College Pistol Team Ammo Bleg

I received this via e-mail. If anyone can help these guys out, leave a comment:

By way of introduction, I am a member of the Oregon State University pistol club and a follower of all of your blogs.  Since you all strike me as being somewhat connected in the firearms community, I am coming to you with a plea for help.  Our club is one of the few remaining collegiate shooting clubs in the nation, and I view it as important to continuing the introduction of shooting sports to young people.  However, given the current industry situation, ammunition is difficult to come by (but you already knew that).  We might have enough ammunition left to last until the end of the school year in June, if we’re lucky, but that would be the end of all of our supplies.  As such, I am coming to you asking if any of you know of people or dealers who have access to bulk .22LR ammunition.  I recognize that it is unlikely that anyone does these days, but we’re pretty much desperate.  Our club has been in operation pretty much continuously since 1948; I do not want to see it die due to an ammunition shortage.  If you can help at all, if you have any information, I would be eternally grateful.

I’ve been very concerned about the effect the current ammo shortages are going to have on the shooting community. If anyone knows where they might find ammo, can you point them in the right direction?

18 thoughts on “College Pistol Team Ammo Bleg”

  1. This is becoming a problem for growing our ranks. I was told by Boy Scout shooting instructors that they almost didn’t find any .22 for their camp training weeks.

      1. Should still file for a grant. FNRA is sometimes able to send physical assets instead of money through its relationships with manufacturers.

  2. When I was a member of the OSU (Ohio State University ;) ) rifle club a couple of years ago, we got it from acusport https://www.acusport.com/ , but we were close enough to pick it up from their storefront. They do ship, so I’d suggest contacting them.

  3. Just thinking out loud:

    Does the ROTC on campus (assuming there is one) have any ammo? If so, from where? Any to “loan,” in the name of recruitment efforts?

    The train of thought that takes me there is, a relative of mine was a MSgt. in the National Guard, and through most of my teens his birthday, Christmas, and just-coming-to-visit gifts to me always included a couple bricks of .22 RF Rem, standard velocity.

    Maybe an appeal to the military or even the police might turn something up, as those outfits know that good PR with young men and women never hurts.

  4. I’m at a bit of a loss here.

    1. Did they not have a years worth of stock?
    2. Are they not a CMP affiliated club? CMP has some great bulk deals.
    3. Do they not have a deal with one of the major ammo manufacturers?
    4. Have they not modified training/practice to reduce round count? (we’re all stuck doing this right now)

    I wish I could help them, but it seems they failed to help themselves over the past few years. The writing was on the walls since 2008, it said stock up and stock up a lot.

  5. To some of you: Thank you for your help. We’re working with CMP, the only problem is that the estimated delivery time for the Aguila (all they have left) is 120 days, aka 17 weeks, which is well into summer break, and we do not operate in the summer. It’s an option we’re pursuing in the hope that we can at least open on time next year, but it’s not going to help us now. I’ll talk to the club president about the AcuSport suggestion (thank you Peter O, specifically)

    To others of you: We did stock up, just apparently not enough. We have enough to reach the end of the year, barely, if we limit people to one box per night. Even then it’ll be tight. We’re not stupid. What we didn’t expect is people to buy so much ammunition so fast that it takes 4 months just to get a case of .22LR.

    Finally, thank you Sebastian and Bitter for putting this up. Much appreciated. ProdigalSon out.

    1. Post at rimfirecentral.com. lots of nice people there who are stocked up. go to the .22 ammo subforum and present your situation.

  6. It would be useful to know what what quantity/quality of ammo they are looking for there.

  7. Quality? We have some match-quality stuff that we reserve for, well, matches. For general shooting, we use anything. Ruger MKIIs, which are what we use, eat just about anything. We try to avoid jacketed or HV ammo when possible because our range is old and pretty beat up, but it works. As to quantity? A brick or more a night is usually what we go through, so basically as much as we can get.

  8. I think that this should make all of the hoarders out there ashamed of themselves. If clubs cannot and organizations like the Boy Scouts cannot get ammunition, what chance do the new shooters have who just bought their first firearm? Shame on the hoarders and preppers who bought up everything in sight. Shame on all of you trying to sell the red boxes of Federal 22 for $100.00 online when you bought them at Wal-Mart for less than $20.00 four months ago. You do as much if not more harm to the shooting sports and gun rights than the politicians.

    1. i’m still shocked that 22lr is out everywhere. the last time a gun grab happened; i can’t remember ever seeing 22 out of stock. is there something I’m missing? they might ban the magazine size and the type of gun… but the ammo too?
      I have see the odd box of 9mm here and there, but as for ammo, it’s a new price for a new world isn’t it? gunbot does show some availability, but as for a brick per night, you guys might wish to pair down your use schedule. it’ll take a while for industry to catch up or demand to fall (not likely soon I think as long as this shit gets pushed out further and further), so either you hold out or pay more or try to rely on the kindness of strangers I suppose. but at the brick/day point, you guys might need to start training like russian soldiers.

  9. So a case(5K) of Russian standard velocity would only cover your problem for 10days?

    1. Yes. We only shoot three days a week, and one of them is just the competitive team, so slightly less consumption, but in general, yes. Ten days of shooting, maybe as much as twelve if things are slow. Admittedly, we can cut that some if we limit people to one box instead of two, but a number of people only shoot one box a night anyway.

  10. As a former member of the OSU (Go-Beavs!) pistol club – I’m sorry that I cannot help – but wanted to ‘shout-out’ anyway! Crazy days – all the way around.

Comments are closed.