I received my phone call yesterday that this rifle's barreled action is complete at the gunsmith and headed back my way! I decided I needed to get this post together on my riflesmith selection before it arrives, or else I'll be too 'giggity' to write this post well, wanting to move on to other things like shooting instead of writing!
If you haven't been following the series, the first post in the series is here, and you can follow along from there. I have been chronicling just about every equipment decision in this build in details and you've started off near the end of the series if this your first glimpse of it, so go back and check them all out when you are done here. Every post in the series is linked at the end of this post.
GUNSMITH SELECTION
All these pieces that I've gathered do a man absolutely no good if they aren't properly assembled by a rifle artist, more commonly known as a gunsmith. You have taken up countless hours of your time making sure you wring out the exact performance standards you are looking for with each component selection of your build, but it is all for naught if you gunsmith isn't up to snuff. This is not the place to just haul your gear down to the nearest guy with a lather and bickering over price, though deals can be had.
There is really only one way to select a gunsmith, and that is on his reputation amongst discerning customers and shooters that have been around the sport long enough to have seen builders rise and fall and know what to look for. That isn't to say you need to pick the oldest, longest running rifle builder around, there are new people doing great things in all industries every day. But if you can garner the opinion of folks that shoot, see the results on paper of multiple builds from multiple gunsmiths, you'll start to get an idea of the lay of the land.
