A Firearms Family

Innovation has always been the foundation of H-S Precision. Tom Houghton Sr., an Army drill instructor and a world-record competitor in benchrest shooting, started the company in 1978 in Prescott, AZ, with a goal of being a global leader in the firearms industry. His vision continues today with his wife Vivian, son Tim Houghton, daughter Tricia Hoeke, and more than 70 employees who share his passion.

While the company began in Arizona, its growth in both sales and technological advancement increased substantially after Tom relocated to Rapid City in 1990. “We started off as a barrel manufacturer, but with my dad’s background in chemistry we quickly transitioned into making syntheticstocks,” said Tim, the vice president and chief operations officer of the company. “We were the first company in the world to integrate the bedding block inside the synthetic stock.” That innovation led to

H-S Precision receiving government contracts and partnering with top brands including Remington and Savage. The U.S. Army used the company’s stock in its US Army M24 SWS rifle. “That was the first big government contract, and it was from there we needed to expand.”

With Arizona unable to provide what Tom felt he needed to grow his company; the entrepreneur decided to look elsewhere. “He checked different states… but he decided on South Dakota not only because there is no state income tax, but because the deal they offered to bring us to the state. They were loaning money at very low interest rates and built a building to lease back at low rates. We came up here and it was just booming from there,” said Tim, who took over running the familybusiness five years ago. Tom died in 2014.

Since the original building on Turbine Drive, the company has added on three times to its current 50,000-square-foot facility. “We pretty much use every square inch of that” Tim said.

The have also added to their workforce going from less than 10 when they started in South Dakota to the current staff of 75, and they are still hiring. One challenge the company faces when increasing its workforce is finding skilled machinists to hire. “There is not a huge manufacturing base in Rapid City. We have been pulling people from Minneapolis, Denver and Texas,” said Tim. However, a state program has helped change that. Build South Dakota is a scholarship program created in 2015 to develop skilled workers in high-demand industries. Tim said he has two employees currently enrolled at Western Dakota Technical College and one entering this fall. “Programs like this have been huge for us. It helps us. It helps them. They become a more valuable employee at a higher wage and given more responsibility.” Tim said they expect a lot out of their machinists who are working with 100-year-old machines along with new, state-of-the-art ones. “We are always looking for a way to be better.”

Following in his father’s footsteps, Tim constantly looks at ways to make their product better. Three years ago, he invested in a laser scanning machine that was suited specifically for the company. Originally developed for NASA to scan the inside of their air tanks, H-S Precision uses it to measure the entire inside of each barrel. A rotating laser probe creates a 3D image of the inside of the barrel. “At the time, there was no one doing anything like it. The [Department of Defense] had one, but they were using it on a much larger scale. No one was using it on a new barrel to say that it is perfect. It is amazing technology, and while it has been around for a while, it has never been used like this. When you build every single component, every bit of tooling… you have hundreds of different parts that are funneling down to create this rifle, and every single part has to be perfect and work perfectly.”

While the company is leading the way in the firearms industry contracting with organizations like the FBI and the Israel Defense Force, it remains a family-owned business focused on connecting with its employees and customers. Tim’s mother Vivian, who started the business with her husband and remains president, still buzzes around making coffee for the breakroom, cleaning stocks and sweeping floors. Nearly 40 percent of H-S Precision employees have been with the company 10 years or longer including one who moved to Rapid City with the business in 1990. “The employees here are the backbone of our business. Without them we don’t have a business,” Tim said.

Josh Cluff, vice president of sales and marketing, has worked at H-S Precision for 16 years moving from Arizona to Rapid City in 2005 after Tom Houghton, Sr., offered him a job. The two met while Josh was playing professional golf on mini tours. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

Josh has loved being a part of H-S Precision, a career, he says, is his passion. “I work for a company that makes a fantastic product. We are one of the only, if not the only, manufacturers in the entire world that builds every single component of the rifle. We build all the tooling that goes into the physical production as well. We take great pride in being one of the only companies that do that.”

Both Tim and Josh said the best part of the job is hearing the stories from employees and customers who use their products. “We are building guns, but we are also building memories with our customers and employees,” Tim said. “You are meeting amazing people that are coming up and telling you that your product is amazing. ‘I did this and went on this amazing hunt. I’ve had one of your products for 40 years, and it has been passed down.’”

Tim is carrying on his father’s legacy. The 8-year-old who was putting catalogs together and attending business dinners as his dad’s sidekick is now the at the helm of the world’s largest supplier of ballistic test barrels to firearms and ammo manufacturers in the world, and the only gun company to design, engineer and manufacture every component that goes into its sporting and tactical rifles.

Tom Houghton Sr. would be proud.