Like many precision shooters, I’m a bit of a Hornady junky, which means that their yearly product announcements are one of my favorite times of year. Well, that time of year is THIS PAST WEEK, and I’ve been excited to learn about the products we can all expect to be arriving on the shelf in 2025. In a slight departure from some of the recent years, 2025s lineup looks to be a smaller, but more focused plan of action that brings some new lines, new calibers, and offers a lot of support to some industry favorites. Let’s take a look…

Bear Defense… Grizzly Defense… a situation hunters think about as often as tactical shooters consider the zombie apocolypse. though this scenario may be a bit more grounded in reality. 

When hunters step into the woods, we give up our walls, locked doors, and spot at the top of the food chain to step onto the home court of… big predators. Predators with superior smell, sight, speed, claws, and teeth. Predators who, given the opportunity, even on their worst day, could make quick work of humanities best. Though the vast majority of encounters with these beautiful animals end with a pensive look and a quick investigation before moving on, it’s good to have a plan for the ones that don’t.

Seeing as how firearms have always been the “great equalizer” for the genetically less-lethal human, it makes sense that a good handgun and appropriate training with it is front and center for the majority of these plans. But which caliber? Which bullet? Which gun?

Enter the Hornady Backcountry Defense series of ammunition, a factory loading that looks to make the process a bit easier by putting the task on the bullet alone. Hornady touts a projectile design with a “high straight-line penetration” and reduced lead-smoke over hardcast projectiles (traditionally used) for quick and precise follow-up shots as needed. The ammunition will be available in handgun calibers from 9mm up to 500 magnum, so no matter if you’ve come and purchased an absolute hand-cannon from us, or you’re just bringing along your favorie carry gun, you’ll have a purpose-built round to throw in the chamber.

Have you ever looked at the off-balance little 300 blackout cartridge and thought, “yes, but more.”? Well, the designers of the .338 ARC cartridge did. .338 ARC is another short, stout, cartridge that adds more weight to the projectile over 300 blackout while retaining the ability to be fired from the standard AR15 platform. The new cartridge has both subsonic and supersonic variations (even though I would guess more people will be interested in the subsonic entries) ranging from 175 grains, all the way up to a massive 307 grain sub-x projectile. Performancewise, it’s already being likened to the 8.6 blackout, but keep in mind, this round will only require a barrel and bolt swap in your favorite AR.

 Releasing along side of the ammunition itself, are plenty of loading tools and components so the reloaders out there can do what they do best with a new cartridge, play around with it, and try to find its full potential…

6mm GT isn’t a new cartridge necessarily, but even if you’ve heard the name, you may notice that you’ve most likely never seen it available on the shelves. Well, that’s because even though it’s been around since 2019, the 6mm GT wasn’t a commercially available cartridge, until now.

If you haven’t heard of it, it’s essentially a cartridge that was designed from the ground up to be a pure competition round. It’s one of a pretty large groupd of wildcat 6mm rounds that’s been floating around the competition scene, but it’s one that boasts extreme precision and extended barrel life, allowing for larger batches to be loaded before needing to adjust the loading. With the support from Hornady, producing factory ammo and more reloading components and tools onto the market, you’re likely to see rifle manufacturers jump on board with more 6mm GT options available off the shelf, helping this round reach more shooters.

The Aeromatch series of bullets are set to arrive in 2025, and high volume precision shooters may rejoice. As stated by Hornady, the Aeromatch series of bullets, “features the most popular match bullet profiles and weights from across the industry – now perfected and available from Hornady.”

Seemingly focused on the stable production side of things, it looks like their aim is to take the most popular bullet profile and weight combinations across the industry, starting in the .22, .30, 6mm and 6.5mm platforms, and reporduce them under the Hornady name, promising their legendary consistency across batches of 500 to 3000 projectiles, meaning you can shoot straight through the life of a barrel, or for a few years supply, without having to adjust your load or struggling to find a similar projectile when supply dries up.

This one is pretty straightforward. Hornady will begin offering 25 Creedmoor brass, so that fans of the round will have another factory option. Additionally, they’ve announced a 138 grain, .257 A-tip match bullet that looks like it would seat nicely, making the potential for 25 Creedmoor to become a fixture on more loading benches.

The muzzle-loader hunting community will see the ELD-X logo on a new bullet offering this year to kick off their early season in the fall. While my muzzle-loader experience is limited, I have had a tremendous experience loading the ELD-X bullet for several years in various calibers, and it remains my go-to hunting bullet for nearly all my rifles. 

Featured is a .458 280 grain muzzle-loading projectile for a .45 caliber muzzle loader. The bore driver features a polymer base that Hornady promises is “not a sabot” underneath a jacketed, polymer-tipped projectile that encapsulates the terminal performance of the popular bullets from the ELD-X or FTX centerfire series.

There is also mention of a few new tools that will of course, enhance our loading benches and make our favorite hobby more streamlined and accessible. From brass prep stations to ammo storage solutions, the red giant will likely keep their reputation as one of America’s most prolific bullet makers, and supplier of custom ammo loading supplies. I’m always excited to see Hornady off their support to a caliber in the form of factory ammo, or tools, and really, every shooter should be. Even if you prefer other outlets for your cases, ammo, projectiles, etc, and even if you’ve hand built your own loading bench with the most lab-grade, boutique euipment on the market,  you can’t deny that having the big red brand behind your favorite rounds offers them staying power, commerical success, and innovation. 

What are you most excited for? What do you feel was missing? What current products do you wish you more availibility in? Let us know in the comments below, or at cj@fuquaygun.com. We’d love to hear it, and as always, thanks for reading.