Hunting and Shooting Industry Health Check: Turning Challenges into Opportunities

“You can see the changes – people are starting to embrace things like ballistic data, wind information, and first focal planes because they are becoming more knowledgeable and experienced thanks to the advancement of shooting sports. As a supplier, by listening to the customer you can not only adapt to their needs, but you can also foresee what is happening in the industry. All in all, it is getting more challenging to get people’s attention. We have to position ourselves as an integrated solution provider.”

Leapers had a significant presence at IWA OutdoorClassics in 2025, showcasing many new products from its Integrix range. This brand was born following a breakthrough in manufacturing techniques back in 2023. But the real opportunity with this brand is not simply the products themselves, but understanding the needs of customers in the context of the markets they’re in.

Director of Product Marketing at Leapers, Margaret Ding, explains: “European tastes are definitely different to the United States. So, with our Integrix scopes, which look a bit more tactical, we have approached it from the mindset of providing great solutions. This helps us address the growing passion for sport shooting and tactical training that is growing in Europe, but also crossover into the more traditional markets.

“Understanding our customers across different groups and contexts is an opportunity for us – you have to do it in person at shows like IWA. You can’t really do it online. You discover new solutions by deeply understanding what customers really need.”

Staying Diverse with a Global Network

When there is global uncertainty, one of the biggest challenges is the fluctuation of different markets. If you’re heavily invested in a particular country or region that suddenly takes a hit, how do you cope? One of the best ways is to place your eggs into more than one basket. That’s an opportunity that has helped Italian shotgun manufacturer Rizzini stay competitive in turbulent times, according to Marketing Manager Pamela Rizzini.

“There has been a bit of a slowdown in Europe and also the United States, but we are still working well,” she says. “Our guns are medium-high quality, which means that we can satisfy customers pretty much anywhere. Even if there are some difficulties in terms of disruptions to markets, we have managed to navigate those.”

Rizzini produces shotguns for both hunting and competition shooting and utilised IWA to showcase several new models across both disciplines. Having something new to show helps create another opportunity for the company – not only helping existing customers offer a more diverse range but also opening up doors in even more international markets.

Pamela concludes: “About 90 per cent of our work is for foreign markets, which helps us navigate international issues, it helps keep us well spread. We are quite satisfied with our business at the moment.

“The East of Europe represents an opportunity for us. We have a big distributor in the United States, the UK, and many other major countries, but the smaller countries in Eastern Europe and Southern Europe can be an opportunity for our company – there is potential in these markets for us. We are not looking for numbers, just the right customers.”

Bridging Gaps Between Markets

Even if your market has seen significant growth in the last five years – as has most certainly been the case with the airgun sector – there will always be room to expand your horizons. FX Airguns from Sweden is one of the leading names in airguns in Europe, yet despite being at the forefront of innovation, the company is always looking for opportunities to grow.

FX Airguns Marketing Manager Matthias Vangilbergen told us: “We are trying to get closer to the firearms world, as we see some airguns being used as training platforms for real firearms. In this way, people can train at home or in their garden and get used to the real chassis that they might be moving up to eventually. There is a transition of people finding a way to incorporate airguns into their normal shooting habits. That’s why we cater to this market.”

FX Airguns is also seeing opportunity in the growing popularity of tactical-style products – but not necessarily for the reasons you might think. Matthias says: “The tactical style is quite popular – is it popular because people like the style? I’m not sure. However, a tactical platform opens up a lot of options for third-party customisation and accessories. People love to accessorise their air rifles. Our new DRS Tactical has all the AR15 furniture, so people can use their own butt stocks and so on. The tactical platform leans better to customisation, whereas a hunting style rifle doesn’t go well with that.”

Making Digital Ads Part of Your Playbook

A serious challenge facing almost all businesses in the firearms, hunting, and shooting worlds is being able to advertise your products online without restriction. Due to the nature of the products our industry deals with, it’s common to run into roadblocks when it comes to digital advertising. But this is not an insurmountable challenge. Thanks to companies like Topple, which helps firearms brands buy restriction-free digital ad space, advertising online can actually be a huge opportunity.

“The reason why we decided to move forward with Topple is because we’d had enough with Meta, Google Ads, and other platforms,” says Perry Latuharhary, Director of Marketing at American tactical gear company Viktos, which is a customer of Topple.

“There’s a lot of censorship and pushing down on just being able to show firearms, and that’s hard for companies like us. Even though we don’t sell firearms, everything we design is for that market.”

It’s a problem many companies in our industry have encountered but Topple allows advertising on conservative and firearm-friendly platforms, meaning that you can target a concentrated and engaged audience and also show them the true face of your business.

Perry says: “Topple gives us the proper canvas for us to be able to paint in – and that’s something that has been difficult to achieve in other formats. [With Google or Meta] we can paint on their canvas, but they’ll just put it in the back of the store cupboard.

“You shouldn’t have to hide who you are; you should be able to showcase what you are to the tactical market. Viktos ads are unapologetic, we are not pretending to be something we’re not. Not only does Topple allow us to flex our creativity, but we can see the data and the results too.”

Carving Out a Niche and Delivering

One of the oldest (but most successful) tricks in the book when it comes to finding opportunities in tough times is to emphasise what makes your company or brand unique. For New Zealand hunting clothing brand Swazi, that point of difference is its unique look, products, and back story.

The company was founded by a passionate Kiwi hunter called Davey Hughes who absolutely loved being out in the field – both at home and in his favourite home-from-home Swaziland (now Eswatini). Two years ago, the brand was bought by apparel industry expert Ross Munro, who believes the combination of its unique origin story combined with his extensive experience can bring a real niche to the hunting and outdoor market.

“The brand is going really well here in Europe,” Ross told us. “We have set up a proper distribution network here with a facility in the UK, which means that dealers can get their hands on products more easily. We have about 150-200 customers now, from having 15 two years ago. At this edition of IWA, we’ve had enquiries from the UK, Austria, and Serbia.

“We have a unique look compared to many other products, and we want to keep our individuality as a brand. We have changed the brand around a little, keeping the original theme but expanding our product range.”

Not only is Swazi staying individual when it comes to its brand image, but also with how it works with dealers. Ross states that the company wants to support dealers as much as it can by working in close partnership with them to understand what they think they can sell and increase efficiency and profitability for everyone.

Ross concludes: “The market is quite soft at the moment, but Swazi is a point of difference and something new for dealers.”