New guy, already with a problem: 111 Long Range Hunter stock finish peeling off...

Hello everybody.
I am an Italian import living in the Denver area and work at a local shooting range.

I have had a few Savages in the past and I have now acquired a 111 LRH in 300 WM, brand new.

Right out of the box the rubberized finish on the stock was peeling, like a bad case of sunburn.

I called customer service and they sent me a replacement stock.
A week later I pull the rifle out of the safe and sure enough the finish is starting to peel as well.

I should mention I have not yet fired a single round, since I am waiting for my backordered (! ) Vortex scope.

I have made a search on the Forum and I could only find older threads, so please indulge me and help me out:
Is there anybody that has not experienced this with their 111? It seems to be quite a common complaint. I do not want to keep shipping stocks back and forth to Savage if there is no hope...
Should that be the case, how do I strip the finish off completely and get it over with, or has anybody had any luck getting an "unfinished" replacement stock?
I will be getting on the phone with Savage tomorrow, again, and some insight would be helpful...
Thank you all.

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

There you go...
http://i348.photobucket.com/albums/q...pshmojm7an.jpg

Tell them you will trade that plus cash for a H-S precision stock. Are you looking for light weight/carry or is a middleweight stock ok?

I like the lines of the factory one, just trying to find out whether I am just unlucky getting two bad ones in a row or whether they all peel like that.
Thank you for your advice though.

poor stock preparation before coating. you would expect more from them. hope you get this resolved.

Bruce

My local Cabelas had 2 of these in stock, brand new. Both peeling exactly like this!

Umm...when and why did Savage start putting a coating on their synthetic stocks? What's the point? Doesn't look textured or anything based on the photo - actually looks like they just painted a black plastic stock with black paint to make it look more like black rather than a charcoal grey.

I'd call Savage yet again and tell them you want a non-coated stock or ask for an upgrade to a hardwood stock to make up for the trouble/hassle you've already had to go through with two defective synthetic stocks. If whomever you have on the phone won't play ball tell them you would like to speak with Paul Smarrelli, he's the Customer Service Director for Savage.

I have a few friends that have bought long range hunters in various calibers and have all come to me to help with load development and they all had this same problem. One was really bad and the others were a spot here and a spot there but my friends didn't seem to care as long as the rifles shot good which they do.

+1 for J. Baker........................ Whether this is a Savage problem or a Vendor problem isn't the point. Continuing to ship sub-standard stocks just isn't acceptable.......... My .02

I am having the exact same problem with mine. I just got done breaking my barrel in and the stock looks horrible. I was wondering the same thing about just stripping the coating off. Did you find out if savage would ship a new stock with out the coating?