Who Owns MidwayUSA?

Larry and Brenda Potterfield opened a small gun shop called Ely Arms in Columbia, Missouri, in 1977, while Larry worked at the University of Missouri's business school. Renamed Midway Arms, the business found its niche serving competitive shooters and reloaders, an underserved enthusiast segment, and began selling nationally by mail order in the early 1980s.

Catalog mail order drove two decades of growth. MidwayUSA became the definitive source for reloading components, gunsmithing tools, and obscure gun parts, categories big-box sporting goods chains ignored. When the internet arrived, the company moved early: midwayusa.com launched in the late 1990s and ecommerce gradually absorbed the catalog business, making MidwayUSA one of the first major online shooting sports retailers.

The 2000s and 2010s brought scale: a series of larger Columbia distribution centers culminated in a roughly 400,000-square-foot facility, and the product range expanded to over 100,000 SKUs spanning ammunition, optics, hunting, and outdoor products. Ammunition panics in 2008, 2013, and 2020 sent demand surging and cemented its position as a go-to source during shortages.

The NRA 'Round Up' program, in which customers round purchases up to fund NRA initiatives, has raised more than $25 million since 1992. The company also created the MidwayUSA Foundation, a major funder of youth shooting sports programs with an endowment exceeding $200 million.

As of 2026 MidwayUSA remains the largest dedicated online shooting sports retailer in the US, family-owned and Columbia-headquartered, with no storefronts outside its home city.