Randy Brooks, former president and CEO of Barnes Bullets, passed away on Aug. 27 peacefully in his Mona, Utah, home. He and his wife, Coni, purchased the firm they built to legendary status in 1974.
The company’s operations, based out of American Fork, Utah, were modest at first. The “factory” was the family home, with his wife and two daughters seating bullet cores.
Sometime around 1985, Randy—who was an avid hunter—came up with what was then a radical concept for an all-copper bullet with improved terminal performance and penetration. After extensive testing and fine tuning of the manufacturing process, the innovative Barnes X Bullet was introduced in 1989.
Reviews were glowing as well as reports from the field. Today, the design is acknowledged as a significant advance in projectile design, one that indelibly placed the Barnes Bullets name in firearm history.
Randy still saw room for improvement, though. The Barnes TSX bullet followed 2003, piling onto the firm’s habit of innovation that had already earned it legendary status. In 2010, he and his wife sold the company to The Freedom Group.
Afterward, the couple moved to Mona, Utah, where he continued to work with the company. He was part of the effort that developed the Barnes VOR-TX loads that were used by the U.S. Military. In 2016, he was named NRA Publications’ Pioneer of the Year, a well-deserved honor in recognition of his contributions to the firearm industry.
Randy enlisted in the Army in 1968 and married Coni in 1970. He was honorably discharged in 1972. They remained happily married for the next 56 years.
He is survived by his wife, daughters Jessica Brooks and Chandra Patey, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and siblings LaMar Brooks, Ginger Pickering, Robert Brooks and Leslie Brooks.
