Richards Microfit Stock

[nsaqam]

No question that there is a great sense of accomplishment in finishing a RMF stock nicely. They take so darn much work you better be proud!
I was very proud of my first RMF stock.

[308law]

People see all the styles they offer and that's what attracts them. IMHO, One of the better selection of styles and prices available.
Now, if folks would compare the cost of the RMF stock against a full blown "Custom" stock costing close to twice as much, if not more, they would relize that they take work to fit and finish. Still a deal no matter what. ;)
Someone has to fit and finish. Pay me now or pay me later. It'll still cost you one way or another. You're time and effort at "No Charge" or pay up front and let someone else do it.
If you do it, It's "YOURS", you did it and can brag about it OR, just write the check and get one ready to go. ;)
There's a feeling of accomplishment knowing that you did the work. 8)
I get mine with No Cheek Piece so there's no bolt interference. ;D


+1 to what Mike said, I too have had very good results with RMF, but I knew what I was getting before I started. I like the ability to shape to a personal fit.

[LRJammer]

...and common sense should tell one that if you are going to use very high cheekpiece (like that of the RMF tactical model), you are going to have to make some allowance or adjustment in order to be able to remove the bolt. My Manners MCS-T has a bolt relief cut in it. It is something that is a necesary requirement for that application, and certainly not justification to ***** and whine about it and say bad things about Tom Manners or his work.

[seanhagerty]

Maybe it is common sense that should have told me. Maybe their info on the stock should have mentioned it. Either way, I don't have the patience or tools to make a bolt cut out. It went back.

[chsrmnd]

Ordered a RMF simply because i couldn't find another left hand in a 7mm Rem mag Savage 111 in a style i liked, 14 weeks later and still no stock.

[nsaqam]

You're in for an unpleasant surprise when you finally do get that RMF stock.

[VA Bigbore]

They do offer some nice options, but it appears that their business practice has not changed. I bought a stock from Richard's about 10 years ago for my Win M70. It worked out well, but there was definitely no "micro-fit" to it. I had to remove a lot of wood and they sent me a stock for a hinged magazine and not a blind magazine. Had to buy the hardware to change it over so it would work. My first and last use of their business.

[jon8777]

Two questions come to mind every time I read a post from about RMF stock....

1. How is this guy still in biz after all of the horrible reviews and down right lousy customer service.
2. Why does someone who buys and complains about his product not start a full time/part time biz doing exactly what he does, same stock lines, same price and give the end customer a product to be 120% happy with?

Look at the draw on this site alone just for Savages.... Most guys own 2-6 bolt Savages if the first stock works,your going back for #2, #3, #4 and so on.

You have what 6-10 actions to fit a CF bolt action Savage, offer 5-7 stock styles to start with... Start with a low dollar import cnc mill for in-letting, have a guy fab your duplicator or buy one and you up and running.

Everyone complains about his product, everyone complains about no jobs... here's a void than needs a company to start-up and setup to the plate.

[WuzYoungOnceToo]

2. Why does someone who buys and complains about his product not start a full time/part time biz doing exactly what he does, same stock lines, same price and give the end customer a product to be 120% happy with?

Speaking strictly for myself...



1) I already have a good career. You've not heard any complaining about jobs from me.



2) If I had the time, woodworking skills and tools required to make my own gunstocks I wouldn't be buying one from someone else.



Do you start your own business every time you're unhappy with a product/service you've paid for?

[jon8777]

1a. Same here
1b. Same here
2. True
3. No I don't but, everyone keeps going back and back and back for the same thing.

This was not directed to anyone in particular but more sent out in frustration of the lack of quality for hard earned money spent on 75% of all of the products on the market today that lack quality or service for problems that passed by quality control.

[tobnpr]

Total B.S....

You might run into an issue like that on a one-off, custom stock/build, but on a production stock there's no excuse for it.

Having to remove the action from the stock every time you want to remove/clean the bolt is not good practice...the less the action is removed, the better.

Might be possible- if you've got the carp. skills and the desire- to cut it and make it an adjustable/removable cheekpiece; otherwise I'd send that sucker back and get a stock that "works".

[Admin]

Agreed, but then again Richard's doesn't sell finished "production" stocks. What they sell is like an 80% AR receiver. The bulk of the work is done, but it's in no way, shape or form ready to be assembled into a functioning firearm. You still need to go through and finish most every surface and complete the last 20% of the work to make it into a functional part.

With that said, could Richards modify their pattern stock to include a channel for the bolt? Sure they could. Would it eliminate the problem of having to pull the barreled action out of the stock to remove the bolt? Probably not. It's just the way the stock is designed, and as someone else noted - it clearly states high cheek piece in the description.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

That's why I order mine with "No Cheek Piece". And I had modify one for my "J" action so the bolt could be removed. No problems!

