Once again the world is conspiring to humiliate the Insider. No sooner had I opined that the shooting industry is lacking in market share data than two surveys surfaced, one dedicated to “modern sporting rifles” (MSR) and another to the overall industry.

The MSR survey was conducted for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) while the overall study was done for subscribers to a market research company called Southwick & Associates. Both are entirely Internet-based, which limits their scope to Internet savvy shooters and hunters who participate in forums, chat rooms and are willing to give their opinions online, a group I’ll maintain is only marginally representative of the overall shooting market.

The MSR survey was based on approximately 11,000 respondents and the Southwick study on roughly 40,000. There are approximately 2 million firearms and about 15 million hunting licenses sold annually. That said, both studies are considered statistically valid. (As a means of comparison, a mere 24,000 households are equipped with Nielson monitors and yet billions of television advertising dollars are based on the viewing habits of this minuscule number.)

Without further ado, let’s look at the raw data from the Southwick survey:

• Top rifle brand: Remington (17.5 percent of all purchases)
• Top shotgun brand: Remington and Mossberg (virtual tie with 21.5 percent of all purchases)
• Top muzzleloader brand: Thompson Center (31.9 percent of all purchases)
• Top handgun brand: Ruger (16.7 percent of all purchases)
• Top scope for firearms: Bushnell (17.1 percent of all purchases)
• Top rifle ammunition brand: Remington (25.3 percent of all purchases)
• Top shotgun ammunition brand: Winchester (31.9 percent of all purchases)
• Top handgun ammunition brand: Winchester (22.0 percent of all purchases)
• Top blackpowder brand: Pyrodex (38.7 percent of all purchases)
• Top balls, bullets, or shot brand: Hornady (28.4 percent of all purchases)
• Top bow brand: Matthews (17.5  of all purchases)
• Top arrow brand: Carbon Express percent(27.6 percent of all purchases)
• Top fletching brand: Blazer (15.8 percent of all purchases)
• Top broadhead brand: Muzzy (20.3 percent of all purchases)
• Top archery target brand:  The Block (10.3 percent of all purchases)
• Top decoy brand:  Mojo (12.9 percent of all purchases)
• Top game call brand: Primos (33.5 percent of all purchases)
• Top reloading bullet brand: Hornady (31.7 percent of all purchases)
• Top reloading primer brand: CCI (38.2 percent of all purchases)
• Top reloading powder brand: Hodgdon (37.8 percent of all purchases)
• Top binocular brand: Bushnell (33.6 percent of all purchases)
• Top holster brand:  Uncle Mikes (19.0 percent of all purchases)
• Top knife brand: Gerber (15.0 percent of all purchases)
• Top scent or scent covering brand:  Scent-A-Way, Scent Shield (14.7 percent of all purchases each)
• Top shooting target brand: Shoot-N-C (31.3 percent of all purchases)
• Top clay brand: White Flyer (51.8 percent of all purchases)

Notice that the survey doesn’t reference dollars, only the number of units purchased. Bushnell, for example, holds the largest share of both scopes and binoculars, but it’s a value brand and you always sell more  units at $300 than you do at $600. From a pure dollar standpoint, Leupold has long been recognized as the market leader in U.S. optics with Nikon second.

Looking at firearms, again you see value brands at the top. Ruger, Mossberg and Remington guns are all affordably priced. Winchester has only now began production after a two year hiatus, so that would also affect the result.

Similarly, Uncle Mike’s is the Walmart of holsters, offering decent quality at unbeatable prices. No wonder they dominate in number of units sold, but I would bet dollars to donuts that Safariland’s price points are far higher.