Camfour vs MSR Distribution

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 Camfour and MSR Distribution.
CamfourMSR Distribution
Active SKUs19,2542,554
Distinct UPCs19,2492,482
Shared UPCs (both carry)425
Only at this distributor18,8242,057
Uptime98.9%100%
IntegrationAPIFTP
FreshnessSynced 1 hour agoSynced 22 minutes ago

What each one lists most of

Camfour and MSR Distribution 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.

Camfour

Firearm
11,243
Parts & Components
2,004
Ammunition
1,406
Tools & Maintenance
1,331
Magazine
1,054
Targets & Range
336
Holster
318
Reloading
296

MSR Distribution

Firearm
1,119
Magazine
319
Apparel
258
Parts & Components
146
Safe & Storage
143
Other
112
Optic
90
Ammunition
67

Firearm, Parts & Components, Ammunition and Magazine 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 Camfour and MSR Distribution.
CamfourMSR Distribution
Ships to your storeYesYes
Offers drop-shippingNot statedYes source
Ships to your customer's FFLNot statedYes source
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?

Camfour lists 19,249 distinct UPCs to MSR Distribution's 2,482 — about 7.8× the breadth. 425 UPCs are carried by both — 2% of what Camfour lists and 17% of what MSR Distribution lists. Beyond that overlap, 18,824 UPCs appear on Camfour alone and 2,057 on MSR Distribution alone. If you open one account, Camfour is the wider of the two on its own — it leaves 2,057 UPCs unreachable, against 18,824 if you open MSR Distribution instead. Carrying both reaches 21,306 distinct UPCs, 2,057 more than Camfour covers alone. The largest category in both lists is Firearm — Camfour lists 11,243 there to MSR Distribution's 1,119. Over the window we monitor, the Camfour feed answered us 98.9% of the time and the MSR Distribution feed 100%.

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.

Camfour

Camfour syncs a mid-to-large catalog mixing firearms, ammunition, and accessories, connected through a dealer API on the same automated schedule as the other API-connected distributors here. For a dealer weighing how many accounts to run, Camfour's breadth is wide enough to anchor a storefront on its own rather than serving only as a supplemental source.

How to open a Camfour dealer account

MSR Distribution

MSR Distribution runs one of the smallest catalogs Project Parabellum syncs, delivered as scheduled file drops the same way MGE's and Zanders' feeds are rather than through a live API. A sync pass here finishes quickly given the size, and in practice it works as a niche or supplemental source rather than a catalog broad enough to anchor a storefront on its own.

How to open a MSR Distribution dealer account

Applying for a dealer account

  • Apply for a Camfour dealer accountThe catalog's size makes this workable as either a primary or a supplemental account depending on your other distributor mix.
  • Apply for a MSR Distribution dealer accountThe catalog's small size makes this a supplemental account rather than a dealer's primary distributor. As an FTP file drop, updates land on MSR's publishing schedule rather than on demand.

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 Camfour or MSR Distribution, and neither distributor reviews or supplies this page.

The counts here are our own measurements of the feeds we sync, refreshed hourly. 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.