[r3dn3ck]

3 Richards stocks so far. 1 A grade, 1 Exhibition grade, 1 straight grain. Well... those were what I ordered. I got 1 AAA, 1 Exhibition grade and 1 that looked like straight grain but has the most incredible tiger striping I've ever seen down its whole length. All of them were factory seconds purchased on a budget where I exchanged my time in place of $$$ spent, so I had limited expectations of any sort of quality. They looked like they were machined with a chainsaw but the did shine up exceptionally well and I only ever got more than I paid for. It just took up to 6 months to receive some of them. 1 I got within 2 weeks while another I'd ordered months prior didn't arrive till months later. Calls were responded to with "Oh yeah, I've got that one shipping out today." which was always BS of the highest order.

They're cheap, they make a lot of errors, inletting is 99% for their "drop in" models despite what they say. The only thing I was always over satisfied with was the grade of wood actually delivered vs the grade ordered. I expected hit and miss and got hits out of the park each time but not without many hours of sanding and finishing and inletting and minor re-shaping. Recoil pad fitment was a fairly difficult process too... the back ends always seem way too big.

[chsrmnd]

6 months later received my Tac-Driver. Actually everything i expected. I knew i was ordering a rough cut but i only expect a couple hours finish time on my end. Way to long of a wait but i plan to order more and will just forget about them till they arrive.

[r3dn3ck]

how do you plan to finish it? I use linseed oil with 000 steel wool and elbow grease after hand sanding.

Here's one of my richards stocks after a test fit.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g164/redfodora/SA400005-2.jpg

[chsrmnd]

havent yet decided on the finish, i ordered the royal camo laminate so something that will really show those colors.

[Detritus]

1. How is this guy still in biz after all of the horrible reviews and down right lousy customer service.

Because the Horrible reveiws are coming from folks that are part of the company's secondary market. RMF is not relying on "Us" the hobbyist gun tinkerers to stay in business. they sell to the public at large for the same reason specialist tool/indutrial supply sellers (Ex: Grainger, fastenal, etc) do, money's money and it always helps to have another source of income for the company.

you can be sure that most of RMF's business is selling to professional gunsmiths. Who are just as likely as the rest of us, if not more so to want to trim Hours and hours of stock shaping out of their schedule. Most shops offering custom built rifles (especially now that Sythetic rules the stock world) are not going to have the tooling (pantograph lathe, or now, a CNC turning/milling center dedicated to the task) to be able to rapidly produce stocks. It's much more cost effective for a 'Smith to farm out the first 80-95% of stock production leaving them to focus on the mechanical aspects of the rifle, with the final shaping and bedding of the stock being their only concerns on that front.

i'd almost bet that for every one stock sold to a "normal guy", probably 10-20 (or even 100)are sold to custom shops of various size.

On the subject of the high cheekpiece, one of the fairly big reasons they're high like that is so that the person who does the final shaping and fitting can cut them down as needed/wanted. don't want it that high, take a rasp to it like you're supposed to! the assumption on RMF's part is that you've either got the tools to shape the stock, or you're willing to get them.

This is my first RMF stock after about 3-4 hours of shaping and sanding. I forgot to get a pic of it as it came out of the shipping box, so in the first pic that black bar shows an approximation of what height the cheekpiece was when I received it, and after six years i may be underestimating a little. Second picture without the bar is the semi-final height and shaping of the cheekpiece
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8464/8143717337_196453efa0_s.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31838309@N03/8143717337/) http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8055/8143739604_76c3b3a9e5_s.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31838309@N03/8143739604/)

I think the best way to think of RMF in relation to the majority of us here, would to be to equate them to the companies that for a considerable savings over traditional builders will come to your lot/plot of land, put in a foundation with the stubbed-in plumbing, erect the interior structural and exterior portions of the house, and install some of the electrical leaving you with a almost functional but unfinished shell that You as the homeowner have to bring to a completed (and customized) state. Again you're trading your time spent finishing the stock both in final inlet, bedding, and exterior shaping and finishing for a noticably reduced price. for those with the inclination and or tools it's a very good deal. for those who're looking for an easy solution, it's a nightmare.

Personaly it's my veiw that you have to have a love of being out in your workspace making something for these stocks to be worthwhile. they simply are not for the impatient or those with a time crunch for whatever reason.

[r3dn3ck]

^^^ Truth.

[Werewolf]

Detritus, that is very likely the case, but if so they need to be a little more truthful (saying it nicely) about what you will get. From their website "They come with either a 99% "Press-Fit" Inlet which means that the action will bolt to the stock with little to no handwork involved". This is what I would expect to get from Boyds. I ordered two 99% stocks from Richards at once and they both took hours and hours of work to complete. They looked like they were inletted with a wood chipper, literally chunks torn out. Richards needs to be up front with this info, show pics of the actual stock you will get rather than just finished ones, and there is NO excuse for their lack of customer service.