Multiple problems contribute
Some manufacturers are still recovering from pandemic supply chain issues
Colt has been spotty on consistent production and distribution for decades- stories of people ordering single actions and waiting 2+ years.
Colt bought by CZ and I imagine there is ( or should be) significant restructuring going on.
I am sure CZ had done market research to identify what will sell at the biggest profit and is not going to produce lower demand items if they don’t have the capacity
With a plethora of used deltas out there, I wouldn’t be looking for a new one.
Much like a lot of other companies, there seems to be times when suddenly it seems there are a ton of a particular model available, then once these sell, you don’t see another production run for quite some time.
With the 1911 market so flooded and competitive ( there are more 1911 makers than ever currently) and the pythons selling well at a hefty price tag especially the 3” versions I imagine Colt will ride that train as long as they can.
Most gun companies today as factories go, are surprisingly small with limited tooling and small work forces. They tend to run an item for a period of time on a set schedule based on sales estimates, and those items with the lower volume of sales are lowest priority.
A good example, glock will tool up to run let’s say, glock 17’s that is all they will make for a month straight. If you order a 17 in the middle of this production run, it is delivered in a week. Then they re tool to make other models over time -19’s for a month, then 21’s for a month etc. order that 17 after the aforementioned production run is completed and you won’t be getting your 17 until they run that model again.
Also in modern times we are victims of “ just in time logistics”
In the old days, companies like Colt or S&W would continue to pump out guns and if completed and not immediately sold, would be put in a warehouse until an order for a specific item came in, and it would be pulled from storage and shipped. There are plenty of examples of a colt or S&W in the 50’s/60’s/70’s where the guns serial number suggests it was made years or in a few cases even a decade or more before it was pulled from storage and shipped for a purchase order. Companies simply don’t do that anymore. They try to have the margin between production and sales orders/estimates razor thin.