Editorial Guidelines
This page explains how we choose what to cover, who writes for us, how we handle corrections, and where the line sits between editorial and commerce.
Who writes for Valley Firearms
Our contributors are shooters first. Reviewers own, shoot, or have personally handled the guns they cover. Every byline is a real person — we don't publish AI-generated reviews, and we don't ghostwrite editorial under generic bylines. Every contributor's relevant experience is visible on their author page.
How we choose what to review
- Reader demand. Products that show up in search queries, newsletter replies, and category deal velocity get prioritized.
- Category coverage. We aim for full coverage of each price band in a category (budget, mid, premium) before going deeper on any one tier.
- Availability.If a product is unobtainium or permanently sold out, we deprioritize reviews of it — a review you can't act on isn't useful.
- What brands pay us. Zero. See Affiliate Disclosure for the details.
Review samples
We sometimes accept manufacturer-provided review samples to speed up coverage. When we do:
- We disclose it clearly in the review.
- We decline samples that require editorial approval before publication or that come with "positive coverage" strings attached.
- We return or destroy samples at the manufacturer's direction after the review runs.
The majority of products we review are purchased at retail with money the site earned from affiliate revenue. This keeps us independent and aligned with our readers.
Rating philosophy
Our ratings and "best of" rankings are based on performance, reliability, ergonomics, value, and real-world usability — not on how much a brand pays us and not on how loud their marketing team is. A product that earns us nothing in affiliate commissions can still be our top pick; a product that pays us well can still get called out for a bad trigger, bad quality control, or bad value.
Our Deal Score methodology is fully public, deterministic, and has no affiliate input.
Corrections policy
If we get something wrong, we fix it. The correction is marked at the bottom of the affected article with the date of the update and a description of what changed. For material errors — spec mistakes, pricing errors, safety-relevant claims — we also push a note to the next week's newsletter.
To report a correction, email editors@valleyfirearms.com.
Firewall between editorial and commerce
The people writing reviews are not the people negotiating affiliate rates. The Deal Score is computed from public price data — it has no commission input. When two retailers sell a product, the "View Best Price" button links to the one with the lowest verified price, not the highest commission.
What we won't do
- Publish sponsored content styled as editorial.
- Accept manufacturer payment to rank a product higher.
- Remove a negative review in exchange for anything.
- Link to retailers we know to be unreliable.
Who to contact
Story pitches, tips, and corrections: editors@valleyfirearms.com
Retailer and brand outreach (kept separate from editorial): partners@valleyfirearms.com