Update: As mentioned, I went back in yesterday .... trying my best to be kind, but apparently my frustration was showing. Spoke with the smith this time (not the counter guy), who is a long standing acquaintance and a genuine nice guy. I made the same request as before ... and received the same reply. When I expressed that I found 4 online on Monday and asked what was going on, more details came forward. He has two primary distributors that he uses. He did give me the names, but I didn't write them down so I've forgotten. They have been checking those two on a regular basis with no luck. After me raising the bar (and a little heat), he looked at other distributors and LOW AND BEHOLD, they found one. The reason he hadn't used this distributor is because he got "screwed" back during the gun grab scare of a couple years ago where the distributor was price gouging (saying "out of stock" and the next day magically "in stock" at a much higher price). He was a gentleman about it and apologized for the delays. I calmed down. We shook hands, chatted about 22 ammo hording and parted amicably. Pistol should be here Monday !!
Just a personal note. This was really "out of character" for me. I'm the kind of guy who normally doesn't complain about bad service, I simply just don't go back. I've never been one to confront.