Warning!

IMHO- Do not take your firearm to Gander Mountain for expert gunsmithing. If you would like amatuer gunsmithing, by all means indulge yourself.
I dropped off a Para-Ordnance P14 single action for an ambi-safety. Brand new. I regretted it from the second I relinquished control of the weapon. I was on my way to work and could not take it with me, and being it was a major company I thought my first impression might be wrong. It wasn't.
In the end there were deep gouges on the beavertail and on top of the slide.
My biggest problem was they attempted to return the weapon to me with damage. I produced a reciept showing the firearm was brand new when they got it from me. The "gunsmith" that worked on my pistol was either totally incompetent or lacked the integrity to report the damage to the weapon. Either way they get a never again for gunsmithing in my book.
Luckily after just 2 short months(ha,ha) my PX14R-MB was replaced with a new one last week.

Most all of these big outfits have second rate or wannabe gunsmiths working in them. I made the same mistake once and never again.

I was at a Bass Pro last year during one of their big sales to get some ammo and tried to get some help from the guy behind the gun counter. He said he couldn't help me because was busy, installing some scope rings on some guy's kid's Marlin. I pointed out the big sign on the counter that said they wouldn't be doing any gunsmithing work that weekend and he told me it wasn't the weeked (it was late Friday afternoon).
A note on this "gunsmith's" work: every screw on those rings is going to be really hard to remove if that kid ever gets a new scope.

I've never taken a gun to any of the big box stores looking for service. After I saw what happened to 3 bows in a row in the archery dept. I figured the gun counter personnel probably would not be any better. More often than not a local guy will do a better job. He HAS to provide at least decent customer service to continue competing with the large corporations. Just my $.02

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lumbermill

I've never taken a gun to any of the big box stores looking for service. After I saw what happened to 3 bows in a row in the archery dept. I figured the gun counter personnel probably would not be any better. More often than not a local guy will do a better job. He HAS to provide at least decent customer service to continue competing with the large corporations. Just my $.02

---

So true. Alot of the people at the Bass Pro local to me know their guns. Especially the female they have there (think she's the manager of that dept). Anyway, I don't know about having any work done though. The local gun shop near me sends it's gunsmith out to get certified by various manufacturers in different classes all the time. I'd rather have someone like that work on my stuff. They don't do custom work, but if I need to keep something in warranty I know I can rely on them to do it right.

I was in The Sportsmans Warehouse looking at new auto's and a guy came in with his Marlin 336 asking if the binding,followed by a snap when cycling the lever was normal.The guy behind the counter says ,"I dunno..."

Of course, my gut reaction is to say..."NO, Why don't you compare it to the one you have on display."

"....hmm,that's a good idea", he replies.....And now the customers thinking WTF?

First off,Because they sell lots of guns,doesn't mean they know anything about them.maybe one guy out of the whole staff does,But you never can find THAT guy.

Find a local smith or a reputable smith online that has been in the business forever and knows his way around most firearms or is dedicated to only what you need to have worked on.