An Open Letter

Del Ton has, again, resorted to telling customers that they, "are a rifle company not a parts company."

This seems to happen every time the market for rifles heats up a bit.

They even put customers who'd ordered parts on back-order to divert parts to making said rifles.  Sometimes after the customer had called ahead to ensure the parts were in stock.

I've long been a fan of Del Ton, I have used several of their kits.

What I have noticed is that they are only a rifle company when the market is hot.  It's parts and parts kits that keep their doors open when the rifle market cools.

You know what that makes me feel like?  It makes me feel like being disloyal.  Not that I owe them anything or they owe me; but they should think about how their decisions are being seen by the people who literally allowed them to become as large as they are.

I'm of the opinion that you are in the business of selling your full range of products, not just one particular product when the margins are higher than normal.

You want to be a rifle company, fine by me.  Sell rifles.  Colt does this, and if you go to their web page you see what they offer in rifles right out front.  What you don't see is an easy to navigate menu steering the prospective customer to parts, parts kits and assemblies that are not complete firearms.  Your web page is the page of a rifle parts company.

Fix that and we'll see how well you do as a rifle company.

By way of comparison is the M&A Parts web page.  They are unabashedly a parts company, and their web page is organized very similarly.  DSG, Bushmaster and DPMS are "full line" AR companies and sell complete rifles as well as parts, and their web pages reflect that.

Decide on an identity and fix your web page!