If the scope is actually touching the barrel, then you need to remove it immediately, and absolutely do not turn any knobs before you do so. Hopefully the rings have held the erector assembly rigid enough that nothing was damaged so far. Proper scope mounting is the biggest factor in determining that scope's lifespan. If this is his idea of mounting a scope, then I would just assume that he didn't lap the rings or even check that they were concentric.
I have a similar story. I bought a scope at the LGS one time, and they offered me free mounting included in the price. When I got it back, everything looked fine, but years and years later I moved it to a different rifle, and it had a big old nasty scar on it. Those were the most uneven rings I've ever seen, and no evidence of lapping whatsoever. I now do all my own gunsmithing. I've not had the occasion to need machine work yet, so that has not been an issue for me.
The sad truth about most gunsmiths is that they're more along the lines of armorers than true smiths. A true gunsmith is a rare commodity because it requires a huge amount of training and experience to do well, especially now with the advent of CNC in gun manufacturing, making it hard to work on factory guns and even harder to improve them. When you can get a half MOA bolt rifle for 500 bucks, what's the motivation anymore for buying a custom rifle from a smith? And in turn what's the motivation for a gunsmith to learn real gunsmithing when 99% of his job is installing accessories and replacing worn parts with factory ones?
Moral of the story, I would send out the barrel to a real machine shop. There are places online that are recommended, but I don't know the names. Someone else will I'm sure. And of course have someone else check for alignment before you shoot the can.
