Hi...
My experience with clerks at places like Gander Mountain,Bass Pro Shop, etc is that most of them are just that...clerks. They most often are there for a paycheck and have very little or no knowledge of firearms.
The LGS around this area have pretty knowledgeable people working the counter...their knowledge may be restricted to a specific type of firearm, mostly tactical...but, every local shop has at least one gunsmith on duty most days. And the one shop that caters to cowboy action shooters has a couple of guys with extensive knowledge and experience working on just about anything you could reasonably expect to be brought in to the shop.
The more LGS I deal with the more I find that at least one guy there knows his stuff...it may require a couple of purchases to actually build a relationship with that guy but once you do, you find that if he doesn't have the knowledge or experience to help you, he's knows someone who does. And he is OK with sending you to another shop if that is what it takes.
Like most relationships, it requires an investment of time and some mutual respect.