Brownells was recognized as distributor of the year at the Shooting Industry Masters award ceremony, according to the company.

"We're a third generation, family-owned company carrying on the values my dad started with and trying to help our customers make a living in the firearms business," said CEO Frank Brownell. "We're absolutely delighted the members of the academy feel we're doing it well."

Those values include recognizing that many dealers start small, just as founder Bob Brownell did, working out of a spare bedroom in his home.

The keystone of Brownells success is customer service and part of that is not charging extra for small orders, shipping most packages the same day an order is received to help small dealers keep their inventory costs down, and backing all their products with an unconditional, forever, guarantee, according to the company.

"This was earned by our whole crew who work hard to take good care of our customers," according to Pete Brownell, president. "Thank you to them and to all the academy of excellence voters who chose Brownells."