I emailed Daniel Defense last night the following:
"I've been wanting to transition into a DD platform for quite some time now, but the only thing that has kept my business with BCM is their availability of uppers in the 14.5 mid/carbine configuration. I see you guys offer the DD M4A1 in 14.5 carbine, V11 SLW and V5 S both in 14.5 mid. Do you anticipate on offering anymore platforms in either the 14.5 carbine/mid platform? Ideally, either the DDM4 V1 in a 14.5 carbine configuration (you could call it DDM4 V1 S) or the DDM4 V5 S in black would be what I'm looking for (don't care for mil spec+ coating). Like I said, I'd like to transition to you guys, but I'd like to see more 14.5 platforms."
This morning, I received a prompt reply with the following:
"The 14.5 Midlength is my personal preference as well. I wish we also offered more of these configurations. We do have some new items coming out for SHOT Show in January so I would keep my eyes peeled for those. Also, you can use the Build Your DDM4 feature on our website to create a custom build that fall within your specs."
After looking on the DD website, I thought it was ironic that they were out of stock on the DDM4 V5 S (short) and DDM4 V11 SLW (black), both 14.5 middys. I would be all over the DDM4 V5 S if they had it in black, I'm not a huge fan of the milspec+ finish ... Or, if they offered a DDM4 V1 in a 14.5 carbine (perhaps call it the DDM4 V1 S). The DDM4 V11 SLW looks sexy as hell, but after owning a BCM BFH ELW 14.5 KMR upper, I'm reluctant to go keymod/mlok again because they heat up so fast and the DDM4 rail is rock solid and slim enough to where I can easily get my hand around it for a thumb over grip. Anyways, I hope to see more 14.5 offerings in the near future, I'm sure there are others out there who would agree. I would consider the "build your DDM4" feature, however, taking cost into consideration, vendors regularly sell DD rifles significantly under MSRP.