Ever use Richard's microfit factory 2nd's stocks?

[engineer40]

Just curious if anyone has ever used Richard's microfit factory 2nd's stocks?

Seems like a good price on a real wood stock to use on a cheap rifle. As long as the "blemishes" weren't super obvious like a knot in a pine 2x4 or something.

I've seen "blemished" AR15 lowers that friends have bought very inexpensively and I personally couldn't see where they looked any different.

I'm curious if blemished Richards stocks are similar to the AR lowers. I'd love to hear if anyone has first hand experience.

Thanks all!

 

[shortgrass]

You mean "Richards Micro Junk"?? Their first line stuff is bad enough, I can't imagime the 2nd line stuff......

 

[engineer40]

Hey shortgrass, if you have a personal story of dealing with them, Im sincerely interested in hearing the details. I have never ordered anything from them.

I have seen their real wood stocks and was surprised at the quality of the piece of wood itself. The guy said it was their AAA Fancy and it did look real good. I only saw the final product and Im sure the guy put considerable effort in to get it looking the way it did. But the grain detail was pretty darn awesome.

Lets say you found an old bolt action at a pawn shop with a beat up stock. You didnt want to spend $1,000 with Joel Russo for this particular rifle because it just doesnt warrant it. You still wouldnt consider a stock from Richards?

I have read the horror stories about their 96% fitted stocks are more like 25% fitted. They take a lot more work than the website has you believe.

Thanks for any details. I appreciate it.

 

[robert6715]

Read these http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f37/richards-micro-fit-gun-stocks-102082/

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f23/opinions-richards-microfit-stocks-19028/

Just know what your getting yourself into.

Rob

 

[codyadams]

I have got 2 stocks from them...One for a Winchester model 52 and another for a 1917 eddy stone Enfield rebarreled to 35 wheelen improved. They say 90%...I say BS. They come similar to an inletted 2x4. With the eddy stone, I'm working on it now, we got the stock years ago and didn't want to put the work into it. I'm doing it now as a Christmas present to my dad. Good looking wood, but hardly inletted, and it looks like they did it with a chisel at that. Took about 4-5 hours JUST TO GET THE ACTION TO FIT IN THE STOCK. I just got the pillars bedded in the stock tonight. Still have A LOT of work to do. I'll post some pictures.

They are also terrible to work with. On both stocks, we had to call them over and over because it took over 2 months longer than they said it would to get the stocks. I'm pretty sure they just took our money and forgot about our order for a few weeks. And trying to get an answer from them was like pulling teeth. So unless you REALLY like working with wood, and time is not an issue, and you don't mind a business ignoring your calls...I would recommend to stay away from them.

Granted, the last time we ordered a stock from them was 10 years ago, but I haven't heard anything about them improving.

 

[shortgrass]

Hey shortgrass, if you have a personal story of dealing with them, Im sincerely interested in hearing the details. I have never ordered anything from them.

I have seen their real wood stocks and was surprised at the quality of the piece of wood itself. The guy said it was their AAA Fancy and it did look real good. I only saw the final product and Im sure the guy put considerable effort in to get it looking the way it did. But the grain detail was pretty darn awesome.

Lets say you found an old bolt action at a pawn shop with a beat up stock. You didnt want to spend $1,000 with Joel Russo for this particular rifle because it just doesnt warrant it. You still wouldnt consider a stock from Richards?

I have read the horror stories about their 96% fitted stocks are more like 25% fitted. They take a lot more work than the website has you believe.

Thanks for any details. I appreciate it.

Read my signature line. A good part of that 2yr. gunsmithing program was stock making. Richards uses cheap wood, it has little to NO density. It'll take forever for you to fill the pores before final finishing. Their inletting, if you can call it that, sucks. It might be stright,, it might not. They 'over grade' thier wood (they grade AA as AAA and do the the same with the other grades). They 'hack-up' wood into 'would-be' gunstocks for the masses who are wowed by the pretty pics on their web site. You need to learn that 'cheap guns', as you put it, aren't worth putting alot of time into. I don't know about you, but I have a limited time on this earth. I don't know how long or short that time might be (none of use do!). As such, I try to use that time wisely. Buy a pre-inlet from the likes of Richards, for little money, and you will spend lots of your precious time trying to turn it into something.

