About Gunsmith Rx

My interest in working on firearms started when I was eleven years old. My dad bought me a Marlin .22 bolt-action rifle and handed me the owner's manual. He told me we would go shoot it when I knew all the safety rules by heart. 

As I studied the manual, I noticed that the exploded diagram of the rifle resembled the instructions for the model airplanes, ships, and race cars I loved building at the time. It made sense to me. Parts went together in a specific order, and if you understood what each part did, you could begin to grasp how the whole thing worked. 

One day, I stashed a few screwdrivers in my bedroom and asked Dad if I could clean my rifle. He knew it was unloaded and gave me the go-ahead. 

When he came in later to check on me, the rifle was in pieces. 

He looked at it and asked, 'What are you doing, and how are you going to get that gun back together?' 

I replied, 'I'm cleaning it. The instructions are in the owner's manual.' 

I successfully reassembled it. 

This experience ignited a lifelong passion for firearms and how they work. Over the years, I worked on my own guns and those belonging to family and friends, always eager to understand the design and function, rather than simply replacing parts. 

I spent my professional career in construction, but eventually decided to advance my lifelong interest in firearms through formal firearms training. I completed gunsmithing training through the American Gunsmithing Institute, focusing on the design, function, and repair of rifles, pistols, shotguns, and rimfire firearms. This pursuit led me to open my own gunsmith shop, Gunsmith Rx, in Jackson, Wyoming.

Today, Gunsmith Rx continues to operate as a working gunsmith shop, while also serving as a platform to document the firearm projects and questions that captivate my interest. 

One of our first projects will be a Savage rebarrel endeavor. Before making any changes, we'll establish a clean baseline—documenting the rifle, its zero, and how it performs. Next, we'll change the barrels, properly headspace the rifle, return to the range, and record what changes occur. Eventually, we'll reinstall the original barrel to see how closely it returns to its original zero.

Additionally, there will be shooting projects that are simply interesting and fun, like putting my Desert Eagle and Ruger Super Redhawk—two very different .44 Magnums—together for a head-to-head shootout. It doesn't always have to be about declaring one firearm better than another. Sometimes the fascinating aspect is just exploring what two distinct designs do and learning in the process.

Don't expect everything to remain static. These projects will evolve as I engage in firearms training, work on the guns, shoot them, and gain further experience. When I learn something new, I'll update it here. If my experience shifts my perspective, I’ll be sure to share that too. Think of these pages as an ongoing record rather than finished articles collecting dust.

That’s the kind of content you'll find here: real guns, authentic gunsmithing services, documented results, and a bit of experimentation along the way. 

After more than fifty years around firearms, I’m still drawn to the same question that intrigued that eleven-year-old kid studying the diagram of his Marlin: How does this thing work?