competent bolt action gunsmith near SE pa?

[c.sander]

hey all, im looking for a competent gunsmith near SE pa preferably in the chester county area, who can bed a rifle, do target crowns, possibly fluting of barrel, a nice duracoat, turn the bolt handle to put on a tactical knob, etc etc... anyone know such a person?

[Arch007er]

I'm not sure if my smith can do all of that, I've never tried to get him to flute that barrel, he floats barrels for sure, but this guy is damn good (but who will honestly say that their smith sucks )

Dave Grim
717-244-1525
Wrightsville PA

[Tomcat088]

Sounds like you're fixing to polish up that rifle some more, that's cool. I would advise against having your factory barrel fluted. All it's gonna do is shave you some weight, but could possible induce some more stress in the barrel. More stress means that as the barrel heats up, you'll see more dispersion. Sure it looks cool, but one of the main things it does is shave weight, and it helps a little with heat dissipation; either way, really think hard before you do this to a factory barrel. Typically when you have this done to a barrel, you do it before the rifle is chambered or rifled, and stress relieved (for the higher end manufacturers); sometimes it's done in a different order, but the high end barrels, not a chance.

[c.sander]

Tomcat, this is a new rifle i am building, not my 308, thinking of chambering this one in 300wsm . just picked up a mcmillan a5 with thumbwheel

[Tomcat088]

ohhhhhhh, lol, that makes much more sense. NICE, and good choice of caliber I might add . Sounds like you got a nice platform to build from. Sounds like you have the tactical rifle fever now. Are you starting with a custom barrel, or going to use a factory barrel until you shoot it out? If you're having a custom barrel made, it's usually better to have the fluting done by the manufacturer. They will flute it, then they'll put the caliber hole and rifling in it, and then alot of them will give it some stress reduction. I know that Krieger does Kryogenic stress reduction. Anyway, most shooters in the know will tell you to have the barrel maker do the fluting, and not a gunsmith. There are some gunsmiths that will flute barrels, but many of them won't even do it because if there is ever a problem with the barrel and it won't shoot; the manufacturer could claim that the gunsmith might have added stress or improperly fluted the barrel. It's just usually better for everyone if the manufacturer does it, so you're covered under barrel satisfaction if it won't shoot, and the gunsmith can't be blamed or held liable for a problem with that. Does that make sense?

[c.sander]

ya i understand, im not even sure i want a fluted barrel, definitely not at first i just want someone who knows what they are doing when it comes to tactical bolt actions, not some grandpa fudd who will only work with wood. im probably going to grab a 700 sps varmint in 300sps for the action and bullbarrel to begin with, buds has em for $519, ill also need the stock inletted for the new vbull trigger guard mag system.

[Tomcat088]

Good choice on the trigger guard, they're by far my favorite. I just haven't had the funds to break down and buy one for my rifle yet, lol. Did you just order the stock, or did you buy it from somewhere else? I was gonna say that if you ordered it, they'll inlet it for you, that would be the easiest way. If not, then you definitely want a competent smith. If you can't find one you exactly trust, there's always the mail, lol.

[c.sander]

picked it up from jwprecision should i just order the vbull from him and ask him to inlet? or...

[Tomcat088]

As far as I know, he's the one that makes it, and I don't know that he's allowing anybody else to sell it yet. I know that he gave all of us members on sniper's hide a pre production discount, which you're on there so you might have seen it. I don't know if he'd want to inlet for it or not, that would depend on how he has his machines set up, etc. If he's willing to do it, then that would probably be fine, if he's not and you have some time with this build; it might be cheaper and even done better if it's done by McMillan. Either way, from what I've seen he's a pretty nice guy around the hide and I'd talk to him and also let him know that you're a hide member.

[Arch007er]

How far away from the Red Lion area?