Richards MicroFit stock fit/bedding question

[RegisG]

Does anyone have experience installing a Richard's Microfit bench rest stock? Did you have to fully bed it or is the action fit solid? Do they have pillars or just fit against the laminate?

Appreciate comments or experience.

Regis

[GaCop]

I seem to recall reading on this site that they need to be bedded to get the best accuracy from them.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

All of my Richard's Micro Fit stocks are the BR type. 3" forearm and no vents. Think heavy fence post!! Either fitted with pillars or a Whidden V Block. I drill the stock so the pillars will slide in place then secure them to the action. Fit the action to the stock with enough clearence (shim as needed) so theres daylight under the action and making sure the barrel is centered in the forearm. For me, it's a two step process. Get the pillars set and after the bedding sets up, I go back and do the action. Just make sure you use LOTS of release agent. Clear Shoe polish/wax works best for me. AND, don't get in a hurry. Much easier to take your time than going back a second time to correct the problems. I bed up to the front of the barrel nut.

[RegisG]

I like your 2 step process. It sounds like I need to buy pillars, or do they come with stock? I'd like to know what you use to secure the pillars in the stock? Epoxy? Same as your bedding compound/epoxy?

Thanks for the help,
Regis


All of my Richard's Micro Fit stocks are the BR type. 3" forearm and no vents. Think heavy fence post!! Either fitted with pillars or a Whidden V Block. I drill the stock so the pillars will slide in place then secure them to the action. Fit the action to the stock with enough clearence (shim as needed) so theres daylight under the action and making sure the barrel is centered in the forearm. For me, it's a two step process. Get the pillars set and after the bedding sets up, I go back and do the action. Just make sure you use LOTS of release agent. Clear Shoe polish/wax works best for me. AND, don't get in a hurry. Much easier to take your time than going back a second time to correct the problems. I bed up to the front of the barrel nut.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

You use the same thing you bed with. (I use Miles Gilbert bedding) Bolt the pillars to the action and fit the whole thing. Sounds like it would be hard to work with but if you take your time, it comes out real easy. Slow and steady gets the job done.
There's a few places to get pillars. Do some looking till you find the ones you like.
Best to contour the top of the pillars to match the curve of the bottom of the action. That will keep the pillars straight on the action. Punch the holes in the stock, set the pillars in place then shorten to the length you want.
One step at a time.
If you want to get real fancy, think Whidden V Block. Open up the inlet till the V Block will drop in place (snug fit), then go from there.

Brownell's has pillars listed as "bedding sleves". Just what the Doctor ordered!

[RegisG]

You use the same thing you bed with. (I use Miles Gilbert bedding) Bolt the pillars to the action and fit the whole thing. Sounds like it would be hard to work with but if you take your time, it comes out real easy. Slow and steady gets the job done.
There's a few places to get pillars. Do some looking till you find the ones you like.
Best to contour the top of the pillars to match the curve of the bottom of the action. That will keep the pillars straight on the action. Punch the holes in the stock, set the pillars in place then shorten to the length you want.
One step at a time.
If you want to get real fancy, think Whidden V Block. Open up the inlet till the V Block will drop in place (snug fit), then go from there.

Brownell's has pillars listed as "bedding sleves". Just what the Doctor ordered!

It's been about 15+ years but, I have done bedding and putting pillars in. at that time we were using steel sleeve of whatever we could find and roughen up the outside.
I'll order the right ones as I will probably order Brownell's steel bedding kit..

Thanks for the tips
Regis

[foxx]

I use threaded lamp rod for pillars. Readily available and cheap. I bore out holes in the stock for the action screws so there is plenty of room around the rods for epoxy. Also, I bed the pillars first. Once they are good, I bed the action only as far forward as the rear of the recoil lug and as far back as the rear or the rear action screw, free floating the tang. Finally, I bore-out the pillars a bit to be absolutely certain the screws free float. When done, the screws should spin freely into the action then suddenly STOP when tight. If they gradually tighten you can be sure there is some binding of the action going on. (Exactly what you are trying to avoid). Remove some bedding and try again.

[yobuck]

The Richards stocks ive used appeared to have been inletted with a chain saw.
If you order a semi inletted stock, expect a rough product because thats what you will get.
They finish up very nice provided you put forth a lot of effort.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I've also used lamp rod as pillars but only in the rear where there's not that much wood to work with. 1/2" + pillars give you more surface area for the action to rest on. The more you do, the more you'll find out what you like better.
Stock cut with a chain saw? Dull axe or chain saw, not much difference. You won't know till it shows up.

