Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition and handloading components, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.
The company was founded by Joyce Hornady in 1949 and is currently run by his son Steve Hornady who took over after his father's death in a plane crash in 1981.
Hornady makes target shooting and hunting rounds as well as high quality 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 notable as the developer of the .17 HMR and .17 HM2 rimfire cartridges, increasingly popular for small game and vermin hunting. Hornady has also worked with firearms 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 innovative LEVERevolution ammunition, which uses a spitzer bullet with a soft elastomer tip to give better aerodynamic performance than flatter bullets, while eliminating the risk of a shock driving the pointed metal tip of a bullet in a lever action rifle's tube magazine into the primer of the cartridge in front, causing an explosion.
Hornady also manufactures a range of handloading components including cartridge cases, bullets, and shotgun shell components, as well as handloading equipment and data.
At the beginning of 2012, Hornady brought out a "Zombie Max" bullet. Apparently due to the growing interest in "Zombie Shooting" in America.