By Meredith Gardner
meredith.gardner@theindependent.com

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Independent/Scott Kingsley Dave Emary, chief ballistic scientist at Hornady Manufacturing, was recently named one of Outdoor Life's 25 most influential people for his work in bullet design. Independent/Scott Kingsley One of Dave Emary's designs is the LEVERevolution, seen here. The bullet has a rubber tip and has helped to reinvigorate the lever-action rifle market. Click Thumbnails to View

But for his employer and the ammunition industry as a whole Emary's "tinkering" has been far from aimless.

For the last 15 years, Emary has spent most of his working time in a Hornady Manufacturing Co. lab, where he's developed what some say is some of the most innovative ammunition in the industry.

Emary, the company's chief ballistic scientist, experiments with bullet shapes, materials and powders.

His goal: to make the highest-performing ammunition possible and keep Hornady at the top of the bullet manufacturing industry.

And so far, he's done a good job of it.

Emary is credited for playing a major role in the development of some of today's most technologically advanced ammunition and bullets, including the AMAX bullet, a plastic-tip match bullet that is considered highly accurate in target shooting; the 17 HMR, a magnum rimfire cartridge; the high-performance, small varmint 204 Ruger cartridges; and Hornady's LEVERevolution ammunition, featuring rubber-tipped bullets for lever-action cartridges a product that Emary said reinvigorated that portion of the shooting market.

For his accomplishments, Emary was recognized in January's Outdoor Life magazine as a member of the "Outdoor Life 25." The annual award honors those who have made the greatest positive impact on the worlds of hunting and fishing, according to the magazine's Web site.

"It's very humbling and very flattering to know your peers view you as successful," Emary said.

Emary's original background isn't in ballistics, but physics and aeronautics. The Ohio native earned his bachelor of science in physics and aeronautical/astronautical engineering from Bowling Green State University and attended the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1981 to 1987, during which time he achieved the rank of captain. He worked in the ballistic missile office at Norton Air Force Base in California and the U.S. Air Force Headquarters in the Pentagon. As a civilian, he worked in ballistics at the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico and the Olin Corporation in Flordia.

Since 1994, he's been one of Hornady's "idea guys." His current work table is complete with a cartridge reloader, containers of gunpowder and primer, bullets and stacks of red Hornady boxes.

Nearby is a computer, which he uses to draw up designs. As he helps come up with new concepts, he tests them on a 25-yard shooting range connected to the lab. Sometimes the bullets work the way he wants them to, he said, but sometimes they don't.

"A lot of it is cutting-edge stuff that nobody's ever tried before," Emary said.

For Emary, the Outdoor Life award not only recognizes his work, but also the work of Hornady Manufacturing.

"I view it as a compliment to the whole Hornady team, honestly," he said.

He credits the company's president and CEO, Steve Hornady, with being willing to try out-of-the-box ideas and new materials.

Hornady said the company doesn't have a formalized product development processes, which helps harness the creativity of its employees. Like other product developers, Emary comes up with ideas, tests them and works to promote and "sell" them to the company's top management, Hornady said.

"People around here are encouraged to bring things forward they think are neat," Hornady said. "Dave is a very creative guy who's an avid shooter and hunter and just sees things in places where other people haven't seen that opportunity."

As he moves forward, Emary said he'll continue to work to advance Hornady Manufacturing's line of products.

"We intend to continue to be the trendsetters and the innovators in this industry," Emary said.

Likely, with the help of his tinkering.