The Importance of a Good Gunsmith
Finding a Good Gunsmith
Finding a good gunsmith can truly be a daunting task. You may find yourself delivering a weapon to a highly recommended gunsmith who turns you away, admitting he doesn’t work on your weapon type. That is an honest gunsmith, ask him what he specializes in and remember him. There are a few things you should look for when getting any modifications or repairs done on your gun.
Reputation
You want a gunsmith with a good reputation. Ask local gun shops and pawnshops who they recommend. They likely send guns out for repairs. You may be able to find gunsmiths pretty quickly once you start asking around.
Firearm Warranty
A very important point to consider is the warranty on your firearm. If it is under warranty you will most likely have to send it back to the manufacturer for covered repairs to avoid a voided warranty.
Firearm Safety
Manufacturers are not likely to recommend particular gunsmiths due to safety reasons. Manufacturers are held to stringent standards and can neither guarantee the quality or safety of work performed by anyone outside of their own plant.
Sending a firearm to the manufacturer for gun repairs or upgrades is entirely possible. In fact, some state laws may require that the factory perform potential upgrades.
Legal Modifications
An example of the wisdom of this goes along these lines: You upgrade a shotgun, adding tactical accessories for a home defense weapon. A couple of armed burglars break into your home and fires a gun at you or a family member. You return fire and strike both men. Your state law allows self-defense under a ‘stand your ground law’. Both men’s families insist to try you for murder and/or attempted murder. Even though you have protection by the state law and are acquitted, the family still sues you in civil court. You go on the stand and the lawyer asks if you bought the shotgun in its current form or if you upgraded it. If it was upgraded, you are then asked if the manufacturer provided the upgrade and you reply no.
The attorney can then claim that you used a substandard gun not at factory specifications. It doesn’t matter what the intent was. What matters is that you had a weapon upgraded by non-manufactured means. Depending on the upgrades performed, the weapon may actually be illegal depending on federal, state, and local laws.
Thus, you need a good gunsmith who is licensed, certified, and cognizant of federal, state, and local laws. Even then you may not stand a chance in civil court, but it certainly won’t hurt your chances if the gunsmith in question fills these requirements to ensure you aren’t guilty of a felony.
Research Your Modifications
The next consideration is that not all states require proof of skill and knowledge to obtain a license to work on firearms depending on type of firearms. The best general advice before you alter a firearm is to contact the ATF and make sure it is legal and what you need to do before hand, when making changes to a weapon.
As to a title 1 firearm with simple upgrades check with state and local laws, there is a good chance you can change out the grips, or add a rail with no problem from the law. If the law says you can do it yourself, then certainly a genuine gunsmith would be able to upgrade and provide gun repairs.
Ask Around
Your best bet for locating a good gunsmith is going to be gun shops, pawn shops, and possibly law enforcement if you personally know an officer. Most officers can’t recommend anyone for such a service, but if you have a friend in law enforcement he may know a favored gunsmith for duty weapons. Do your research, ask for recommendations from gun shops like GrabAGun, and err on the side of caution for the best gunsmith near you.