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Have dealings with Richards Microfit lately?

sicero

Stainless
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Location
Medway, Ohio
I just got a stock from Richards Microfit recently and for some reason they machined a flat area on the underside where the bottom metal fits about 5/16" deep and now lacks enough wood for the metal parts. The inletting is almost nonexistant. There are big gouges on the sides of the stock by the action area. I will be cutting it down in these areas, so it won't hurt me. It is left handed CZ but thats no excuse.
Fortunately the stock is for my son and he wants the trigger guard modified with the magazine removed with a single shot follower so I will be able to cut the top of the magazine box and use the stock. I really didn't consider sending the stock back since it took three months to get it and the wood is fantastic for what I paid. I can also duplicate it
leaving more wood. I actually bought it for the left hand pattern. I haven't talked to them about this but I think I should. Most people wouldn't be able to use a stock with these problems. In the past years I have bought several stocks from them and until now there was enough wood. I have always been more than satisfied with the wood and pricing and still am. I wonder what someone does that thinks a bit of sanding will be it. Kenny
 
I had problems with Richards several years back and have not used them since.

I could use three or four paragraphs describing issues with them, but to sum it up. I think Richards is an assumed name and it is really Cheech and Chong running this place.
 
I have had similar nightmares with just about every supplier of semies in both Canada and the USA over the last 30 odd years. I only do that sort of work under extreme protest now as I'm getting to old and blind to checker. But if I get stuck I generally prefer to just work from blanks. Most people get intimidated by blanks but you just have to keep it in your head that you have to inlet it first and by the time the inletting is finished you have all the points needed to measure from and shaping is not the big deal it seamed to be when you first started the job. The reality is that working from a semie only saves you a day or so and if its your own gun who cares? If its a customers gun he's paying for it anyway so who cares? Having a band saw and a Wilton Square, Burr King or Baldor belt sander at your disposal can actually give you a rough semie in no time flat and a mill can save you gobs of inletting time. .......... In all fairness though guys you have to keep in mind that there can be 100s of variants of the same model and lots of times the guys don't have the exact pattern that matches what we have. But I some times think that a lot of these clowns have the rum sitting on one end of the pantograph and the coke on the other or they have been kicking the dog or fighting with their old ladies when they were cutting my wood.
 
re: Richards Micro Fit

I haven't been to their shop for several years so I can't speak much about the present but I don't think the original owner has anything to do with it any more.

The place seemed like a fire trap to me without direct emergency exits or fire sprinklers but with saw dust and chips everywhere but the office. The several stocks I bought were more or less specials with less than normal cutting on them so I don't know whether they would have still been OK if they had been normal orders.

But you have to remember that the days of Bishop and Reinhart Fajen are long gone and not to expect their levels of service from today's providers.
 
Well GGaskill, I'm usually the first person to find fault or call some one an idiot, even if I have to push Butch out of line to get there first to do it. But I really can't say to much bad about Boyds. Sure there are always little nit picky things. But considering the price, the delivery time and their piece to piece uniformity those people do a fairly good job!
 
So where should one go for a stock blank these days? I ordered from Richard's microfit recently, and am not interested in waiting another two months for an inferior product.
 
I bought a laminated stock for my CZ 452 and I was disappointed. The stock was not symmetrical and looked like it was shaped by a blind beaver with dull teeth. For the amount they charge I would expect at least a symmetrical stock. The barrel channel was also not true and not the constant 1" diameter specified.
 
So where should one go for a stock blank these days? I ordered from Richard's microfit recently, and am not interested in waiting another two months for an inferior product.

I wouldn't get too excited yet. Just check the stock out when it comes and make sure there is enough wood in the action and bottom metal area.
I have done several and this is the only one with this problem.
Unless you have your own pattern, Richards is about the only game in town with some real design choice. Kenny
 
hmm guess i lucked out. I ordered a richards micro fit for my mauser project last February took like 2.5 months to get the darn thing but when i received it, it was well inlayed and very nice wood for what i paid. haven't got around to finishing it yet but i would try them again from my experience.
 
Some people expect to get a stock from a duplicator, ready to blow the dust off and spray a few coats of finish on it and have a beautiful finished stock.
When I buy one, I want the basic design and enough wood in the critical areas.
I weighed one as recieved and it weighed 3lb-6oz.
It finished at 2lb-4oz.
If you get one from a duplicator that is smooth, someone sanded it for you. Kenny
 
Some people expect to get a stock from a duplicator, ready to blow the dust off and spray a few coats of finish on it and have a beautiful finished stock.
When I buy one, I want the basic design and enough wood in the critical areas.
I weighed one as recieved and it weighed 3lb-6oz.
It finished at 2lb-4oz.
If you get one from a duplicator that is smooth, someone sanded it for you. Kenny

Very true.
 
Some people expect to get a stock from a duplicator, ready to blow the dust off and spray a few coats of finish on it and have a beautiful finished stock.
When I buy one, I want the basic design and enough wood in the critical areas.
I weighed one as recieved and it weighed 3lb-6oz.
It finished at 2lb-4oz.
If you get one from a duplicator that is smooth, someone sanded it for you. Kenny

Well then why do they put all the "work" into cheekpieces and barrel channels if the things walk 1/4" or more from where they belonged ?

And WHY doesn't their website have even ONE picture of the buggered up POS they ship out ?


Bill
 
I knew I had to finish the stock and expected to but I did not count on it not being true at all. It is indicative of poor QC if the action inletting is not even square to the stock and the barrel channel has run out.
 
I guess I finish putting the barreled action in and then make the stock fit.
You don't appreciate a duplicator until you do a couple from scratch.
The guy who cuts the wood has little control over it after it leaves his hands.
I don't know how Richards does their stocks but I don't think they are actually duplicating a stock.
I bought this last one to save me about a weeks work making a left hand thumb hole stock with a hammer and chisle and with that in mind, it is perfect.
Last spring and summer I made my own duplicator and like Silverado Hauler, I do this strictly for my own enjoyment.
I am too old to listen to complaints.
I can direct you to a duplicator who will cut a stock for you if you have a pattern. Kenny
 
Once you have a good pattern, duplicating is not that hard if your duplicator is accurate and sturdy.

I probably have at least 50 hours of hand work in each pattern I make, likely more. Accurate pattern work is the key to quality stock making using a duplicator. Once I have a good pattern made it will last forever and may be used for duplicating scores of stocks.

Operator skill, cutter type selection, stylus type and size, sharpness of cutters, quality of the duplicator, and a bunch of other little things go into the making of an accurate stock from a pattern. Rush into a duplicating job with dull cutters and little skill and you have a disaster.

When duplicating a stock, I leave extra wood in the barrel channel and action area for final fitting by hand.

Once I finish a blank on the duplicator, it is a couple of hours with hand tools finishing up the detail items. Then a few hours of sanding before it is ready to start the bedding process and installation of pillars and pad. Then we get into finishing! I like oil finishes, so lots of time rubbing in the "magic oil" mixtures.

For those that have not seen a duplicator in action, take a look:

NorthStar Gunstock Duplicator
 








 
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