I have bedded 3 rifles in the past year. 2 Rugers and 1 Savage. The first Ruger went very well. I bedded the pillars first then a day later, did the action. The second Ruger, I tried to do it all in one shot. I also did not have the Devcon mix loose enough. It did not turn out the best. I took it apart before it set which saved me. I was able to clean it up and reset it before it hardened. The good news, it went from a 1.75" rifle to a .75" rifle. The Savage I did in one step and it went well. The Ruger's front pillar is a pain. The Savage went well. The biggest thing is to prep, prep, prep. Make sure you have q-tips to clean up along with Acetone to help. Tape is your friend. The last thing, make sure you have time. You can not hurry. If you plan on bedding a Savage, you can make your own pillars out of lamp rod for $2. I use shoe wax as a release and clay to fill in the spots you don't want bedded. The Rugers were fired before bedding and accuacy improved, the Savage was a new build so I don't know what it would do without bedding.
I would say that a guy can do it after you study and plan. If the smith is within the $100 range, it may be better for him to do it.
