Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Quality gunsmiths in SW Florida?

I hate the thought of shipping a rifle across country to get it bedded.

I really miss having Greg Young, owner of Southern Precision rifles, for a neighbor. But Greg moved to Tenn a long while back.

Does anyone know a true quality gunsmith in South Florida? I wouldn't mind a short drive in order to avoid getting my rifle lost or damaged by UPS or FedX.

Try Dana English of English Rifles. Not far out of Tampa I think

Thank you, I've never heard of him.

I'll look him up.

I just received a reply from English. I requested a quote to bed my Win 70 and install an Ernie's trigger spring.

He said he does not work on Winchester rifles.

Is there anyone else in SW FL?

I live in SwFL. I dont know of any myself. I asked a few of my hunting buddies who have lived here all their life and they didnt have anything either.
The few of them that had work done Had shipped their rifles off. I was hoping someone would respond to this si I been keeping a eyebon the thread

I live an hour north of Tampa near Crystal River, so I'm interested in the location of a very competent smith, myself.
Sorry I have nothing to offer.

However, both of the procedures you're looking for can easily be done yourself with very satisfactory results, especially the trigger spring. I've done four of em on my M70 Featherweights and four on my Ruger 77 tangers. I'm waiting on delivery of an overdue spring now, to install in a newly acquired Ruger M77 RL. Just pick up a cheapo Wheeler trigger pull scale. Others here might say that there are more accurate (and pricier) alternatives, but the Wheeler works just fine for a home tinkerer.

As far as the bedding, Youtube is your friend. Watch a few how to videos until you're comfortable enough to jump in. I rebedded a Montana over the winter that came out great! And accuracy improved just about 1/4". So now it's shooting right at 3/4", down from juuust over 1".

Just one word of caution: Pay particular attention when they speak of applying release agent. Any other mistakes can be remedied and redone, but a barreled action permanently glued to a stock will ruin your day.

Go for it. It's how we learn.

How about NW Florida? Walt Sherman in Tallahassee

I lived most of my life in South Florida and never knew of a competent bolt-action smith. I'm sure they exist, just not on my radar. Robert Wilson (Wizard's Guns) in Ocala was great but I don't think he's still in the business.

I ship guns UPS on almost a weekly basis-- the risk of loss is minimal. I had a label get ripped off a rifle that I'd shipped off for photos and UPS delivered it back to my FFL since that was the existing label on the box. I choose my smiths by skill rather than location. Send the rifle to someone like Gene Simillion or Mark Penrod who specialize in M70s. Insure the gun and replace it in the unlikely event that it gets lost. M70s aren't exactly rare.

If you're really nervous about loss, send it Registered Mail-- takes forever but it's pretty much foolproof and USPS' insurance rates are low.

I wish there was a resource on The Fire, like a directory, that listed gunsmiths nationwide, along with their areas of specialty and expertise.

I should add Lee Christensen (aka 'Redneck' here) to the list of smiths that could easily handle your job.

Just stumbled upon a reference to Full Circle Gunsmithing in Sarasota in a newspaper article. The owner is apparently a CST graduate.

https://www.facebook.com/fcgunsmithing/

I send my rifles from S Florida all over the us to a handful of smiths. No M70's in my lot. But many stellar gunsmiths all over the lower 48.
SnT

I'm in FL and have not found a 'smith recently that I trust either in our state. I have found some great contacts here on the 'Fire like Karl Feldkamp at Kampfeld or Lee a.k.a Redneck that are great. Once you figure out your best shipping method like USPS, UPS, or going through a local FFL, having a competent gunsmith you trust is all that matters.

I have used Karl and Lee. Both are excellent. I just wish they were closer.

Karl is an Ace when it comes to Cerakoting and Lee seems like a Winchester specialist.

Back in the day Wayne Berquist was known for building/repairs on 1911s.
Don't know if he would bed a rifle but might be worth a try.


https://maps.apple.com/place?q=Bergquist%20Wayne%20Guns%20&%20Gunsmithing&auid=11944445216099441542&address=5760%20Shirley%20St,%20Unit%2021,%20Naples,%20FL%20%2034109,%20United%20States&ll=26.2162306,-81.7809631

[quote=Savuti]Back in the day Wayne Berquist was known for building/repairs on 1911s.
Don't know if he would bed a rifle but might be worth a try.

Wayne went out of business some time back.

Gordy Gritters moved to Edgewater last. Year... hard to do better than him.