Maksym Kovaliov
Tests marketing claims against real field results, and gives an honest answer for every wallet.
Bio
Maksym is a sober pragmatist with more than twenty years of hunting and shooting on the US West Coast. He treats a marketing claim as a question to be answered in the field, not a fact to be repeated. If the numbers do not hold up on the range or in the timber, the claim does not survive the article.
His conviction is simple: every dollar a reader spends should earn its keep. His signature approach is comparing premium, mid-range and budget options and giving an honest answer for every wallet, rather than pointing everyone at the most expensive shelf. The verdict changes with the budget, but it is always a real verdict.
He respects old, proven gear, not out of nostalgia but because it works. He is a handloader, and he quietly collects older firearms. Both habits keep him honest about what actually matters and what is only a spec sheet talking.
He lives on the US West Coast. Off season, you will usually find him at the reloading bench or tinkering with one of the older rifles from his small collection. Most of what he writes starts as a question he had to answer for himself before spending his own money.
Where I hunt and shoot
West Coast: blacktail and mule deer, black bear, pronghorn, coyotes, varmints and upland birds. Handloading and field shooting throughout the year.
Where I write
Selected articles
A few representative pieces. New work is on the way.