Aw come on, what's a good gungabfest without a little verbal asskicking??? But, you are right, too many valuable threads on gun forums do turn into schittslinging contests, so, I will offer some further info.
The best place that I know of to obtain contact info. concerning Canadian gunsmiths is "Access to Firearms" where quite a number of them advertise. Word of mouth ( in person) is also a sound source of advice, but, it will be frequently based on one person's opinion and their desires regarding a given rifle or type thereof; this is essentially what is happening on this thread. These forums are really nothing other than opinion and some people have more experience than others, but, none of us are infallible, me included.
In Canada, at present, I would pick the following guys as the "top" five, for anyone interested. They are Martini & Hagn, Bill Leeper, Mick McPhee and probably Bill Warkentin, BUT, my criteria may well be different than that of others, as Cat indicated today and I did some days ago.
Even these guys produce some rifles that are obviously better than others, as every custom producer of whatever does and the good ones will admit. The legendary Al Biesen of Spokane, Wa, USA, has quite openly admitted this and mentioned that many of the younger, upcoming gunmakers are now doing work much superior to that he did some 40-50 years ago when in his prime.....and he also states that this is the way it should be as the art advances based on smith's learning from each other.
Again, I think that the custom rifle craft in Canada is largely a dying trade/art as demographics, social mores and economic opportunities have changed this country to a degree that we could have hardly imagined in the '60s when I got into this obsession. I do not expect to ever see a gunsmithing community in Canada that is equal to the ACGA in the USA, although I would love to be proven wrong.
