C6300BD port forwarding not working

> is this a hardware / firmware issue with my router? or am I don't
> something wrong?

   The non-psychics in your audience have no idea what you did, which
makes it difficult to identify any errors.

> I've established a static IP

   How?  For what?  What is it?

> I've created a port rule within the router settings

   How?  For which ports (external and internal) and IP address?

> I've even created a custom rule through my windows firewall for the
> port I want open

   Can't see that, either.

> despite all of this I am still unable to forward the port so that
> inbound traffic is allowed on my torrent tracker.

   "I am unable" is not a useful problem description.  It does not say
what you did.  It does not say what happened whan you did it.  As usual,
showing actual actions with their actual results (error messages, ...)
can be more helpful than vague descriptions or interpretations.

   What, exactly, is "my torrent tracker"?  Is it running?  Can you
connect to it from a system on your LAN?  (On which port?)

> Any help would be greatly appreciated.

   You first?  Any actual information would help.  Copy+paste of actual
reports from the router and/or Windows system would be nice.