Texas Custom Builder Behind .22 Creedmoor Competes at Elite Rifle Match
Derrick Ratliff founded Horizon Firearms, a Texas rifle shop that developed the .22 Creedmoor cartridge. Ratliff competed at the Leupold Relentless Rifleman, an NRL Hunter match held in brutal high-desert terrain. Meeting a rifle builder at the same competition where his own guns are being shot by other competitors offered rare real-time feedback on how his designs perform under match conditions.
Key Details
- Horizon Firearms is a Texas-based custom rifle manufacturer
- The shop's signature cartridge is the .22 Creedmoor, a specialized precision round
- Ratliff personally competed at the Leupold Relentless Rifleman NRL Hunter match
- The match was held in challenging high-desert conditions requiring technical rifle performance
- Multiple competitors were running Horizon Firearms rifles during the same event
Why It Matters for Gun Owners
Custom rifle builders who compete in the same matches as their customers gain firsthand knowledge of how their designs hold up under stress. The .22 Creedmoor fills a specific niche: precision rifle shooters who want a smaller-diameter case than standard .22-250 or 6mm Creedmoor platforms, with potentially better barrel life and efficiency in competition rigs. If you're shopping for a custom NRL Hunter or precision rifle, knowing the builder has run the same match stages gives you confidence the gun was stress-tested in real conditions. Horizon Firearms' presence at elite-level matches signals serious engineering and competitive pedigree rather than purely bench-based design.
DownRange Analysis
The .22 Creedmoor occupies smart real estate in the precision rifle market. Creedmoor-family cartridges dominate long-range competition for good reason—efficient case design, abundant factory ammunition support, and proven ballistics. A .22-caliber variant targets shooters who want reduced recoil and faster splits without stepping down to .223 Remington ballistics. Ratliff's decision to compete with his own product isn't marketing theater; it's validation. A builder who shoots his own rifles at legitimate matches has skin in the game. If the gun fails, he knows it immediately and owns the fix. For custom rifle buyers, that's worth noting when evaluating builders in a crowded market.
