The DoD, DHS, DOJ, and ATF award billions in firearms-related contracts every year. Any prime contractor above $750K must submit a subcontracting plan allocating work to small businesses. This guide shows you exactly how to get on those plans.
What's In This Guide
Eight focused pages. Each one covers a single topic so you can read at your own pace, come back to specific sections, and skip what you already know. Start at the beginning or jump to what you need.
Is This Worth It?
Real dollar ranges for each business type. Who qualifies and what the upside looks like.
→How It Works
The chain of money, the legal requirement, and who you actually deal with.
→Starting From Zero
How to build track record when you have none. Non-federal work that counts.
→Getting Compliant
SAM.gov registration, NAICS codes for firearms, and which certifications matter most.
→Finding & Approaching Primes
How to identify targets with ZRConnect, write a capability statement, and reach the SBLO.
→Realistic Timeline
No sugarcoating. What happens when, and what compresses or extends the process.
→What to Say
A fill-in-the-brackets outreach email, follow-up cadence, and call script.
→Decision Checklist
Check what applies to your business. Your score tells you the exact next step.
→Other services charge hundreds of dollars per month to provide access to the same federal contract data this guide is built on. ZRConnect is free. The data comes directly from USASpending.gov. We built this because the firearms industry — gun ranges, gunsmiths, FFLs, and manufacturers — deserves the same intelligence that well-funded contractors have always had.