How We Rate
Read this before you trust us. It's short.
The Six-Shooter Rating
Every review scores one to six rounds. Six forces a verdict; a ten-point scale invites a seven, and a seven means nothing.
- 6 rounds — We'd buy it twice. Rare. We say what it did to earn the sixth round.
- 5 rounds — Dead Eye contender. One thing we'd change, and it's minor.
- 4 rounds — Good gear with a real flaw. Right for some people, wrong for others, and we tell you which you are.
- 3 rounds — It works. There's something better at the same price.
- 2 rounds — We'd return it.
- 1 round — We'd rather carry nothing.
The Dead Eye Pick
Our editor's-choice seal. One product per category at a time, awarded only after 30-plus days of use, and we revisit the pick every quarter. When something beats it, the old pick loses the badge and we publish why.
The Carry Test
Thirty days minimum before we rate anything. Holsters get carried daily under the clothes we actually wear. Lights get mounted, dropped and run through a dry-fire routine in the dark. Optics get at least 500 rounds and a zero check. Belts get a month and a kitchen scale. We log draw times on a shot timer where it matters and weigh everything in ounces.
Where the gear comes from
Three ways: bought with our money, loaned by a reader, or sent free by the maker. Every review states which. Free gear does not buy a round. Several makers have learned this the hard way.
Affiliate links
When you buy through our links we earn a commission at no cost to you. That's how the lights stay on. It does not change a rating and we'd rather you buy the right thing through someone else's link than the wrong thing through ours.
What We'd Change
Required in every review. If we can't find one thing we'd fix, we haven't looked hard enough.
Who we are
A small crew of people who carry every day, train regularly, and have bought enough bad gear to know the difference. Backgrounds in instruction, law enforcement, the trades and one guy who just really likes belts.
What we won't do
Publish a review of something we haven't used. Run a "top 10" written from spec sheets. Lecture you about politics. Call a magazine a clip.