I see that Gander Mountain and Briley's have gunsmithing departments. Does anyone have experience in using these guys? Gander's prices look pretty good, Briley is somewhat more expensive. I just wondered how they stack up against private operations.

I've used Briley to work on shotguns and always been happy with their work. I've shot some of the rifles and pistols they build and they seem pretty decent also.

Briley's is frist class !

I know a gander smith - FORGET IT

For minor work, the local Gander smith is ok. Granted that is 90% of what I need to have done! For anything costly, most guys around here go to a better smith.

I wouldn't take anything to Briley. Their shotgun work may be okay but their pistol division sucks. I had several bad experiences with them. One was a $2500 pistol built by them that had the bullets hitting the compensator. You can get better work done for a cheaper price IMHO. This happened years ago and I have never gone back. Maybe they have improved since then.