The Great British Shooting Awards (TGBSA) crowned its seventh set of winners at the British Shooting Show (BSS) on 14 February, with the Air Arms HFT 500 taking away Airgun of the Year. The HFT 500 beat off stiff competition from the Airgun Technology Uragan 2; the AirMaks Krait; the FX Airguns DRS Classic; the Reximex Mito; and the Weihrauch HW95 S Adjustable to win the coveted award.
First launched in 2018, the TGBSA recognises the products, organisations and people who are at the heart of the shooting community. HikMicro joined as the awards’ headline sponsor this year, and also picked up awards for Handheld Thermal and Thermal Clip-On units, as voted for by the shooting public. Elsewhere, Simon West OBE, the outgoing executive director of the GTA, won the Lifetime Achievement award, while our sister title Shooting Times & Country Magazine won Favourite Shooting Media Brand – well done to editor Ollie Harvey and his team.
Several awards were handed out during the opening day of the BSS at the NEC Birmingham, with a drinks reception and wider awards ceremony, compered by Felix Petit, Time Well Spent’s group news editor, held in the evening.
2025 GBSA WINNERS
AIRGUN OF THE YEAR Air Arms HFT 500
RIFLE OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by NocPix) Savage Arms 110 Carbon Tactical
CLAY SHOTGUN OF THE YEAR Beretta DT11
GAME SHOTGUN OF THE YEAR Beretta Silver Pigeon III
SHOOTING APPAREL OF THE YEAR Härkila Pro Hunter Move 2.0 GTX
FOOTWEAR OF THE YEAR Härkila Reidmar Mid 2.0 GTX
INNOVATIVE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR Garmin Xero C1 Pro chronograph
CLAY CARTRIDGES OF THE YEAR Baschieri & Pellagri F2 Flash
GAME CARTRIDGE OF THE YEAR Hull Partridge Cartridge
RIFLE AMMUNITION OF THE YEAR Hornady Precision Hunter
RIFLESCOPE OF THE YEAR Hawke Sidewinder FFP 4-16×50
BINOCULAR OF THE YEAR Swarovski EL Range 32 TA
RANGEFINDER OF THE YEAR Leupold RX-2800 TBR/W
THERMAL SCOPE OF THE YEAR Pulsar Thermion 2 LRF XL50
THERMAL HANDHELD OF THE YEAR HikMicro Habrok HQ50L
THERMAL CLIP-ON OF THE YEAR HikMicro Thunder 3.0
GAMEKEEPER OF THE YEAR Faye Smith, Dibley Sporting
PROFESSIONAL DEERSTALKER OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Hornady) Chris Dalton, South Ayrshire Stalking
GUNDOG TRAINER OF THE YEAR Ellena Swift, Swift Gundog Training
SPORTING CONTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR Bruce Potts, Shooting Times/ Sporting Gun/ Rifle Shooter/ Gun Mart
SHOOTING HERO OF THE YEAR (Sponsored by Beretta) Amber Rutter and Nathan Hales
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO CONSERVATION Teresa Dent, GWCT chief executive
INDUSTRY INFLUENCER OF THE YEAR Jonny Carter, TGS Outdoors
FAVOURITE SHOOTING MEDIA BRAND Shooting Times & Country Magazine
RETAILER OF THE YEAR Sportsman Gun Centre
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD Simon West, Gun Trade Association