 

[kolob10]

Wow, I must be the exception. I have only ordered laminate stocks from them but have been pleased with every one. Most of mine have come from their "seconds" bin. Yes they do require some work to finish but they all have come out fine. The most recent was a laminate thumbhole for a Rem model 7 in 300 SAUM. It looks great! I have a couple more
waiting to be fitted and sanded for Remington 700's. All my orders have taken less than two weeks to receive but they were all in stock when the orders were placed. About 15 years ago, I did order a stock that was not in stock and as I remember it came in the time quoted. I will use them again. I do agree their customer service is not the best on the phone. Good shooting.

 

[engineer40]

I appreciate everyone taking the time to respond to my question. Thank you.

 

[Red Delicious]

Wow, I must be the exception. I have only ordered laminate stocks from them but have been pleased with every one. Most of mine have come from their "seconds" bin. Yes they do require some work to finish but they all have come out fine. The most recent was a laminate thumbhole for a Rem model 7 in 300 SAUM. It looks great! I have a couple more
waiting to be fitted and sanded for Remington 700's. All my orders have taken less than two weeks to receive but they were all in stock when the orders were placed. About 15 years ago, I did order a stock that was not in stock and as I remember it came in the time quoted. I will use them again. I do agree their customer service is not the best on the phone. Good shooting.

I must be another exception. Mine was everything I was expecting. The "Start" pic is the old 1963 stock in the foreground and the Microfit as it arrived. The other two show my limited woodworking skills.

Craig O.

 

[shortgrass]

When you've worked with quality stock wood and then get a hold of the stuff Richards sells, you can see the difference. Ain't no comparison. I don't expect a pre-inlet to "drop-in". I expect it to be straight, the holes drilled in the right places and for it to have a basic shape I can 'deal with'. I don't want the recoil pad to be glued on or the sling swivel studs to be there or even the holes for the swivel studs to be there. I can handle those things myself. I do insist on using the best quality wood and Richards has no clue what that is. If you don't know the difference you'll think Richards is OK. No offence or put-down intended, that's just the way it is.

 

[Red Delicious]

When you've worked with quality stock wood and then get a hold of the stuff Richards sells, you can see the difference. Ain't no comparison. I don't expect a pre-inlet to "drop-in". I expect it to be straight, the holes drilled in the right places and for it to have a basic shape I can 'deal with'. I don't want the recoil pad to be glued on or the sling swivel studs to be there or even the holes for the swivel studs to be there. I can handle those things myself. I do insist on using the best quality wood and Richards has no clue what that is. If you don't know the difference you'll think Richards is OK. No offence or put-down intended, that's just the way it is.

Inlet was straight and took very little sanding to get everything to set in perfectly. If you look at the picture you will see it didn't come with sling swivel studs preinstalled. The recoil pad was screwed on not glued, all holes were in the right place and the correct diameter. As for the wood, it is nice and tight with no cracks or gouges. Took it Elk hunting and got soaked for 3 days it held up fine. I rubbed it down with a little more boiled linseed oil and it's as good as new.

I haven't had experience working with any other products but have seen a few raw stocks and they look of similar preparedness.

Sorry you had a different experience then I did.

 

[kolob10]

I have a total of 7 Richards stocks. None came with any flaws, incorrect dimension, etc. Maybe their walnut stocks are different. All mine are laminates. They all finished with normal inletting, sanding, and finish. I have done a couple more for friends and they had no complaints. I will use them again but I usually don't require any fancy wood in the aa , aaa, or exhibition grades.
Just my experience. I can't and do not speak for others. Good shooting all!

 

[engineer40]

I must be another exception. Mine was everything I was expecting. The "Start" pic is the old 1963 stock in the foreground and the Microfit as it arrived. The other two show my limited woodworking skills.

Craig O.

Thanks for posting the pictures of your stock. Do you mind giving the details on it?

Also, thank you for describing your experience with Richards.

 

[engineer40]

When you've worked with quality stock wood and then get a hold of the stuff Richards sells, you can see the difference. Ain't no comparison. I don't expect a pre-inlet to "drop-in". I expect it to be straight, the holes drilled in the right places and for it to have a basic shape I can 'deal with'. I don't want the recoil pad to be glued on or the sling swivel studs to be there or even the holes for the swivel studs to be there. I can handle those things myself. I do insist on using the best quality wood and Richards has no clue what that is. If you don't know the difference you'll think Richards is OK. No offence or put-down intended, that's just the way it is.

Hey shortgrass, I haven't got offended at anything you've said and I appreciate you taking the time to respond and offer your viewpoint. Thank you.