Randy Brooks, creator of the famous Barnes X Bullet and the 2016 NRA Golden Bullseye Pioneer Award winner, passed away peacefully on the morning of Aug. 27, 2026. The Brooks family believes Randy may have suffered a stroke. He had suffered mini-strokes in the past, and was recently diagnosed with vascular dementia. He was 76.
Randy grew up hunting and shooting in his native Utah, and in the 1970s began custom-loading ammunition to help support his young family. At the urging of friend Fred Barnes, founder of the namesake component bullet company, Randy and his wife, Coni, acquired what remained of the firm after new owners had allowed it to languish. Soon they moved the business from Colorado to American Fork, Utah. The family’s basement became the company workshop, where Randy, Coni and their daughters, Chandra and Jessica, seated bullet cores in jackets. In 1985, while hunting brown bears in Alaska, the idea of a solid copper bullet took hold in him, so he returned home and went to work. Three years later, after much trial and error perfecting a manufacturing process with hand tools and machine tools, the X Bullet was born.
In 1989, the Barnes X immediately became the leader in epic knockdowns. Randy’s development of the new dangerous-game solid caught the attention of gunwriters, including NRA Publications Senior Field Editor Charles Askins, who wrote, “[L]et me assure you, these slugs really get the job done!”
Over the next two decades, Randy continued to improve the design. Today’s Barnes TSX and related variants are among the world’s most highly regarded and oft-imitated hunting bullets. The Brooks sold the company to Remington Outdoor Company in 2010. Thereafter, Randy continued to develop new products, including the well-received Barnes VOR-TX loaded ammunition and new projectiles intended for military use. Today, Barnes Bullets is owned by Sierra Bullets of Sedalia, Mo., but X products, notably the Triple Shock X (TSX), are still made in Utah.
I met Randy Brooks at my first SHOT Show, in 1999. I saw the Barnes booth and the brown bear Randy took in Alaska that launched the solid copper revolution. I saw Randy standing next to that big bear in the Barnes booth and I just had to go in there and meet him. I introduced myself, and Randy, ever-gracious, greeted me with a firm handshake, a smile and welcoming conversation. He was among the first pioneers of the shooting industry I ever met. I learned then and there to expect a smile every time I saw him.
Years later, I hunted deer and elk in Utah with him and Coni and others. We used the then-new Barnes MRX (to my mind the best hunting bullet ever made). It was Randy and Coni’s camp, but neither of them stood much on ceremony; they just wanted every hunter to go forth and prosper. The camp exuded graciousness, in large part because of Randy. He sidestepped some credit for creating the X Bullet when he told me, “You know, Fred Barnes had thought of the X. I found drawings he’d made among his stuff when we purchased the company—and when I did, I knew Fred was on to something. I just had to tinker a while till I got it right.” That word—“tinker”—explains Randy Brooks to a “T,” pardon the pun.
It was Randy Brooks’ tinkering that launched a legacy today every hunter knows as “unleaded, unfailing, unbeatable.”
Randy was married to Coni for 56 years and seven months. “He was my best friend, the love of my life, my business partner and partner in crime and fun,” she said. “He was a husband, father, grandfather, uncle, great-grandfather, friend, hunter, team roper and innovator. He loved animals especially his horses. He had a giving nature that is unsurpassed and wasn’t happy letting someone go without. He has given to family and friends and especially wildlife conservation. We have great wildlife in Utah in part due to his participation and willingness to give when needed.”
Randy Brooks was an accomplished big-game hunter, and he was particularly experienced with dangerous game in Alaska and Africa. He was a staunch supporter of the NRA and the freedoms protected by the Second Amendment. Though much of his success was 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.
Randy Brooks’ X Bullet changed forever the expectations of big-game hunters regarding bullet terminal performance. As an Army veteran, he was proud that Barnes bullets served American troops and security officers worldwide. Today, Barnes products are highly trusted and respected among hunters and shooters worldwide.
