Sources Sought for Rifle Ammunition This is a Sources Sought Notice and should not be construed as a solicitation announcement. The submission of this information is for planning purposes only. It is not to be construed as a commitment by the Government to procure any supplies, nor is it the intent of the USPFO AR Purchasing and Contracting Office to award a contract on the basis of this Request for Information (RFI) or otherwise pay for the information sought. The Government is seeking responses to this Sources Sought Notice from small interested businesses capable of providing the requirement. Small businesses, in all socioeconomic categories (including, 8(a) business development programs, historically underutilized business zone, service disabled veteran-owned, woman-owned small business, etc.) are highly encouraged to identify capabilities in meeting the requirements. The USPFO AR Purchasing and Contracting Office is seeking preliminary market research information from capable and reliable sources to gain knowledge of potential qualified business sources capable of manufacturing and providing the non-standard match grade rifle ammunition described in this announcement. The goal of this announcement is to identify sources capable of producing match grade rifle ammo that will meet or exceed the requirements described below. This sources sought is for non-standard, match grade rifle ammunition for the Army National Guard Marksmanship Training Center (NGMTC) Service Rifle Team.The ammunition being sought is of various calibers and various loadings with the intent of being match grade, mostly for long range shooting. It is highly recommended that the bullets be of a high Ballistic Coefficient (BC) and of a type generally regarded for use in long range match shooting. All ammunition, except for the magazine length 223 Rem, will be shot at ranges of 800, 900 and 1000 yards. The bullets must have a high enough BC to maintain supersonic flight past 1000 yards. Tests will be conducted on any final products utilizing the muzzle velocity and BC to establish flight characteristics at these ranges. If the data shows the load combination incapable of maintaining supersonic velocity at these ranges, the test will be terminated. The following data will provide performance guidelines, any ammunition submitted must fall within the parameters set forth, except where noted. The ammunition must be produced with only new virgin components and shall have no remanufactured or reconditioned components. The ammunition must be free of any defects including, but not limited to, split cases, dents, misalignment of bullets, dud primers, primers not seated to depth, loose bullets etc. The ammunition must chamber in standard chambers and extract after firing and must not pierce primers due to over pressure etc. These requirements shall follow the standard salient characteristics and geometric dimensions for ammunition put forth by the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) and only deviate where noted. The test sample size shall be no less than 50 rounds, no more than 100. The rifles used to test the ammunition will be: National Match AR-15 with 20” heavy Krieger 1-7.7” twist (223 rem.), National Match AR-10 with heavy 20” Krieger 1-10” twist (308 Win.), Match Rifle is Rem 700 SA with 30” Bartlein heavy Palma profile 1-8 twist (6.5 Creedmoor), Palma Rifle is Rem 700 SA with 30” Kreiger heavy Palma profile 1-13” twist (Palma/ Fullbore). Loadings requested: Caliber Bullet Weight Velocity Accuracy BBL 223 Rem.* 73-77grs. 2825-2875 fps 1.5 MOA @ 200 yds. 20” 223 Rem.** 80-85.5 grs. 2825-2875 fps 1.5 MOA @ 200 yds. 20” 6.5 Creed** 135-156 grs. 2850-3000 fps 1. MOA @ 300 yds. 30” 308 Win.** 155-155.5 grs. 2975-3000 fps 1. MOA @ 300 yds 30” 308 Win.** 175-190 grs. 2550-2625 fps 1.75 MOA @ 300 yds 20” (*) Bullets loaded to magazine length, (2.25”-2.26”) (**) Bullets loaded long to allow for seating to individual gun throats, usually .050”- .100” longer than (SAAMI) maximum Cartridge Overall Length (COAL) Please provide the following information within your capability statement: (1) Company name and address. (2) Unique Entity ID Number. (3) CAGE Code. (4) Business size and, socioeconomic status under 332992, Small Arms Ammunition Manufacturing (5) Company point(s) of contact and contact information. (6) Description of capabilities related to your capacity to perform and manufacture the required match-grade rifle ammunition (7) Confirmation that your company is interested and intends to submit a quote/bid/proposal when and if a solicitation is issued. (8) The government may use information received from this announcement to build a qualified bidders list. Questions regarding this Sources Sought announcement shall be submitted NLT 1:00 PM CDT on 13 June 2022. All interested businesses having the ability to manufacture and provide the required items may submit capability statements via email to the Contracting Officer at
[email protected]. Responses shall be limited to no more than eight (5) pages. "Responses from "all" sources are requested, including Small Businesses, 8(a) Small businesses, HUBZone Small businesses, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Businesses, Women-Owned Small Businesses and Economically Disadvantaged Women owned Small Businesses. Responses shall be submitted no later than Monday, 20 June 2022 at 3:00 p.m. CDT. Capability statements will not be returned.