When to take your rifle to a gunsmith

Most owners can clean, change scopes, swap stocks and replace springs. A gunsmith pays for themselves on anything involving timing, headspace, chamber work, or trigger sear engagement.

Take to a gunsmith

• Trigger pull adjustment outside the manufacturer's factory range.
• Headspace check on a used or rebarrelled rifle.
• Re-crowning, re-throating, or chambering work.
• Stock bedding and pillar bedding.
• Action truing or lug lapping.
• Persistent failure to extract or feed once cleaning has been ruled out.
• Diagnosing point-of-impact shifts that scope adjustment doesn't fix.

You can do yourself

• Routine cleaning and lubrication.
• Scope and ring/base swap, with a torque driver.
• Stock swap, sling swivels, recoil pads.
• Spring kit replacement (factory parts only — ask your dealer).

A good gunsmith logs work in a service book. Keep it with the rifle — it's worth real money at resale.