Remington is the leading brand of rifles and shotguns according to a Southwick Associates' survey of nearly 45,000 hunters and target shooters conducted through Huntersurvey.com. 

However, Big Green’s brand dominance in the rifle category was only 17 percent, which tells me that the rifle market is highly segmented.

However, in the shotgun market Remington garnered a much more impressive 22 percent of all shotguns purchased by survey respondents.

Thompson/Center owns a dominant share of the muzzleloader market—no surprise there—with 30 percent of all purchases and Pyrodex was by far the leading blackpowder propellant.

Ammunition in the survey was broken down into three categories with Winchester topping shotgun ammo with 32 percent and handgun ammo with 22 percent, while Remington was the favorite rifle ammo with 29 percent of all purchases.

In reloading, Hodgdon was the preferred propellant brand with a impressive 37 percent market share, while CCI led primer sales with 36 percent of all purchases. Hornady was by far the favorite bullet maker with a 30 percent market share.

Surprisingly, Bushnell emerged as the top selling brand for both riflescopes and binoculars with 17 percent and 20 percent respectively. I say “surprisingly” because many believe that in the optics market, Leupold holds the largest market share with Nikon coming in second.

Other interesting facts from the 2009 survey include some seasonal findings. The most popular month for purchasing hunting gear was November, with target shooters purchasing the majority of their gear in June. Febuary was month that most respondents purchased self-defense items.

The marketing data presented here is a summary of a 197-page report that details consumer behavior, including what products and brands are purchased, where they are bought, how much customers spend, and demographics of hunters and target shooters broken out by each product category. Current information about what gear and brands hunters and target shooters prefer, how many days they spend afield and what type of hunting and shooting they enjoy most is vital to businesses trying to build their customer base.

To purchase a subscription to this data, contact Donna Leonard at donna@southwickassociates.com.