Yeah... Here's my perspective Gents,
I personally don't let anyone work on any of my guns ever. I'll not have any of my personal weapons defaced, buggered up, mangled or destroyed by a "highly trained craftsman". If I only had a dime for every highly trained craftsman I've seen over the years who should not be permitted within a mile of a wooden mallet or to work on a loaf of bread much less a firearm, I'd have a lot more toys to play with
Never have sent a gun anywhere for service, but I did send some fully finished & prepped parts to a highly respected operation for a special finish and guess what... they lost a piece.
I sent a very rare unissued aussie lower to another highly respect craftsman for custom engraving. Never saw it again.
I'm often amused by folks who seem to think the factory can do no wrong or that noone is capable of improving on the factory's work. I dispute that premise with; overtimed & undertimed barrels, forceing cones cut beyond gage, barrel/cylinder gaps you could drive a truck through, swarf driven into sight dovetails, crowns not cut perpendicular to bore axis, uneven cratering of rollmarks/stampings. Oh and lest we forget, the latest crop of plastic wonderguns that seem to shed parts and break things when the trigger is pulled.
If someone want's to know how to do a certain job... that doesn't necessarily mean they're not qualified, it means they're seeking knowledge and need our help. I'll do what I can to teach that person what they need to perform the task correctly & safely and to not damage their weapon. I personally believe it is incumbent upon anyone who takes on the responsibility of firearm ownership to know their weapon inside & out. You should be able to completely disassemble & re-assemble your weapons, evaluate components/parts for damage or wear determine causes of problems and effect repairs.
Look... Long ago when I was a lowly E-2 a rather briny Master Chief taught me to "never task a subordinate with something you don't know how to do yourself". That concept served me very well over 3 decades as I became the briny Master Chief. I am adding new things to my skill set all the time and will happily share my knowledge & skills with anyone who asks.
The first time I rebuilt a Harley motor, noone taught me how. I just studied the tech pubs got the proper tools and did it anyway. The bike is out in the shed now, 40k on that motor and it dynos 109/106. Noone taught me how to checker metal by hand either or chamber a Garand barrel or lap a bolt or install sights or crown a barrel or throat a cylinder or...whatever. If there is some thing that needs doing and I don't know how...I will learn how, get the right tools and do it anyway and I encourage others to adopt that philosophy. I'll share with you a quote from one of my favorite authors that's often in my thoughts and kind of illustrates my point.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."
-Robert A. Heinlein
And I'll close my commentary with checkering of 410 alloy stainless steel in the grenade pattern at 17 lines per inch by "Bubba"
I now surrender the soapbox
Cheers
Bill