Hornady Manufacturing Company is an

America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

n manufacturer of

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

cartridges, components and

handloading Handloading, or reloading, is the practice of making firearm cartridges by manually assembling the individual components ( metallic/ polymer case, primer, propellant and projectile), rather than purchasing mass-assembled, factory-loaded com ...

equipments, based in

Grand Island, Nebraska Grand Island is a city in and the county seat of Hall County, Nebraska, Hall County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 53,131 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Nebraska, 4th most populous ...

History

Joyce W. Hornady began manufacturing

bullet A bullet is a kinetic projectile, a component of firearm ammunition that is shot from a gun barrel. They are made of a variety of materials, such as copper, lead, steel, polymer, rubber and even wax; and are made in various shapes and constru ...

s in the spring of 1949 with a .30 caliber spire point selling for $4.50 per hundred. Within a year Hornady was producing thirteen different bullets in five different calibers. The

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

caused material shortages limiting early production. An early innovation was thinner

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

jackets for

varmint hunting Varmint hunting or varminting is the practice of hunting vermin — generally small/medium-sized wild mammals or birds — as a means of pest control, rather than as games for food or trophy. The targeted animals are culled because they are ...

bullets to cause rapid expansion and minimize size of

ricochet A ricochet ( ; ) is a rebound, bounce, or skip off a surface, particularly in the case of a projectile. Most ricochets are caused by accident and while the force of the deflection decelerates the projectile, it can still be energetic and almost ...

particles. A new factory was required in 1958 to meet surging demand as returning soldiers used their firearm skills for hunting. A test range in an underground tunnel was built in 1960 to aid development of secant ogive bullets in 1961. The company is currently run by Joyce Hornady's son, Steve Hornady, who took over after his father's death in a plane crash on January 15, 1981. The

Piper Aztec The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, is an American four- to six-seat twin-engined general aviation light aircraft, used also in small numbers by the United States Navy and military forces in other countries. Originally designed as the ...

, with Hornady at the controls flying in heavy fog, crashed into

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ; ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from w ...

while on final approach to

New Orleans Lakefront Airport Lakefront Airport is a public airport five miles (eight kilometers) northeast of downtown New Orleans, in Orleans Parish, Louisiana, United States. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general av ...

. On June 21, 2024, Jason Hornady, currently the vice president of the firm, was arrested after being recorded driving 151 mph in a 50 mph zone south of Grand Island. A test performed at the Hall County Detention Center revealed a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

of .151, nearly twice the legal limit. He was charged with reckless driving and speeding, resulting in a suspended license for 90 days and $700 fine.

Pacific Tool Company

Steve Hornady worked for Pacific Tool Company from 1960 to 1971, from the time the company moved from California to Nebraska until Pacific Tool was bought by Hornady. Pacific's DL-366 was their final progressive press and Hornady's first, and it is still manufactured by Hornady as the 366 Auto.

Products

Cartridges

Hornady makes target shooting and hunting rounds as well as self-defense loads. In 1990, the Hornady XTP (which stands for Extreme Terminal Performance) won the industry's Product Award of Merit 1990 from the National Association of Federal Licensed Dealers. The company was the primary developer of the .17 HMR and .17 HM2 rimfire cartridges, which has become increasingly popular for small game and

vermin Vermin (colloquially varmint(s) or varmit(s)) are pests or nuisance animals that spread diseases and destroy crops, livestock, and property. Since the term is defined in relation to human activities, which species are included vary by regi ...

hunting. Hornady has worked closely with

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

s maker Sturm, Ruger on the development of the new line of Ruger cartridges including the .480 Ruger, .204 Ruger, and .375 Ruger. The company developed the LEVERevolution ammunition, which uses a spitzer bullet with a soft

elastomer An elastomer is a polymer with viscoelasticity (i.e. both viscosity and elasticity) and with weak intermolecular forces, generally low Young's modulus (E) and high failure strain compared with other materials. The term, a portmanteau of ''ela ...

tip to give better aerodynamic performance than flatter bullets, while eliminating the risk of a shock driving the pointed polymer tip of a bullet in a

lever-action The toggle-link action used in the iconic Winchester Model 1873 rifle, one of the most famous lever-action firearms Picture showing a Volcanic Pistol A lever action is a type of action for repeating firearms that uses a manually operated cocki ...

rifle's tube magazine into the primer of the cartridge in front, causing an explosion. At the beginning of 2012, Hornady brought out a "Zombie Max" bullet, apparently due to the growing interest in "Zombie Shooting" in America. Hornady released the Vintage Match ammunition to replicate the original military performance specifications unique to wartime rifles such as the

Mauser Mauser, originally the Königlich Württembergische Gewehrfabrik, was a German arms manufacturer. Their line of bolt-action rifles and semi-automatic pistols was produced beginning in the 1870s for the German armed forces. In the late 19th and ...

