Hofbchsenmacher would roughly translate to gunmaker to a royal court, generic, while other stamps like Kniglich Schsischer Hofbchsenmacher would be gunsmith to the Royal Saxon court or something of the like( http://www.doublegunshop.com/forums/ubbt...true#Post204070 , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_and_Royal ) . Much like the Austro-Hungarian empire, it was an applied for or appointed title that would warrant a yearly fee and there may be a list somewhere if it stood the ravages of war & time. Nothing more than advertising, or an advertising gimmick that was an attempt to garner more credibility as a gunsmith but in the end most were purely firearms merchants and sub-contracted the work to a small pool of the best of the best mechanics. Now to solely be a firearms merchant one still had to be a master gunsmith.

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse