AmChar vs MGE

Both catalogs are synced into one shared vocabulary, so the same UPC can be counted on either side and matched across them. Everything below is what we measured in the two feeds — how much each one lists, how much of it is the same product, and what only one of them carries.

Catalog size, overlap, feed uptime, and integration type for AmChar and MGE.
AmCharMGE
Active SKUs35,5187,163
Distinct UPCs35,5137,162
Shared UPCs (both carry)2,093
Only at this distributor33,4205,069
Uptime100%99.9%
IntegrationAPIFTP
Freshness

What each one lists most of

AmChar and MGE describe their catalogs in their own words, and we resolve both against one shared product vocabulary before counting. A category below therefore means the same thing on either side. Each list is that distributor’s own largest categories, counted in active listings.

AmChar

Firearm
11,378
Parts & Components
3,643
Ammunition
3,365
Optic
2,318
Holster
2,184
Magazine
1,955
Tools & Maintenance
1,155
Reloading
1,091

MGE

Firearm
3,666
Knife & Tool
1,765
Other
981
Ammunition
465
Optic
286

Firearm, Ammunition and Optic appear in both lists, so those counts can be read against each other directly.

Each list stops at that distributor’s eight largest categories. A category on one list and not the other is one we have not counted here, not one that distributor does not carry.

Where each one will ship it

Taken from each company’s own site on the dates shown on their individual pages. Running a drop-ship programme and naming where the parcel goes are separate questions, and most distributors answer only the first — so “Not stated” below means they have not published it, not that they refuse.

Drop-ship programme and shipping destinations for AmChar and MGE.
AmCharMGE
Ships to your storeYesYes
Offers drop-shippingNot statedNot stated
Ships to your customer's FFLNot statedNot stated
Ships to your customer's addressNot statedNot stated
Ships NFA items to a receiving SOTNot statedNot stated

Every distributor here ships to your own licensed premises — that is what a wholesale account is, not a policy any one of them publishes. Confirm anything you will act on directly with the distributor.

Which should you open?

AmChar lists 35,513 distinct UPCs to MGE's 7,162 — about 5× the breadth. 2,093 UPCs are carried by both — 6% of what AmChar lists and 29% of what MGE lists. Beyond that overlap, 33,420 UPCs appear on AmChar alone and 5,069 on MGE alone. If you open one account, AmChar is the wider of the two on its own — it leaves 5,069 UPCs unreachable, against 33,420 if you open MGE instead. Carrying both reaches 40,582 distinct UPCs, 5,069 more than AmChar covers alone. The largest category in both lists is Firearm — AmChar lists 11,378 there to MGE's 3,666. Over the window we monitor, the AmChar feed answered us 100% of the time and the MGE feed 99.9%.

This is arithmetic on the counts above, not a recommendation of one company over the other. Which account is worth opening also depends on terms and on what your customers ask for, neither of which is in the catalog data we measure. What each company publishes about shipping destinations is in the table above it.

AmChar

AmChar Wholesale carries a large catalog that Project Parabellum syncs on the same schedule as the other API-connected distributors, giving a dealer broad coverage without opening a second account just to chase depth. Onboarding here differs from most of the other distributors on this hub: AmChar requires requests to be routed through an assigned sales representative, so expect a named person to be involved once your account is being set up.

How to open a AmChar dealer account

MGE

MGE Wholesale runs a smaller, focused catalog and delivers it to Project Parabellum as scheduled file drops rather than a live API connection. It fits best as a supplemental account in a dealer's distributor mix — a narrower catalog checked alongside a bigger primary feed rather than run instead of one.

How to open a MGE dealer account

Applying for a dealer account

  • Apply for a AmChar dealer account — Onboarding routes through an assigned sales representative rather than a purely self-service form; expect direct contact during setup. API credentials for order placement are a separate request from the account itself.
  • Apply for a MGE dealer account — As a smaller, focused catalog, MGE works best as a supplemental account rather than a dealer's sole distributor. Being an FTP file drop rather than an API, catalog and stock updates arrive on MGE's schedule.

Both links leave this site. Applications are submitted to, reviewed by, and approved by the distributor themselves — Project Parabellum is not part of that process and cannot speed it up or vouch for you.

Project Parabellum is not affiliated with AmChar or MGE, and neither distributor reviews or supplies this page.

The counts here are our own measurements of the feeds we sync. They describe what each distributor sends us, which is not the same thing as everything either company sells, and they will differ from figures published elsewhere.

This page is rebuilt every day, and the shared-UPC counts on it are recomputed every 6 hours.