OK, which is it?

[epj]

Ya'all have way too much time on your hands.

 

[Absalom]

Fifty years ago my wood shop teacher, grandfather and all my uncles believed a stockman had always been any manufacturer's knife that had a master clip blade and secondary spey and sheep's foot blades pivoting on opposite ends. To simplify this discussion lets suppose they were correct. Would that make it stockmen?

I'm no language pope, just a language nerd, but I say you are correct on that basis.

Joe Stockman and his family are the Stockmans, not the Stockmen, but if the word is a thing that is detached completely from any proper name, then normal rules should apply and the plural of man is men, even if it has taken on a different meaning.

Unless of course some forum member of Swedish extraction pops up and tells us that stockman comes from "stökmänü", a word that means "pig in a poke" and has nothing to do with "man", in which case I give up .

 

[Warren Sear]

Gentlemen, they are stockman knives, Colt Navy revolvers, Model 70 rifles, etc.

 

[model70hunter]

Depends on whether you are referring to the possessive case or to multiple revolvers??

Here is the rule I like:

If the word ends in a vowel (a,e,i,o,u) + y then just add s.
boy/boys, journey/journeys, key/keys, tray/trays.

If the word ends in a consonant + y then y changes to -ies
country/countries, baby/babies, body/bodies, memory/memories, sky/skies, variety / varieties...

Please note that you don't use spelling rules with proper names just make sure you use a capital letter.

Dad? Dad is this you?