2016 Pioneer of the Year: Randy Brooks

by
posted on May 11, 2016
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
brooks_pioneer_f.jpg

Pioneer of the Year: Randy Brooks, former president/CEO, Barnes Bullets
Randy Brooks grew up as an avid shooter and hunter in his native Utah, and in the 1970s took up custom-loading ammunition to help support his young family. At the urging of friend Fred Barnes, founder of the namesake component bullet company, Brooks acquired what remained of the firm after new owners had allowed it to languish. Soon the family’s basement became the company workshop, where Randy, his wife, Coni, and daughters Chandra and Jessica seated bullet cores in jackets.

Brooks’ development of a new dangerous-game solid won favor with gun writers, including NRA Publications Senior Field Editor Charles Askins, who wrote, “[L]et me assure you, these slugs really get the job done!”

Even so, the company struggled until Brooks devised the product that would forever change big-game hunters’ expectations for bullet penetration and terminal performance, the all-copper Barnes X Bullet. Although it took three years of trial-and-error experimentation with homemade hand and machine tools, Brooks perfected the process for manufacturing X Bullets. Then, over the next two decades, he continually improved the design and modified it to fit a host of new applications. Today’s Barnes TSX and related variants are among the world’s most highly regarded and oft-imitated hunting bullets.

After selling the company to Remington Outdoor Company in 2010, Brooks continued to develop new products, including the well-received Barnes VOR-TX loaded ammunition and new projectiles intended for military use. As an Army veteran, he is proud that Barnes bullets are now serving with American troops and security officers around the globe.

Brooks is an accomplished big-game hunter, particularly experienced on dangerous game in Alaska and Africa. He is a staunch supporter of NRA and the freedoms protected by the Second Amendment. Though much of his success can be attributed to lead-free bullets, he steadfastly refused to cooperate with anti-gun and media forces that repeatedly sought his validation for banning lead projectiles.

Latest

Henry Lever Action Supreme On White
Henry Lever Action Supreme On White

Hardware Review: Henry Lever Action Supreme Rifle

Check out Frank Melloni's Hardware review of the Henry Lever Action Supreme.

NRA 2025 Subsidies for Hunters for the Hungry Programs

The National Rifle Association of America has announced its 2025 subsidy program for Hunters for the Hungry (HFH) organizations in the United States by making $100,000 available.

A Shotgun for All Seasons: Savage Renegauge in Argentina

If you want to test a shotgun’s reliability and recoil control, you take it on a high-volume hunt. If you want that trial to more resemble torture than test, you make that a high-volume Argentina dove hunt. Read on to find out how the Savage Renegauge performed.

NRA Names Kyle Lamb as Brand Ambassador for America’s Rifle Challenge

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) proudly announces Sergeant Major (Ret.) Kyle Lamb as a Brand Ambassador for the NRA America’s Rifle Challenge (ARC), an innovative training and competition program built around the safe and effective use of the AR-15 platform.

#SundayGunday: Banish 46-V2

On this week's #SundayGunday, we're talking about suppressors, specifically the Banish 46-V2, capable of taming nearly every gun in your safe, up to and including the big boys like .338 Lapua.

KelTec Named Official Stage Sponsor for 2025 NRA World Shooting Championship

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is proud to announce KelTec as an official sponsor of the 2025 NRA World Shooting Championship, returning to Camp Atterbury, Ind., from September 30 to October 4, 2025.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.