Any news from Daniel Defense from SHOT show?

[Jim D]

You mean like Bravo Company, Ruger, Springfield, etc. do? You can't sign up to be a dealer with then. You have to buy those through distributors.

{this is the last I'll say on this, as it's getting off topic}

This is why Ruger has virtually no PD business, and neither does BCM. Springfield we ARE direct with, as is another LGS I used to work for.

I have not heard they were cutting dealers, and I met with DD at Shot. I doubt it would have been presented as "screw yourself". Marty Daniel and Daniel Defense have been very good people to deal with, and make an outstanding product. Their success is a result of that, and as a result, more people want their product and it is therefore harder to get, especially in the current craze.

There does come a point when a company grows, where they can't effectively serve every dealer who wants their product and so must narrow it down to fewer distributors/master dealers who then can sell to other dealers.
I know one distributor placed an order for basically everything DD could produce in 2013. Add in the 20-30 other distributors/master dealers DD has, and you can see how it might be impossible for DD to fill those orders, let alone all the other smaller dealer orders. So even if you are a direct dealer, you might be able to get product sooner by buying it from another distributor who had a bigger order in earlier. It doesn't mean they're screwing the small dealer. Keep in mind, however much a small dealer may have "built their name up", the larger dealers/distributors did as much or more so. The reason they are distributors is because they have bought more Daniel Defense for more years than other dealers do. Why would they not get priority?

There is a difference between "hey, we got slammed with order and we don't expect to be able to ship any new orders before the end of 2013" and "sorry, you have to place all orders through a distributor now."

There was no mention of them going back to taking dealer sales should the bubble burst, and a LE dept doesn't pay excise tax. There is no way to get a PD pricing through a distributor because virtually none of them will go through that process. So after I talked a number of agencies into DD rifles for their 2013 budgets, I've got to go back to them and tell them that the manufacturer isn't interested in taking their orders now.

Buying from a distributor might not be the end of the world for most over the counter sales, but it is the nail in the coffin for agency sales. If you'd like to know why most PD's carry Bushmasters, S&W's and the like... this is why.