and excellent sights.

At first glance the New Echelon sort of looks like a Glock mated with a Walther, with a good, ergonomic grip (definitely better than a Glock grip). The striker-fired Echelon pistol boasts multiple patent-pending features designed to make the Echelon modular and highly adaptable.

springfield armory echelon 9mm pistol central operating optics ready modular

Inside the Echelon is a patent-pending Central Operating Group (see above). Employing cutting-edge manufacturing techniques, this is an entirely self-contained and serialized stainless steel chassis. This design allows all the key operating units of the pistol to be easily moved between available grip modules in seconds. The pistol comes standard with the medium grip module and three interchangeable backstraps. Small and large grips can be purchased separately. All controls of the pistol are fully ambidextrous.

For mounting optics, the Echelon boasts self-locking pins to ensure consistent point of aim/point of impact with mounted optics. Notably, the pins can be positioned to fit a wide variety of optics.

springfield armory echelon 9mm pistol central operating optics ready modular

The Echelon is offered with a choice of U-Dot™ tritium/luminescent or traditional three-dot tritium sights. The standard barrel is 4.5″, while a longer 5.28″ threaded barrel is also available. The pistol ships with two magazines with a capacity of 17+1 in flush fit configuration and 20+1 with extended basepad.


springfield armory echelon 9mm pistol central operating optics ready modular

CLICK HERE for more information on the Echelon, including multiple videos. NOTE about ISSUES: Some testers have had issues with factory magazines, but it appears this could be caused by the user’s grip contacting the slide release. Reports of Echelon magazine base plate issues appear to be from improper mag reassembly by owners.

Permalink Gear Review, Handguns No Comments »
March 3rd, 2022

Colt Anaconda Revolver Wins Golden Bullseye Award

Colt Anaconda revolver wheelgun .44 Mag Magnum stainless steel snake 6

The .44 Magnum Colt Anaconda is BACK, and better than ever. Re-introduced a year ago, the new Anaconda has been a sales success that has garnered major industry honors. The Colt Anaconda has been selected as the 2022 American Hunter Golden Bullseye Handgun of the Year. Published by the National Rifle Association (NRA), American Hunter is the largest circulation hunting magazine in the nation

Colt’s new generation Anaconda .44 Magnum Revolver was released in 2021. Offered with either 6″ or 8″ full-underlug barrels, and bulked-up solid stainless-steel frame, these new-generation Colts are hefty. Fitted with 6″ barrel, Colt’s new Anaconda weighs 3.31 pounds (53 ounces) while the big 8″-bbl Anaconda tips the scales at 3.69 pounds (59 ounces). MSRP is $1499.00.

Colt Anaconda revolver wheelgun .44 Mag Magnum stainless steel snake 6

Guns American Digest reports: “The Anaconda… is based on Colt’s updated .357 Magnum design, scaled up and reinforced for the hard-hitting [.44 Magnum] cartridge. Of course, shooters can always shoot friendlier .44 Special ammunition at the range. These guns are returning with all the same looks as the originals, with full-length underlugs, ventilated rib topstraps, and Colt’s semi-bright polished finish. They ship with … adjustable rear sights and a red ramp up-front.”

The Colt Anaconda is a double-action six shooter with forged stainless steel barrel and frame. Double Action trigger pull is 12 pounds with single action a smooth 5 pounds. The new Anacondas come standard with black Hogue over-molded rubber grips, but Python checkered wood grips can be fitted to Anacondas. For full-power .44 magnum loads, we recommend sticking with the Hogues.

Colt Anaconda revolver wheelgun .44 Mag Magnum stainless steel snake 6

Optics Options for Anaconda
Are you a handgun hunter? Then you’ll be pleased to note that the new Anaconda comes with frames already drilled and tapped for optics. This will allow the fitting of red-dot style optics as well as various long-eye-relief hunting scopes.

Additional Calibers in the Future?
Will the Anaconda be offered in other calibers? Guns America Digest reports: “It’s possible that Colt also has plans for other chamberings, like .45 Colt, but for now, they’ll have no trouble finding buyers for their new-production .44 Magnum Anacondas. Even at the suggested retail pricing, which, in all fairness, is the same as the .357 Magnum Pythons.

Hickok45 Reviews the New Generation Colt Anaconda .44 Magnum:

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