[Texas10]

I ended up tapping the original pillars out of my BVSS laminate stock and using those to pillar bed my Richards Micro Fit benchrest thumbhole. Took a bit of work with a drill press and I ended up countersinking the pillar holes a tad too deep. So I waxed them up and bedded them in with the Devcon I also used to bed the action. Now if I need to, I can tap them out and put the action back in the original stock.
Next time I'll go to Brownells and get their "bedding Sleeves". Would have been a whole lot less work.

[Mozella]

The Richards stocks ive used appeared to have been inletted with a chain saw.
If you order a semi inletted stock, expect a rough product because thats what you will get.
They finish up very nice provided you put forth a lot of effort.

My Richards walnut stock was very precisely inletted but the external shape was just one step better than a log; i.e. really rough and huge too. I'll bet I left half the weight of the wood on my shop floor. But it did indeed finish up well after a LOT of work. I did epoxy bed the action and installed pillars all in one step because I believe that all stocks should be bedded for best accuracy.

[Texas10]

Update on my Richards experience; Once I had the action bedded with Devcon and began assembly I found that the magazine box was milled out WAY too long and my blind magazine just flopped around inside. Will have to glue in some plywood shims to get it to fit snug. I'm guessing it was hogged out to fit a different magazine/caliber. Come to think of it, they never asked about caliber when I ordered it, and stupid me never thought to tell them. Oh, well….

The external dimension were, as others have experienced, a bit rough. They're use of a wood rasp was a little over done and too close to final shape. Took a lot of sanding to get the deep scratches out. I bought a Makita palm sander and some 120 and 220 grit paper at Home Depo. They've got some really good sand paper with a sticky back that helps eliminate wasted motion from paper that shifts back and forth in the sander or my gloved hand. This cut the sanding time from what could have been days or weeks if done by hand to 4-5 hours. I finished with 400 grit and brushed on one coat of Bullseye sanding sealer. Once I've shot it a few times and am comfortable with the fit, I'll complete the finishing.

One thing that will have to change is the "high cheekpiece". It is so high that I have to remove the action from the stock to remove the bolt, or insert a chamber guide to clean. Anyone have a solution that doesn't involve sanding most of it off?

If I can figure out how to do it, I'll try to post some pics.

[foxx]

Good info and tips here.
To answer your question about the cheek piece and removing the bolt: NO. Well, you could cut your bolt short so it doesn't extend so far back when trying to remove.

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I had to modify one of my Richard's BR style stocks to get the bolt out. Just a matter of cutting the front back "a bit" so the bolt would clear. Mine are all short actions so it didn't take much.

[Texas10]

"Cut the bolt"!!! Now why didn't I think of that??? :stupid:

[Texas10]

Further update;

My son and I shot our new stocks yesterday. Going to take a little while to get used to the new feel but his Arthur Brown thumbhole shot very well, and it was a simple drop in and shoot it fit, right out of the box. We're going to bed it anyway, but very impressed with the machine work. Pillars were positioned very precisely and magazine box relief was absolutely spot on.

I had him photograph me shooting my Richards Micro Fit to see where my cheek placed on the cheekpiece. Looks like I can sand off the top for bolt clearance and still be fine.

[Texas10]

I had to modify one of my Richard's BR style stocks to get the bolt out. Just a matter of cutting the front back "a bit" so the bolt would clear. Mine are all short actions so it didn't take much.


Thanks for that suggestion, Mikie. I cut about an inch and a half off, blended and radiused it in. Worked perfectly! :victorious:

Now I need to find a two piece chamber guide so I don't have to cut mine down just to fit this gun.

My apologies to the OP if I seem to have hijacked your thread.

[Tom Thomson]

I'm in the middle of finishing my Richards laminated stock. Lots & lots of sanding but I expected that. What I didn't
expect was the magazine well being too shallow for the mag. It lacked abt 1/8 in and with only 3/32 of wood at
the bottom I could not mill it any deeper. I shoot single anyway so I just removed the Savage mag.
tommyt

[Nor Cal Mikie]

I picked up a A5L stock in San Francisco Camo from Joel Russo a few years back for my SF 16 FSS action. Turned out that the mag well cut wasn't deep enough in the stock. Something was mentioned that the stock pattern was for a single shot action??? Rather than try to cut the well any deeper in the stock and come thru the bottom, I just took a little off the bottom of the mag with a file. Worked like a champ!! Better to go slow and do it right than rush thru and regret it!!

[Mozella]

....... snip.......... Looks like I can sand off the top for bolt clearance and still be fine.

Consider milling a groove behind the bolt just large enough to clear the bolt and handle; i.e. remove only material which is absolutely necessary to remove the bolt. It's more work, but it's likely to leave enough cheek rest to still function properly.