From family interest to family business

Participating in shooting sports — especially with a son or daughter on a trap, skeet or sporting clays team — involves shooting and purchasing a lot of shotshells.

Patrick Welborne discovered a void in the industry over the past 20 years — finding a steady supply of affordable, competition-grade shotgun shells. In addition to shooting competitively with his wife, his son made the switch from an Xbox to a shotgun, immersing himself in shooting sports at age 13, and now shoots at Texas A&M University.

The husband-wife team started their business, Competitive Ammo, to help fill the void by import ing a product for the sport they love.

“People want to consistently get their favorite ammo,” Welborne said. “We were getting shells out of Houston, but it would be there one day, and then it would be gone. We decided to bring in products we have used ourselves for more than 20 years.”

Competitive Ammo started more than 5 years ago, importing ammo geared toward sporting clays, skeet and trap, including bunker trap.

The company carries two well-known brands in the competitive shooting industry: Armusa, from Spain; and Clever Mirage, from Italy. Most cases of ammo are priced at $99 or less.

“It’s quality ammo which has been shot by a lot of Olympic shooters for years,” Welborne said. “The European loads are known for their cleaner gunpowder.” stand

The company buys overseas containers of ammunition. Customers include parents of competitive shooters, multiple shooting teams, and gun clubs in Texas.

For customers within reach, Competitive Ammo, based in Dallas, is offering free route delivery on half-pallets that are ordered in the Houston, Dallas and San Antonio areas, a big deal for shooters and teams ordering larger quantities of shells.