Del-Ton Not Accepting Orders At This time!

[tpelle]

I've been wanting to put together another AR15 for use as a casual range/plinking rifle. As I had previously dealt with Del-Ton before, and was generally satisfied with them, they were on my list of possible suppliers. I had a few questions and contacted them by email. Today I received this reply:

"Sir,

We are unable to ship out rifle kits as parts or as kits at this time. What is going on is the industry is in a crunch, parts are becoming scarce and it is taking longer than usual to get parts back in stock. Until we are able to replenish stock we are restricted from accepting new orders for kits as the parts we currently have are being allocated to orders we have committed to. I understand the frustration, there are no devious intentions what so ever. We had made this decision Monday, and believe me it was a difficult decision to come by. The logic behind turning off the kits is the fact that we cannot provide fair etas for new orders, we cannot guarantee anything because things are so up in the air with suppliers. We have upped our quantities but until they begin delivering we cannot commit to anything further. In essence we are trying to be fair to the consumer. Instead of accepting the order with the presumption that it could be delivered in four to six weeks, which newer orders would not be able to be delivered in that time frame, we simply halted new orders for rifles, kits and uppers as well as some critical parts. If I could be any further assistance to you please let me know. Thanks!"

So what's with this big parts crunch? I mean, if we were able to ride through the big AR15 rifle buying panic of three-and-a-half years ago, I figured we'd be home-free now!

[markm]

Retards hoarding junk again. Simple as that.

[5pins]

The pre election buying spree has started.

[tpelle]

The pre election buying spree has started.

I think you're right. I just got an email notification from Graf and Sons (reloading supplies) that basically said the same thing.

Remember this when you go to the voting booth this November.

[5pins]

I was at Graf and Sons yesterday and was about to buy some brass but got side tracked, when I went back that evening the price went up $4 per 100.

[Bob Reed]

Del-Ton just did you (and the rest of their customers) a favor by halting sales on their sub-standard parts.

And as far as these off brand companies & dealers claiming parts shortages on "current demands" - I say BS, because were in a horrible depression, there's no-work, there's no-work in sight, most people live from check-to-check and their credit cards are maxed (and have been maxed for quite some time). These places are out of parts because they operate on shoe-string-budgets and most of them don't even have the capital to fully stock their shelves to begin with.

If you're tired of dealers constantly showing "out of stock" next to nearly everything they offer, and you're looking for a professional company that actually keeps large quantities of High Quality Parts & Rifles in Stock - then go with Specialized Armament http://www.specializedarmament.com/

[petecamp]

Bob...With all due respect, it's no wonder specialized armament has things in stock. $1400 for a Colt LE6920. $400 over what most of the rest of the world sells them for. With prices like that, they probably will continue to have lots of merchandise in stock. Just sayin...

[Muddyboots]

Ah yes, the beauty of a free market!

You are free to buy junk. You are free to buy quality. You are free to pay the price you are willing and vendors are free to sell for what they choose. If you think you don't want to pay a specific price for a specific item, nobody is forcing you to buy it from that vendor.

When I was younger a Colt cost $675 at the local shop. OH! did I want one!!! I couldn't get $675 together to buy it. Do you think they would honor that price now? That same Pre-Ban lower STRIPPED would be worth a whole hell of a lot more in this NY market these days.

Caveat Emptor works both ways.

Muddyboots

[John Hwang]

I don't believe it's hoarding. About a month or 2 ago, parts started running dry (rumor has it that a large player is buying up big production runs pre-election). As parts started to run dry, customers start to panic and buy up what's left and you have what we see now. We are down about 30-40% of our normal inventory numbers. Delton, and most dealers are caught in the middle of everything now. If consumers back off, I think the industry can get caught back up. MFGs are being a lot smarter this time around and they know their huge POs can also be canceled like they were in 2004 when demand hit the floor.

[markm]

Although I must applaud Del-Ton for not taking orders. THAT is actually good for the AR community!!

[tpelle]

J&T Distributing (DoubleStar, Ace Stocks) just today (3/16/2012) put a notice up on their home page about delivery delays.

[lamarbrog]

Del-Ton just did you (and the rest of their customers) a favor by halting sales on their sub-standard parts.

And as far as these off brand companies & dealers claiming parts shortages on "current demands" - I say BS, because were in a horrible depression, there's no-work, there's no-work in sight, most people live from check-to-check and their credit cards are maxed (and have been maxed for quite some time). These places are out of parts because they operate on shoe-string-budgets and most of them don't even have the capital to fully stock their shelves to begin with.

If you're tired of dealers constantly showing "out of stock" next to nearly everything they offer, and you're looking for a professional company that actually keeps large quantities of High Quality Parts & Rifles in Stock - then go with Specialized Armament http://www.specializedarmament.com/

..... Is this an undercover account for Colt's Mfg or Specialized Armament?

I work at a gun store. We like to keep LMT and Daniel Defense in stock whenever possible. We stock Colt whenever we can get them at a good price. Sometimes we carry Noveske and Knight's even. (We also routinely sell CMMG, Interarms/High Standard, and have even been known to throw a few Stag rifles into the mix at times... but never mind those.)

Last week, we went to reorder AR15 type rifles, since inventory was beginning to get low. Out of all the distributors we source rifles from, and certain relationships with manufacturers directly..... we got one rifle ordered that was in stock. ONE RIFLE. We have had orders with one particular "tier one" company since January. We are told we will probably see a shipment arrive late April.

So, just because one company online can keep a product in stock when it is selling at 40% over street price does not mean the industry is not in a crunch.

[Bob Reed]

..... Is this an undercover account for Colt's Mfg or Specialized Armament?
Thanks for the compliment, Lamar.

No, sadly I'm not lucky enough to work for SA (or COLT for that matter) - I'm just a long time SA customer that knows where to find high quality parts that's actually in stock. And not only do I not have the time (or desire) to fool around looking for parts - I flat don't have the patience that's needed when it comes to dealing with places that are constantly Out-of-Stock.

And for the record, NO-ONE has ever asked me to put in a plug for SA - I simply do it because I'm a satisfied customer of theirs and thought other people might actually appreciate knowing where to find high quality parts that's In Stock!