MidwayUSA, Inc.

Who owns MidwayUSA?

The Potterfield family owns 100 percent of the company. Founders Larry and Brenda Potterfield have never sold equity or taken the business public.

Is MidwayUSA a public company?

No. It is a private family-owned company that does not publish financial results.

When was MidwayUSA founded?

The company was founded on June 18, 1977, in Columbia, Missouri, originally operating as a gun shop named Ely Arms.

How big is MidwayUSA?

It carries more than 100,000 SKUs, employs an estimated 300 to 500 people, and generates revenue estimated in the hundreds of millions annually, all from a single Columbia, Missouri campus.

What is the NRA Round Up program?

A checkout donation program started in 1992 where customers round up purchases to benefit NRA programs; it has raised more than $25 million.

Larry Potterfield, a University of Missouri business school staff member and competitive shooter, opened a small Columbia gun shop called Ely Arms with his wife Brenda on June 18, 1977. Renamed Midway Arms, the shop began filling mail orders for reloading supplies in the early 1980s, discovering a national enthusiast market local competitors ignored.

Mail order catalogs built the business through the 1980s and 1990s. The renamed MidwayUSA became the country's premier source for reloading components, gun parts, and gunsmithing tools, moving through progressively larger Columbia warehouses as volume grew.

The company adopted ecommerce early, launching midwayusa.com in the late 1990s and migrating its catalog customer base online ahead of most specialty retailers. A distribution center of roughly 400,000 square feet now anchors the operation.

Ammunition shortages in 2008, 2013, and 2020 generated surges that stressed supply but deepened customer reliance on the brand. The company also institutionalized its industry alignment: the NRA 'Round Up' program, begun in 1992, has raised more than $25 million in customer donations, and the MidwayUSA Foundation, endowed at over $200 million, funds youth shooting sports teams nationwide.

Under second-generation family leadership alongside founder Larry Potterfield, the company continues as the category's dominant online player, with no physical retail stores beyond its Columbia campus.