Bill most likely does not want to name names in hopes that this "message" will get back to the "smith" and get him off the mark and finish the guns. With caller ID most people find it real easy to duck a phone call from those whom they do not want to talk to.
Send him a Certified letter and a regular letter. Courts will assume a regular letter was received and opened if it is not returned. Certified will give you an exact date it was delivered. In the letter(s) give him three days from the date of delivery to call you. If he does not respond in three days then give the local police a call. Most likely one of them knows him personally and they will contact him to get him to either finish the work, explain the long delay, return the guns, or can start the investigation for "stolen or lost guns". As a backup I would use ATF two days later. Most of us do not want ATF coming around and starting any "investigations" in our shops.
Problem is that you need to come up with real deadlines and stick to them. Then after you get it resolved you need to return here and lets us know the outcome and who it was. By not naming names you in effect drag every gunsmith into the mess because as we each suspect someone of being the problem. There is only one bad guy in this and you are hurting many others by not naming names. People may still send him work but will at least know to be on guard for problems instead of waiting months before the know that they have a problem.
