Premium on distributor exclusives?

[gnappi]

Anyone have feelings one way or the other on distributor exclusives? Worth it? No interest? Wish there were more?

I'm  curious because I have a few and elements of them tickle my fancy more than plain Jane OEM look alike models.

[bula]

With an early BSBH 6.5" 480 here, followed by a shorter barreled version, and a similar pair of the mid-frame 44spec's here, I'm in. Worth it, will watch for more. Begging the manufacturer, well it has been found that asking the larger distributers works better. 

[longoval]

I wasn't even sure what we were talking about until Bula responded, but that cleared things up.

I voted that I wish there were more.

[contender]

I can't answer because of too many variables.

Often,, an exclusive may not offer anything over a production gun that I personally like. then, sometimes,, they do offer something that I REALLY like with the features I want.

But I do think the concept is a sound business one.

Ruger has a distributor who wants something "different." The distributor agrees to purchase a specific number of them,, and locks it in. Ruger builds them, and they all sell immediately to the distributor. Ruger has a win-win sale. The distributor has to sell them,, and they are the ones gambling on the market. Sometimes the distributor gets it right & offers a very desirable gun to many & they sell quickly. Sometimes,, not. And sometimes,, the distributor will not try to get something built without asking several of their top purchasers if they will commit to a specific number of them, PRIOR to getting them made. Then the distributor knows they too have a "guaranteed sale" of a product.
In business,, it's a common thing to NOT have a product sitting on a shelf. They want stuff to come in & go out quickly.

[Odin]

Far too many choices in the survey!

That being said, in my dreams Lipsey's does a run of Bisley Flattop 45 caliber convertibles. Ruger gets a wild hair and puts Auto Rim recesses on the ACP cylinder...

[jeffh]

Nov 3, 2023 1:25:36 GMT -5 gnappi said:

.....elements of them tickle my fancy more than plain Jane OEM look alike models.

When they did the Lipsey's Flat Top 44 Special, it was as close to perfect as I could have hoped for, not a great increase over a standard production model and conservative in its aesthetic.  WELL worth it for me.

I bought TWO for less than HALF of what a friend had just paid for a 3-Screw 44 Special custom.  Not that his wasn't worth it, but I have a backup in case something ever happens to mine.

I did swap out the XR3 for an XR3-RED, SBH hammer and a TD Barton ejector rod.  That's pretty affordable for being so close to perfect for what I wanted for such a long time.  When I got it, I already had a 3-Screw 44 Special custom, which my dad had given me.  When the Lipsey's version came out I offered him his choice between the two and he chose his custom.  He's happy.  I'm happy. 

[bula]

If folks are counting on me to clear things up...LOL ! I confuse myself sometimes. Sometimes I see things from a different angle, sometimes I word things well off to the side.. Thank you for the compliment.

[gnappi]

Well, eleven who took the survey were not confused :-)

[Encore64]

Regardless how many voting options are available, I'd think it would have to be decided on each individual offering.

I've always been a fan of choices myself. Limited Runs and Dealer Exclusives just add more choices.

I'm all in...

[jeffh]

I VOTE YES on distributors exclusives, because of the extra choices.

"YES" or "NO" would have worked for me on the survey, because I tend to explain, rationalize, analyze, belabor a point, or in other words - elaborate in my posts anyway.

Good to have such a survey pop up though.  Exclusives seem very popular among large enough groups to make it worth the special run and still have a few guys bemoaning the fact that they missed it.  I'm glad the distributors do this.

Funny thing, my first two 44 Special Flat Tops were from the first and second run of Lipsey's exclusives.  One was eventually returned to Ruger for warranty work and Ruger decided it wasn't worth trying to fix and sent me a whole new gun.  I ended up paying for another transfer, but Ruger picked up the tab on shipping both ways.

Anyway, the replacement gun was from the production guns they'd started after the exclusives sold out so fast and it differed in that there was NO LOCK under the grip panels.  THAT was worth the cost of the transfer, so win-win for me.

Moral of that story: If you plan to SHOOT an exclusive, the SHOOT that exclusive AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!  If you wait, and the maker decides to scrap your gun when returned for warranty work, you may not get back what you sent in.  It took me five years to realize that mine was wonky.  TWO of six chambers were misaligned, sprayed lead going through the forcing cone and caused the gun to shoot two groups for every cylinder-full.  Five shots gave me two touching a couple inches away from three touching at 25 yards.

Another moral to the story: Watch closely when they come out, because sometimes they ditch the last few at deep-discount prices.  The 5", blued 44 Special GP100s were $500 (not a scam site) for a week or so, until the last ones were sold.  In the mid-eighties, I got a 4" Smith 624 for $275 that way too.

See what I mean about elaborating?

[bigbore5]

Most of the dealer exclusives really are not that special at all. Not for some of the premiums they charge.

However, a few are interesting. Those are the cartridges not available in the standard line, such as the Buckeye convertibles and the 480 Bisley. Given their success and continued demand, the factory should pick up the chambering of these in the regular runs.

How hard would it be to offer the 454 and 480 in a Redhawk?

[jeffh]

Nov 5, 2023 0:16:58 GMT -5 bigbore5 said:

...Given their success and continued demand, the factory should pick up the chambering of these in the regular runs....

I'd LOVE to see that!

They actually did that with the Flat Top 44 Special - maybe for others, I don't know.  It became a standard production item, but for only a very short while.  It makes me think that we with more discerning tastes and preferences are a very small minority among the market for guns - the greater part of which tends to run with the crowd. 

Makes me think it's got to be an awfully large number to make it worth their while to vary from the minimal hum-drum choices.

[Fowler]

See I see it as the distributors make the commitment and the risk to sell the minimum number of guns to make it cost effective for the manufacturer to produce. They take the risk from the manufacturer so yes they deserve the exclusive designation for taking the risk on them.

When Lipseys brought out the 44sp they sold all Ruger could make for them. When Ruger decided it should be a standard production gun it wasn’t elite or exclusive and didn’t sell anymore.

Now how exclusive painting a Glock green is? That’s a bit more debatable.

Ruger certainly does things Rugers way but of the major manufacturers in America I think it is the only one who hasn’t ever gone through bankruptcy at one time or another so it seems to work for them.

[needsmostuff]

If my rememberer is working right the 327 was kind of dead in the water until Lipsey's kickstarted it with the single sevens.
What had been a high dollar custom for a few became available to the common man.
That in turn rekindled the 32Mags.
I appreciate them for that.

[Encore64]

The Ruger Midframe Flattops, Half Lug GP100s, Adjustable Sight Bearcats, Single Sevens, etc make it all worthwhile.

Good points above about the painted guns. Those, I won't bite on...