Which is the "best practice" sequence -


1) have firearm refinished before gunsmithing

or

2) have gunsmithing done before refinishing?

Edit to add:

This is assuming the gunsmith does not offer refinishing services.

It depends on the gun. Some smiths can also refinish your gun after working on it and getting it all done in one house is something I prefer.

What kind of gunsmithing? Is it something where a new finish may interfere? If not, I can't find a reason why to refinish before getting work done. The odds of it getting dinged up during the work are the main factor.

Refinish before the action job.

Ask the gunsmith you're using what they prefer and who they prefer to use!

Unless the gunsmithing procedures require removing finish or work that results in bare metal, I see no good reason to refinish a gun at all.

Let's look at the refinishing process, as described. They fully disassemble the firearm. Then, they fully reassemble the firearm. What did they do to your newly gunsmithed firearm, carefully polished, tweaked, resprung, adjusted, and dialed in?

If sight dovetails need resizing, there goes the finish in that spot.

I don't really know what I would do either!

Thanks 4MUL8R. That makes sense to me and determines my course of action.