i had this same problem with a smith in wyoming about ten years ago he had 2 rifles of mine that were put on the back burner for almost 1 1/2 years for somr minor work to a gun that was already built by him sent to me then sent back for a change that i was paying for ,after a year i started to ask for the gun to be completed and sent back 4 more months went by i was four months later when after dozens of phone calls trying to track down relatives in his town to ask him to call me back with no reply i finally called the local sheriff ask him to stop by his shop and relay a message to him if thats noy a problem again i was not ratting on him i stressed to them that i just could noy get thru to him and wondered if he was still alive when i called back the sheriff a few days later he said he gave him the message ,about 3 weeks later i recieve my guns with a note telling me to go f??? myself naturally the work i wanted was never completed but the prior work he did for me was fine and i dont really hate the guy or would i berate his work i just think he should of had better contact,at one point i did consider taking a flight to his house, the guns were valued at about 9k i did not want to call the BATF ............paul

I had a similar circumstance with a well known barrelmaker/gunsmith in Utah (NOT Ackley) some years back and a new in-the-white magnum Mauser action. Luckily John Jobson was willing to drive over to his shop and ask for my action. He got it, and mailed it to me (in Canada, yet).

But, the point I was getting to was that he took a local Sheriff's Deputy friend with him. I also had tried the postal service and a variety of other governmental "intervenors" with no success except through the Federal Trade Commission...their help did work in another instance but likely would not in yours, as you have already granted the guy an extension of delivery time.

I think your best bet other than court itself, would be to find someone you trust who lives locally to the gunsmith in question. Ask him to get a friendly Sheriff's Deputy or other LEO of that jurisdiction, and to drive out and have a chat with the guy, with the LEO along in uniform. See if he can get the 'smith to promise to ship it to you within say, 5 business days. Then have him follow up to see that it happened. If it didn't, the LEO will make a valuable court witness.

If you do use the court system, be sure to ask for legal fees and all "recovery expenses" as part of the judgement.

If you live close enough to him, get the LEO to go with you and go out there yourself.

Have his legs broken..

I've been telling guys for years that all these "stories" you hear about the post office, FBI, ATF etc. helping with these matters is horse hockey

ATF will only get involved if the deal involves a violation of federal FIREARMS laws, not theft etc. unless weapons were stolen from a licensed dealer.

A bad deal gone south is usually a civil matter.

Even IF you can get a cop to go to the guys house, the cop is powerless to do anything. And if it is a civil matter... and a cop goes with you, he and the dept are liable for harassment....

I've been ripped off twice.... been down that road.

I've also been "outed" as one guy put it, by a "buyer" because I told him that "I think I have a set of Talley rings for that" concerning a rifle I sold to him with Talley bases... turns out I didn't have them, they were never part of the deal..... but the guy then demands I either provide him with a set or $50....

I told him to put it where the sun don't shine... so much for trying to be nice.

And the guy is a licensed dealer.... go figure.

Hope it works out for you, but likely as not it won't.

Also for what it's worth, I was told by several agencies that unless the "issue" is blatant theft and amounts to many thousands of dollars, they're not gonna get involved in it.

Best bet is if something illegal has occurred, is to get the local LEO involved. Only they can really do anything about it. But if it's even slightly questionable that this could be a "dispute" instead of theft... you'll get no where with them.