SHOOTING -- Remember when Jim Zumbo and fishing demo tanks stocked with real fish were the big attractions advertized by sportsman show promoters?

Times have changed:  A promotion getting big attention for the  Pacific Northwest Sportsmen's Show in Portland next week is a chance for 15,000 gun owners to score a brick of cheap .22 rimfire ammunition.

Each day of the show, Cascade Farm and Outdoor of Walla Walla will sell 6,000 short bricks (300 rounds) for $20 each, or 6.7 cents per round, reports Oregon outdoor writer Bill Monroe.

"They're CCI, 36-grain, copper-plated, hollow-point cartridges.That's how many permits will be issued on a first-come basis to show attendees – exhibitors included – allowing them to buy inexpensive short 'bricks' of .22 caliber long rifle ammunition."

Details are posted online. The show runs Feb. 4-8 at the Portland Expo Center.

Shooters are well aware that .22 rimfire ammo, the most popular recreational shooting caliber, has been in short supply for years. Panic buying and hoarding apparently was prompted by consumer hysteria that President Obama somehow had the power to confiscate guns and stockpile ammo.

"Few major sources in the Portland area had any (.22 ammo) at all in a cursory check this past week," Monroe said. "Prices for those that did ranged from 16 to 20 cents per round. American ammunition manufacturers are racing to keep up with demand, but some retailers are importing .22 ammo from Mexico."

"Brick" is a term for a small container, usually cardboard, holding smaller boxes of .22 ammunition, usually 40 or 50 rounds. Years ago, a brick was always 500 rounds. Today total cartridges in a 22 brick varies from 300-500 rounds.