Driving Principle

APEX Ammunition is totally committed to hand-crafting superior shotgun loads

Jason Lonsberry launched Mississippi-based APEX Ammunition in 2017 with two hunting buddies, Jared Lewis and Nick Charney. Lewis is now COO and Charney, who is still on active duty in the Air Force, handles sales. (Lewis is also a veteran of the U.S. military and their wives are Air Force pilots.) The enterprise started with a few handmade shells created for a hunting trip, but it quickly became an obsession to provide wingshooters with top-performing ammunition. APEX Ammunition soon pioneered the commercial application of ultra-high-density Tungsten Super Shot to create hard-hitting, accurate shot loads. The driving principle behind the company’s continued quest for innovation and better performance is its deep commitment to delivering a hunting experience like no other.

SHOT Daily: What do you see as the biggest challenges facing the industry in the next five years?
Jason Lonsberry: As an industry, we need to assist and help educate the millions of new gun owners while continuing to serve experienced hunters and shooters with excellent customer service and innovative products and programs, all the while keeping up with the unprecedented demand for ammunition. For APEX, growing our brand recognition, market share, and production capacity while continuing to handcraft our premium Tungsten Super Shot (TSS) loads will be the key to success in the years ahead. Our goal has always been to deliver the ultimate hunting experience for our customers—and that drives us every day.

SD: What opportunities do you see?
JL: New hunters entering the outdoor space present a tremendous opportunity for us. Engaging and educating these new hunters in meaningful ways is critical. Doing so also provides intrinsic value to any brand.
Education is key on so many levels. First, we need to make sure these new hunters know how to hunt safely. Second, we need to impart the importance of practice in order to hone one’s shooting skills. In the case of hunters, that means helping them learn the ways in which they can improve their chances of making clean shots. With wingshooters, we emphasize that the choice of load can make the difference between clean, quick kills and wounding birds.

SD: When you get up in the morning, what gets you excited about working in the industry?
JL: Besides getting up before shooting light, which I enjoy, it’s the excitement of bringing tangible value to APEX and our customers. We are constantly experimenting and innovating with performance and customer experience in mind. The daily victories, challenges, and opportunities that we encounter keep me coming back for more.

SD: How will you meet the expectations of your customers?
JL: APEX was built on the foundation of customer experience, and by that I mean customer service and incredibly effective shotgun loads. For example, we design our handloaded TSS line for superior patterning and knockdown power as well as consistent performance. To ensure that these objectives are achieved, we have created a system to guarantee that each shell that leaves our facility has gone through proper component selection and quality assurance. As for customer service, our team is on the phone through the entire business day answering questions, taking orders, and listening to the hunting stories our customers share with us.   

SD: Creating a successful business from scratch is hard work. What was your motivation to start APEX Ammunition?
JL: We felt there was a huge hole to fill, both in product and in customer service. Before we started producing TSS loads for the commercial market, there was no clear top-performing shotshell for wingshooters. As more and more hunters are learning, tungsten is the gold standard for hard-hitting loads. It is significantly denser than steel, lead, and bismuth. We also saw an opportunity to handload to such precision that we could produce superior patterning. We also felt customer service in our space was severely lacking. We set out to do that better than the competition.

SD: Please explain the Small Batch Series. How does a customer order this ammo?
JL: Similar to the traditions of small-batch handcrafted whiskeys, we run a “Small Batch” of certain shot sizes or combinations of shot in a very limited run. Under our Small Batch line, we also offer a Private Label that allows the customer to select their preferred gauge, shell length, and shot sizes. They can customize their own shell (under the safety guidelines we provide), and they receive their shells in a handwritten custom box with their name and shell recipe on it.

SD: What properties differentiate your product from the mass-market products available from larger manufacturers?
JL: One word: handmade. The process of our meticulously handcrafted shells is the secret to producing what we believe are the best TSS shells on the market today.  When using Tungsten Super Shot (instead of blended or steel shot), handloading is the only way to ensure that every shell that leaves APEX is within the tolerances we require, and our customers expect.

SD: You say your turkey load delivers the best patterns of any ammo now on the market. How did you do this?
JL: By conducting a tremendous amount of testing and research. We have put a lot of TSS into our backstop, adjusting our shell recipe for maximum consistency and performance. 

SD: You’ve said, “Our enduring commitment to design, test, evaluate, and introduce new ideas that better capture the experience is the driving force of our continuing innovation.” Can you provide an example of how this commitment led to a specific product?
JL: Our TSS Waterfowl and Upland lines are a great example of this. Hunters need a fast-shooting round while getting as many pellets down range as possible to maximize the harvest. So, our team set out to make both speed and pattern density meet in a way to create our deadly Upland and Waterfowl ammo. Our Turkey Ninja line is another great example; we tested and perfected the 8.5 shot load for a year before introducing it to our customers. 

SD: How has the military experience of you and your partners contributed to the company’s success?
JL: Adaptability and overcoming adversity is the first and foremost experience that is synonymous with the military and APEX. The veterans who work with us bring the experience of working within a chain of command, and there is a level of discipline that is ingrained in our team that keeps us moving forward. (apexammunition.com)