As a gunsmith with 50+ years experience this is a subject dear to my heart. To my thinking a gunsmith is one who has the knowledge and ability to make a complete firearm, and also have ability to repair any firearm that comes to his door. Sadly, that is not the case these days. The trade is becoming specialized these days and here in New Zealandicon there are people calling themselves 'gunsmiths' who only do work in a specific area (barrel fitting, suppressor manufacture and fitting, fitting after market parts to pistols and AR15's, stockmaking, etc.) and cannot make springs, reblue, case-harden, file parts from stock, or many of the myriad tasks that a real gunsmith needs to perform. Even the Britishicon term 'gunmaker' is overused by some practitioners in the trade who work for the old firms like Purdey, H&H, etc. These are excellent tradesmen but are specialists in a single field (actioner, stocker, etc.) and it is really only the 'finishers' who are the best qualified to use the term 'gunmaker'. The old military trade of 'Armourer' included training in the basics of metal working, stock repairs, etc. as well as the specialist training for the service weapons of the time. Their work involved the precise fitting and adjustment of parts in some instances. Nowadays, it is all replacement of parts with little or no fitting required. I guess it is indicative of the way the World is changing and tradesmen are no exception. Carpenters used to build a complete house from the concrete foundations to the roof covering, but in the last 25 years this has changed to assembling a pre-cut frame, hanging doors, and some finishing work. The sub-contractors used to be the drainlayer, plumber, glazier, bricklayer and electrician, but now that list has more than doubled (concreters, roofers, insulators, window installers, wallboard fitters, stoppers, painters, etc.). There used to be 5 year apprenticeships in the trades where youngsters were taught by older experienced tradesmen, followed by another 5 years or more working to gain more experience before they could consider themselves 'proper' tradesmen. Now it is all about instant results and people are only taught enough to quickly provide the employer with an income.