Like anything, there's a process of development. Three E's of skilled workmanship... Education, Experience, and Equipment...

To pursue a skilled task (of any pursuit) uneducated and inexperienced person needs two things. Education, and Experience.

Education comes with effort, experience comes with time.

A person that has no experience, but puts in a lot of effort to learn proper processes, and learn the proper tools to use, can position themselves to gain valuable experiences that improve his skill. Education before experience = ready to develop a skill.

A person that has no experience, and does NOT put in the effort to learn will never gain skill, even with a lot of experience. Experience without education = bad habits, and shoddy skills (or rather lack thereof).

Part of the education AND experience is knowledge and familiarity with equipment. You can know it all, but if you don't have the right tools, you can't gain experience in doing it right. You can know it all, and have all of the right tools, but still not have a skilled hand (experience). Or you might find yourself using a tool improperly because you don't know it's proper use.

If you go into a task without knowing the proper techniques, or knowing to use the proper tools, you will teach yourself a bad habit, so endless experience will still leave you without true skill. Prime example: I recently read about a guy that ruined a 30yr old Ruger revolver by cutting the barrel with a hacksaw and crowning with a 3/4" drill bit. He noticed groups suffered, then noticed that his muzzle wasn't square at all, and the crown was jagged (anyone surprised). Had to pay a smith to redo it. I cringe just thinking about it. The tools to do this properly are SO READILY AVAILABLE, it makes no sense to do it half-assed with a poor technique and improper tools.

Or for example, MANY guys find themselves with an illegally modified firearm when they try to improve the trigger on an SKS, some guys even so on AR-15's. Lack of knowledge, leads to an improper trigger job which destroyed the integrity of the sear engagement, allowing the action to run-away fire.

Or another FAMOUS example, or rather INFAMOUS, the "unsafe remington 700 triggers". Even professional gunsmiths failed to understand how these triggers, and their safeties, functioned, so when they did a standard polish and spring job, they were suddenly unsafe and the rifles would fire when the safety was disengaged. Lack of knowledge and experience with that particular trigger caused improper trigger jobs with potentially deadly consequences.

Buy a couple books on gunsmithing, check out midwayusa's videos on youtube. Pay close attention to the TOOLS THEY USE - do NOT think in the back of your mind about the tools you own that "could work well enough". There is a reason that gunsmithing tools exist, and a reason that gunsmiths use these specialized tools.

Specifically, focus on learning what makes different firearms tick. For example, on that SKS, polishing the bolt tracks is a waste of time, by design, whereas polishing the engagement on a bolt action rifle might be worthwhile, polishing the engagement on a semiauto pistol might be incredibly dangerous, etc.

Beyond all that, don't pursue anything that may effect the integrity of the action's function. Triggers, action work, etc, unless you are 100% educated, THEN experienced with the tools on OTHER non-critical projects, you are asking for trouble. Honing a trigger is a dangerous project, but you can develop experience with a hone by honing front sights, or opening up rear sight channels, etc. Chambering barrels by hand is exacting work, but you can practice with piloted reamers by working on chamber throats and crowns.

And fully recognize that you might be ruining your guns as you go, and swallowing that investment. If you are gunsmithing for yourself because you're broke, then you'll likely find yourself in an even deeper hole after you ruin a couple gun parts and have to have them fixed by a proper pro.