Lipseys 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.
| Lipseys | MSR Distribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Active SKUs | 19,259 | 2,554 |
| Distinct UPCs | 19,259 | 2,482 |
| Shared UPCs (both carry) | 394 | |
| Only at this distributor | 18,865 | 2,088 |
| Uptime | 99.9% | 100% |
| Integration | API | FTP |
| Freshness | Synced 55 minutes ago | Synced 22 minutes ago |
What each one lists most of
Lipseys 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.
Lipseys
- Firearm
- 13,561
- Parts & Components
- 2,608
- Magazine
- 1,352
- Optic
- 1,216
- Light & Laser
- 318
- Ammunition
- 95
- Safe & Storage
- 34
- Holster
- 26
MSR Distribution
- Firearm
- 1,119
- Magazine
- 319
- Apparel
- 258
- Parts & Components
- 146
- Safe & Storage
- 143
- Other
- 112
- Optic
- 90
- Ammunition
- 67
Firearm, Parts & Components, Magazine, Optic, Safe & Storage and Ammunition 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.
| Lipseys | MSR Distribution | |
|---|---|---|
| Ships to your store | Yes | Yes |
| Offers drop-shipping | Not stated | Yes source |
| Ships to your customer's FFL | Not stated | Yes source |
| Ships to your customer's address | Not stated | Not stated |
| Ships NFA items to a receiving SOT | Not stated | Not 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?
Lipseys lists 19,259 distinct UPCs to MSR Distribution's 2,482 — about 7.8× the breadth. 394 UPCs are carried by both — 2% of what Lipseys lists and 16% of what MSR Distribution lists. Beyond that overlap, 18,865 UPCs appear on Lipseys alone and 2,088 on MSR Distribution alone. If you open one account, Lipseys is the wider of the two on its own — it leaves 2,088 UPCs unreachable, against 18,865 if you open MSR Distribution instead. Carrying both reaches 21,347 distinct UPCs, 2,088 more than Lipseys covers alone. The largest category in both lists is Firearm — Lipseys lists 13,561 there to MSR Distribution's 1,119. Over the window we monitor, the Lipseys feed answered us 99.9% 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.
Lipseys
Lipsey's runs a mid-sized catalog and markets a line it calls "Exclusive Firearms" — models it describes as produced specifically for its own distribution. Project Parabellum polls that catalog over a dealer API on the usual automated schedule, so exclusives and standard items arrive through the same connection and land on this hub the same way, with no separate feed or extra account behind them.
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.
Applying for a dealer account
- Apply for a Lipseys dealer account — An Exclusive Firearms listing — a model Lipsey's describes as produced specifically for its own distribution — may arrive here with no match from another feed to set beside it, so expect it to appear as a single source rather than as one of several listings to weigh against each other.
- Apply for a MSR Distribution dealer account — The 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.