You are correct in that the wait time through NF is that long...however, dealers are always ordering more. I spoke with Neil at Cameraland and every time they sell a scope, that same scope is ordered. So if you were to order a scope right now through NF directly (or any other manufacturer directly...Leupold, Zeiss, etc), you would be waiting if there is a backorder. But because a lot of the dealers are constantly ordering throughout the year, you are able to get the product much faster. Cameraland has the NXS in Mil and MOAR coming in the next 2-3 weeks because they have been continually placing orders in the last year. So the scopes that are coming in now were placed in the fall. I cannot speak to other retailers but if you order a backordered item (in my case a scope) through Cameraland, they will tell you exactly where you are on the "list." I ordered the NXS in MOAR 2.5-10x42 yesterday and there is nobody ahead of me on the backorder list.
Hope that makes sense.