And so here we are — the final category of our Ballistic’s Best Reader’s Choice Awards. Today we tackle the “Best Semi-Auto Rifle,” as voted by our readers.
Reader’s Choice for Best Semi-Auto Rifle
In total, there were 10 nominees for our “Best Semi-Auto Rifle” category. In the end, we had our closest vote ever — with first place decided by just four votes. Barrel lengths ranged from 16 inches to 22 inches, while overall lengths ranged from 30.8 inches to 45.5 inches. In terms of calibers, there were in total: 7.62mm NATO, 5.56mm NATO, .300 HAM’R, .223 Wylde, and .260 Remington. MSRPs ranged from $1,000 to $4,499.
The 10 nominees for our Reader’s Choice “Best Semi-Auto Rifle” were:
- Barrett REC10 (Tactical Life review)
- DoubleStar STAR10-BX
- FN SCAR 20S (Tactical Life first look)
- POF-USA Wonder
- PWS MK116 Pro
- Savage MSR 15 Competition (Tactical Life first look)
- SIG Sauer M400 Tread (Tactical Life first look)
- Springfield SAINT Victor (Tactical Life torture test)
- Wilson Combat Ranger (Tactical Life first look)
- ZEV AR-15 Billet Rifle (if you recall, we’re giving this one away to one lucky voter)
Here are the other categories and winners in our Reader’s Choice voting, before we get to the “Best Semi-Auto Rifle” winner.
- Compact semi-auto handguns (non-1911s) — WINNER: SIG P320 XCompact
- Revolvers — WINNER: Colt King Cobra
- 1911s — WINNER: Wilson Combat EDC X9L
- Full-sized semi-auto handguns — WINNER: Walther Q5 Match SF Pro
- Semi-auto shotguns — WINNER: Benelli M4 H20 Tactical
- Bolt-action rifles — WINNER: Barrett MRAD
- Semi-auto rifles
In total, we saw 7,139 votes. The final tally saw first and second place separated by just four votes — 1,183 to 1,179. The winner is officially the SIG M400 Tread.
SIG M400 Tread Details
The following was written by contributor David Bahde as a part of the 2019 Ballistic’s Best issue. Want to find out the winners our staff chose? Grab digital and/or physical copies of “Ballistic’s Best 2019” at OutdoorGroupStore.com.
SIG Sauer’s M400 Tread was the real surprise. It’s an excellent value at $1,050, and all of the Tread-branded accessories are extremely affordable. The rifle is also lightweight and looks great for the price. The trigger was also nice for the price point, and we obtained some tight groups. The proprietary muzzle brake was a favorite among the evaluators as well because it kept the recoil to a minimum without kicking much blast back toward the shooter.
Everything about the M400 Tread is well thought out, with integration at a high value being the clear goal. We also chose the M400 Tread as the “best bang for the buck” overall. For more information, please visit SIGSauer.com.
