Winchester Awarded Department of Homeland Security Contract

I thought I'd start a series of posts concerning shooting industry news of interest.

Winchester Awarded Department of Homeland Security Contract

Winchester® Ammunition was recently awarded a contract by the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security
8/20/2009

Winchester® Ammunition was recently awarded a contract by the Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security to supply a maximum of 200 million, 40 cal. rounds over the next five years.

“Winchester has a proud tradition of providing high quality ammunition to our nation’s law enforcement agencies,” said Dick Hammett, president, Winchester Ammunition. “No matter if they’re protecting our block, our city or our borders, each special agent is an invaluable resource and we are committed to giving them the best products available.”

The load selected for this contract is a 135-grain, hollow point designed for the office of Field Operations of Customs and Border Protection. It will fall under the Winchester® Ranger® line of products.

There's some buzz about this being an over-the-top quantity. It works out to about 40,000,000 rounds a year. Since most agencies train with cheaper FMJ ammo and use JHPs only "on the street" this might seem a bit excessive. That's about 1 round per citizen over the age of 13. Not that I'm reading anything into this.