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the standard service rifle of th ...

Mosin–Nagant The Mosin–Nagant is a five-shot, Bolt action, bolt-action, Magazine (firearms), internal magazine–fed military rifle. Known officially as the 3-line rifle M1891, in Russia and the former Soviet Union as Mosin's rifle (, ISO 9: ) and inform ...

, Swedish Mauser or others chambered in 6.5×55mm, .303 British, 7.62×54mmR, 7.92×57mm Mauser and .30-06.

6.5mm Creedmoor

In 2007, Hornady released the first 6.5mm Creedmoor Cartridge. The 6.5 Creedmoor was a joint development between former Marine Corps competitive shooter David Tubb and Hornady Ballistician David Emary. Hornady Manufactures 6.5 Creedmoor cartridges, bullets and reloading dies.

6.5 PRC

The 6.5 PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) was initially designed by George Gardner of GA Precision and Hornady in 2013 and released at the 2018

SHOT Show The SHOT Show, which is an acronym for "Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show", is an American annual trade fair, trade show for the shooting sports, hunting, outdoor recreation, and firearm manufacturing industry (economics), industries. The ...

. It is essentially a more powerful and flatter-shooting version of the 6.5mm Creedmoor and uses the same bullet, but not the same cartridge case.

300 PRC

The American ammunition manufacturer Hornady got the 300 Precision Rifle Cartridge

SAAMI The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI, pronounced "Sammy") is an association of American manufacturers of firearms, ammunition, and components. SAAMI is an accredited standards developer that publishes several A ...

-standardized in 2018. In 2019 it got C.I.P.-standardized as the 300 PRC. The .375 Ruger cartridge has functioned as the parent case for the .300 Precision Rifle Cartridge (300 PRC), which is essentially a necked-down version of the .375 Ruger. The .375 Ruger cartridge case was used by Hornady as the basis for a new extra long range cartridge since it had the capability to operate with high chamber pressures which, combined with a neck and barrel throat optimized for loading relatively long and heavy .308 diameter very-low-drag bullets without the need to seat the bullets deeply recessed into the case result in adequate muzzle velocities from magnum sized bolt-action rifles. Rifles chambered for the 300 Precision Rifle Cartridge must be capable of handling overall length cartridges.

7mm PRC

Handloading

Hornady manufactures a range of

components including

cartridge case A cartridge, also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance ( smokeless powder, black powder substitute, or black powder) and an ignition device ( pr ...

s, bullets and

shotgun shell A shotgun cartridge, shotshell, or shell is a type of rimmed, cylindrical (straight-walled) ammunition used specifically in shotguns. It is typically loaded with numerous small, spherical sub-projectiles called shot. Shotguns typically use a ...

components. Hornady also produces a wide range handloading equipments such as presses, dies, powder measures, scales, case prepping tools,

gauge Gauge ( ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, especia ...

s, tumblers/ ultrasonic cleaners and other accessories, as well as publishing a reloading data

handbook A handbook is a type of reference work, or other collection of instructions, that is intended to provide ready reference. The term originally applied to a small or portable book containing information useful for its owner, but the ''Oxford Eng ...

that is currently in its 11th edition.

Security

In 2013, Hornady launched its Security division, dedicated to gun storage products and accessories. Their

gun safe A gun safe is a safe designed for storing one or more firearms and/or ammunitions. Gun safes are primarily used to prevent access by unauthorized or unqualified persons (such as children), for burglary protection and, in more capable safes, to p ...

s are offered in different product categories, which include the RAPiD Safes, Keyed Safes and Lock Boxes. Hornady also sell gun safe accessories such as

dehumidifier A dehumidifier is an air conditioning device which reduces and maintains the level of humidity in the air. This is done usually for health or thermal comfort reasons or to eliminate musty odor and to prevent the growth of mildew by extracting wate ...

s, gun racks and hangers,

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder called a tag, a radio receiver, and a transmitter. When tri ...

accessories, etc. In 2015, Hornady acquired the SnapSafe, a manufacturer known for its modular safes also headquartered in Grand Island, but these products remain marketed under the SnapSafe brand.

References

External links

*
Hornady videos and information on Ultimate Reloader
{{Authority control Manufacturing companies established in 1949 Ammunition manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Nebraska Hall County, Nebraska Privately held companies based in Nebraska 1949 establishments in Nebraska