Hornady Ammo

Hornady History

Joyce Hornady was an avid hunter and shooter who, although deemed too old for service during World War II, taught marksmanship to security forces stationed at Nebraska’s Grand Island Arsenal. The duties didn’t slow his hunting, although the war effort’s drain on stateside supplies made bullets scarce. So, he figured out how to redraw .22-caliber rimfire brass into bullets suitable for centerfire cartridges. Sometime after VJ Day he partnered with Vernon Speer, and the design became available to the public under the “Speer Hornady Bullets” name.

Speer moved to Idaho and built his own legend. Hornady stayed in the Heartland and knew the post-war glut of surplus cartridges was good news for recreational shooters, but also understood the bullets they carried were not ideal for hunting. Add the sudden excess of components—brass, powder, primers—that would make the economy of reloading attractive to returning G.I.s and he saw an opportunity.

In 1949 he opened the doors of Hornady Manufacturing Company in Grand Island, NE. Its motto was, and still is today, “Accurate, deadly, dependable.” A .30-caliber 150-grain spire-point was the first bullet it made—a design that remains popular.

Korean War Slowdown

Sales totaled only $10,000 the first year—not enough to put the books in the black—although the figure tripled in the next 12 months. Staff size grew to four, then the Korean Conflict arrived, and its corresponding scarcity in raw materials. Commercial bullet production slowed, and rather than risk layoffs or idle the business, Hornady entered into a contract with the government to manufacture war effort items.

The approach worked and after fighting stopped production resumed to normal. Business was good and by 1958 it the company had outgrown the mid-town building it launched from—formerly an auto body shop. That year the company opened an 8,000-square foot factory west Grand Island, in an area outside city limits. The facility even included a 200-yard, underground range for testing, another testament to the company’s foresight. The location was remote at the time, but today it’s surrounded by buildings.  

Hornady Innovation and Cartridges

Hornady added sales and marketing staff in the 1960s and the pension for innovation shined when company experiments identified an improved bullet design. The secant ogive spire point was the result, and it’s still used in most pointed-bullet profiles to this day. The technical-sounding approach, in simplest terms, improves ballistic coefficient and exterior ballistics by increasing the radius of the circle reflected by the pointy/rounded end of the bullet—in effect, smoothing things, improving aerodynamics and decreasing drag. Common sense, except if that radius gets too large accuracy is lost and if you sacrifice too much of the projectile’s straight-walled section it can have problems settling into the barrel’s rifling. Thankfully the engineers and ballisticians have done all the heavy calculus.

It wasn’t long until the company was offering everything from .22- to .45-caliber bullets for reloaders. Then, in 1964, Hornady rolled out its Frontier Ammunition line of cartridges. Built from surplus brass and Hornady projectiles at strict manufacturing tolerances, it quickly gained favor for performance and affordability.

Staff grew to 40 and sales climbed at an annual rate of 30 percent. Consumer demand was so great that manufacturing space was expanded to 25,000-square feet.

When the Vietnam war began the company faced a different challenge, though. Surplus brass vanished and, to ensure production continued uninterrupted, Hornady entered into mutually beneficial agreements with other major manufacturers. A byproduct of those relationships continues to this day—seen in the number of Hornady bullets in cartridges assembled by other companies.

Joyce Hornady’s youngest son, Steve, came to work for Hornady Manufacturing in 1970. Then in 1971 Hornady Manufacturing purchased Pacific Tool Company—Steve Hornady’s former employer—which had been making reloading presses and gear since 1928. One of the company’s last designs, a progressive press, was so innovative that it continues to be popular to this day.  

Despite all the success and challenged, the emphasis on technology and improvement never faltered. In 1965 its engineers developed the Innergroove, scoring inside the bullet to ensure proper “upset” (mushrooming) on impact. The InterLock, which minimizes separation by using an interior ring, came in 1977.  

Overcoming Tragedy

Joyce Hornady and two members of his staff died on Jan. 15, 1981, while traveling to the firearm industry’s annual Shooting Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show.

Steve Hornady took over as president. His wife Marval, who had already been working for the company for nearly a decade, became chairman of the board. Joyce’s daughter, Margaret Hornady David and her husband left corporate positions at Polaroid to join the team.

Hornady Ammunition

What followed is a rapid and unparalleled harnessing of groundbreaking technology in the company’s cartridges and bullets. A large part of that is the engineers the company has attracted, but without management willing to risk it on a concept, none of it would be possible. If you’re one of the many 6.5 Creedmoor fans, you can thank Hornady. It introduced the cartridge in 2007. More recently it gave us the 6.5 PRC and .300 PRC cartridges. Want reliable feeding and stopping power in your self-defense handgun? Hornady has the answer.

Hornady Critical Defense

One failure in your self-defense gun with your preferred carry cartridge is not acceptable. It’s a simple stovepipe on the range, but in a criminal confrontation, the results can be fatal. Hornady’s Critical Defense and Critical Duty lineup harnesses the company’s FTX (Flex Tip) Bullet tip technology that helps avoid feeding problems, minimizes clogging through barriers like clothing, yet delivers fight-stopping terminal performance. The former is fine-tuned for home- and self-defense, the latter tailored for law enforcement officers, who require better barrier penetration as they protect and serve. The cartridges are available for most handguns and even some long guns.

Hornady Custom XTP

The ultimate in self-defense loads from the company, however, may be it's Custom XTP (eXtreme Terminal Performance) line of cartridges. Renowned for their accuracy, the projectile is a hollowpoint covered in a jacket of gilding metal to ensure unfailing feeding. Serrations ensure proper upset on impact and the swaged core ensures in-flight stability with proper expansion. It’s available for a variety of chamberings.

Hornady LEVERevolution

Historically, one of the big limitations to lever-action rifles is a tubular magazine that requires cartridges to line up, single file. If those loads feature a ballistically superior pointed bullet and one of them strikes the primer ahead with enough force, the results are more than just “surprising.” Hornady was the first to solve the problem and put some exterior ballistics back into the equation using the same FTX technology.

Hornady A-MAX

When precision is key and performance cannot be compromised, take a close look at this Hornady line—from bullets for that precision reloader, to complete cartridges. The A-MAX projectile starts with a secant ogive profile to improve external ballistics, adds a swaged lead core to improve shot-to-shot repeatability and puts it in the company’s AMP jacket, which has virtually zero deviation in wall thickness.  Add an ultra-low drag tip to improve ballistic coefficient and its an ideal option for anyone trying to make that long-distance connection, or dozens of them.