Richards Rifle Stocks

[deerhunter61]

I just received my Richards Rifle Stock for my Browning BBR 270.

They advertise that the stock will be AT LEAST 96% finished.

Well I can tell you straight out that the stock they sent me IS NOT 96% finished.

I am having to remove a lot of the wood! From one end to the other. The barrel does not come close to fitting and none of it does.

Based on most of what I have read these guys do pretty good work and once I finish it I am sure it will be good but this thing is going to take me 5-6 hours of work just to prepare for coating it and that to me is not 96% finished.

I realize they advertise 100% money back guarantee but I simply do not really know where else I can get a stock for my BBR so I have already started to finish it and hopefully will have the stocked prepped by Friday evening or Saturday so I can start coating the stock.

I guess I am frustrated with the time it is going to take for me to get this thing ready and get the rifle put together. I was hoping to be able to have it ready to take to the range this weekend to sight it in so I can have it for deer season. That looks impossible now. AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[litman252]

I guess it all depends on what you consider the last 4%. Sounds more like you just did not get what you were expecting, and that is not fun to say the least.......... I have never done major stock work so I don't know that much but such is life. Happy fitting!!!

Tony

 

[greyling22]

mine came about 80%. it took hours and hours and hours to get right. I even had to cut my own bolt handle notch. I bet I put 30-40 hours into it once it arrived. of course, only about 20 of that was getting the action to fit in right.

 

[Howard Roark]

They don't call em Richards Megafit for nothing. Nice stocks but they do leave a lot of wood.

 

[deerhunter61]

Well Guys thanks for responding. At least I know that I am not alone. I guess they have the market cornered therefore they do not have to live up to their promises. Perhaps in the future there will be someone who is willing to start compete with them. Based on my experience that is the only way to get companies to provide quality.

And as far as the 100% guarantee...well with out much competition they are in the catbirds seat.

 

[greyling22]

mine did turn out nice. here are some before, middle and after pictures. it's a left handed .223 mini-mauser. all I put on it was tru-oil.

 

[Olympus]

I'll not buy another Richards. That's for sure!

 

[browningguy]

The 96% shaped is the easy part, they can do that with a duplicating machine. The last 4% takes 80% of the effort however, as in most things.

 

[deerhunter61]

4% is 80% of the work...well this is where I have an issue with them claiming to be at 96%. It is also about the time and effort require to finish the stock and THAT MUST be factored in in order to claim 96%. Also if you read their info they make is seem like there is not much left in prepping the stocks they send out...NOT TRUE. So in my opinion they are making bad claims.

 

[Curator]

Deerhunter,

I can understand your disappointment however, haveing built many custom rifles, I can also see why Richard's Microfit cannot provide a drop-in fit on their stocks. Even guns of the same make and model are slightly different. Of course not everyone has the skill to carefully fit and bed their action in one of these stocks. Military stocks are often "drop-in", and that is one of the reasons they have poor accuracy. One size fits all means it is a sloppy fit for most. I have used several stocks from Richard's and have come to expect a bit of extra time will be spent inletting to get the action to fit just right. The quality and figure of the wood plus the low price has always more than made up for the additional time in fitting.

 

[deerhunter61]

Curator,

I DO NOT AGREE WITH YOUR ASSESSMENT! The idea that they can not adequately prepare these stocks with the tools available today is simply BS! I have been out tonight again working on this stock and frankly this has been a total waste of money. When I ordered it I expected to at least get a stock where the barrel area would be machined in a manor that would allow for the rifle barrel to fit if not precisely then requiring only a little sanding. I have had to cut/machine this out for myself. I have had to cut out at least 50% myself! That is not 96% finished. As to you saying that models are slightly different yada yada yada and that that is why they only finish these stocks to the tune of 50% well I do not agree at all! As to accuracy if the stock fit the rifle so I could fit it in and then glass bed the stock I would be ok with this but THAT is not what I am having to do here.

I can not remember being this dissatisfied with anything I have purcahsed in my 48 years! I WILL NEVER PURCHASE ANOTHER STOCK FROM THEM AND WOULD ADVISE ANYONE ELSE LOOKING FOR A STOCK TO AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!!!

 

[Clipper]

Since they made you do all the work on this one, I guess next time you will just go after a walnut with a butterknife. After all, now you know how to do all the hard part...

 

[UniversalFrost]

used to deal strictly with richards, but their products and customer service have gone downhill the past few years.

they still offer great wood for their stocks, but like the OP, a 96% finished stock is not what it used to be. I still have a couple 98 and 96 mauser 96% finished stocks and just ordered a newer laminate stock (same profile and stock cut) that was also 96% and to me it looks more like an 86%. I will order from them again, but they are no longer my first choice, I guess it is just their way of cutting costs to save money.

also just an fyi, but midway and brownells have some really good woodworking tools to help you finish your stock and in the future you can just buy an uninletted stock and save tons of cash and do it your self. i ended up getting an uninletted stock from boyds for $25 shipped (nice jrs walnut that at the price even if i messed it up i would be ok with) and I spent the extra cash on tools for inletting and checkering and came out even money wise, but now i have a finished stock, the tools to work on other stocks and the knowledge and experience to work on more stocks. the reasons i did this were for the knowledge on how to make a stock, the tools to do it, and the fact that my gun (S&W i-bolt) is not carried (nor do any of the stock makers plan on carrying it in the near future) and i hated the synthetic stock and wanted wood.

also check out stockys stocks (google them) for great deals on finished on 99% stocks.

 

[lefteyedom]

The real problem is that there are not many places to get a good wood stock. If your rifle is not a common model you are out of luck unless you can spend some realy money.
I would love to have a $850-$2000 custom stock but that is beyond my means.

 

[greyling22]

if I was doing my rifle over I would have had MPI whip me up something. my $150 richardsquickly added $50 in supplies and lets say 25 hours of labor at a bargain basement rate of $10/hr and I quickly have $450 in my stock. MPI would have made and bedded one for I think it was under 500

 

[jonc]

i was considering getting a stock from them that was 96%. i think'll i'll keep looking now, i had no idea they still needed that much work. good to know

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

There's a lot of bad reviews out there for Richard's Micro-Don't-Fit Gunstocks, including mine. Sorry you got hosed, but you could have easily been warned had you done a search prior to ordering. Lesson learned. They did refund my money in full for the incorrectly milled stock they sent me.

 

[menacingsquirrel]

I still have a thumbhole sitting in my closet for a parker hale 1200 project I started a year ago. Just don't have the time to finish.

 

[Silent Sam]

Accurate Innovations...