A rise in competitive shooting has increased business for Nosler Inc., the Bend bullet and ammunition maker, leading the company to hire 24 employees and helping it recover from a factory explosion two years ago.

The June 2010 explosion at Nosler’s headquarters on Southwest Columbia Street, destroyed a corner of the factory, causing a setback in production that prompted the company to put 30 employees on leave, according to The Bulletin’s archives.

But after the incident, Zach Waterman, public relations manager for Nosler, said the company was able to pull together as a team and rebound. Nosler now has more than 100 employees, which is about the same as before the explosion, Waterman said, although he would not provide a specific figure.

Since the explosion, he said, Nosler has actually become a stronger company.

“We were able to work together (and) realign our goals,” he said.

Federal Occupation Health and Safety Administration records show Nosler was cited on eight violations and assessed $6,300 in potential penalties in 2010, but the company has challenged them.

“Nosler has contested the citations and penalties and is in the course of a hearing on its appeal,” Waterman said.

He expects the process to be completed, at the earliest, later this summer.

Nosler began business in Ashland in 1948, Waterman said. A decade later the company moved to Bend. Until 2005, the company only made bullets — the projectiles themselves — he said, but then added loaded ammunition, and semicustom rifles to its production.

Waterman said in the past few years the popularity of shooting sports across the nation has taken off. To cater to the increase in competitive shooters, the company has expanded its product line to include more bullets and ammunition used in the sport, Waterman said.

Diversifying its product line, has helped increase Nosler’s sales and employment, he said.

“A stereotypical hunter shoots a couple times a year and goes through between 20 and 40 rounds,” he said. “A match shooter can shoot as much as 100 times a year and go through tens of thousands of rounds.”

Along with making ammunition for competitive shooting, Nosler sponsors competitive events. Nosler will be the exclusive stage sponsor for the Crimson Trace Midnight 3Gun Invitational, one of two three-gun competitions scheduled to be held in Central Oregon in July.

Nosler’s logos will be on stage for the award ceremony and at all of the shooting stations. Competitors will also be able to use Nosler products for free, he said, such as bullets and ammunition.

During a three-gun event, shooters compete with a pistol, rifle and shotgun. Competitors are timed on their ability to accurately shoot a variety of different targets.

“Three-gun competitions are one of the reasons for our growth,” Waterman said. “Competitions like this are growing at such a rate that the demand for our products are really sky rocketing.”

A 2009 National Shooting Sports Foundation survey reported that about 34 million people nationwide participated in target or sport shooting, an all-time industry high.

The events will be held at the Central Oregon Shooting Sports Association range.

“We have seen a significant increase in competitive events and attendance in this area,” Tom Allen, of the association, wrote in an email. “These large matches bring hundreds of competitors, vendors, wives, husbands and kids to the area for each match.”

Chip Lohman, managing editor of Shooting Sports USA magazine,said new classes, or categories, have led to the rise in participation.

During the last decade a class has been created allowing participants to compete with stock, or off-the-shelf guns, instead of customized, highly modified guns, he said, making the sport less expensive.

Increasing popularity in competitions has also meant increased sales, Lohman said. Stores reported selling record levels of ammunition and firearms.

Bill Brassard, director of communications for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, also attributes the increase in shooting competitions to the rise in gun ownership.

The number of background checks, which customers must undergo when buying a new or used gun from a retailer, increased about 14 percent from 2010 to 2011, with more than 16 million conducted last year, according to the foundation. While the number of background checks performed is a good indicator, Brassard said, it does not equal sales.