Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing richards microfit stocks

im in need of a new stock for my m1917 enfield,i know they arent dropins but are they good quality?i shot a rifle a while back with one and the stock fit like a glove.
thanks

Great quality.

They should be named RIchard's MACRO fit, meaning big, Big as in too much wood taken out of the inletting. I would place them in the bottom for quality.

i thought about a boyds but i just dont care for them,all their stocks have a carbuncle for the cheek weld and i dont like it.i took one and spent 4 days on it and got it close,wish they had some other designs.the grip area is way too short for my hands.e looked around but choices for a m1917 are very slim unless i drop a bundle and just cant afford that.
thank you

I purchased one and i will never purchase another . Worst customer service of anyone i have ever did business with .

Honestly, I would never use a stock from them that I didn't first have the opportunity to inspect. Since I don't live close, I would never use another.

Their stocks leave a lot to be desired. Most are stuck in the 1950's with regards to style, including whiteline spacers. The inletting is terrible, the exterior equally so.

Me, I'd find a good duplicator and have him turn you a new stock.

I bought only 2 from them over the years. First I made work the second I returned after numerous discussions with them.

I would love to cut you one but at this time I don't have an Enfield pattern.

RR,

I have an Enfield stock you could copy and make into your own pattern.

hmm well ill keep looking,my hands are screwed up or i would use boyds.if you folks find any good stocks please let me know.
thank you

Jim is right.

They offer a lot of options, but please don't go that route if you're not an advanced wood craftsman. They're pretty rough and need a bunch of work.

Boyd is much better inletted, they just don't offer the options that Richards does.

DF

I'm happy with a single go around with Richard's wood, but do not expect any thing near a drop in. With 40 hours of so of work, one can generate some excellent fit and finish. That assumes one has patience, a vice, chisels, planes, gouges, files, rasps, sanding blocks, and scrappers in hand. Excess wood is indeed a blessing.

Anyone that delivers a drop in stock without having ones barreled action in hand for fitting will have to beaver out way too much wood. Too little wood is a significant problem.

Intermediate Yugo 24/47 converted to a 240 Weatherby.

There are several issue with duplicating. A significant one is you are cutting it with some type router bit. So most of your inletting corners will be round not square. Even with the original stock as a pattern it is difficult to make a perfect copy. You can copy the outside as close as you want. As long as the customer agrees I cut to around .02-.025 on the outside closer inside. However cutting it that close leaves no extra wood for the guy that want just a little more wood in the grip. I cut one at a time Since a place like Richards is probably cutting several at a time making them different is an issue.

You can get the 95% answer in a couple hours, the 98% answer adds another hr the 99% adds a couple more. A "tight" drop in takes some hand work. Or you use a cnc and cut it like a factory. Hopefully you find someone that gives you what you pay for.

I've probably done 15-20 Richards stocks over the years. Most of them turned out acceptably well, given my meager talents. I used their wood (Claro, mostly) and blanks that I sent them. The Claro they use tends to be pretty porous.

Maybe I was lucky, but I never had any issues with the inletting, unless I screwed it up. There's enough exterior wood to shape the stock to taste. The one problem I did have with the Richards Classic style is that they don't leave enough wood on top of the comb - typically, there's 1/4" to 3/8" between the bolt and the comb nose, which is too much, IMHO.

Having said all that, I think there's better alternatives out there.

Pure junk!

thank you all for your advice,im following it.i found a nice stock at macon gunstocks and talked to them.ya know,this place has more info and common sense(most of the time)than anywhere ive found.

They suck! Big POS. Check out Boyds. The quality is way better and so is the inletting. I have around five from Boyds and have three more on order as we speak. Had a Richards once and my gunsmith told me to send it back. After sanding and finishing I then took it to my gunsmith. Everything was out of alignment and even his skills couldn't fix it and he refused to work on it and I returned it. Never again!

I have done 7 of their stocks one is on the bench and one on order. They have some positive aspects and some negative. Service is slow/difficult communication to be frank and they are usually in need of a substantial amount of work. Boyd's may be better for someone who simply wants a pre-finished drop in handle in a laminate or lower grade walnut. However, Richard's offers a wide selection of woods and will rough in your wood for turn handle rifles on their list. Honestly, I like the work. That's why I do it. It can be frustrating when starting out but I have never had a finished stock that did not shoot very well when I proclaimed it completed. If you have had any experience with gun-makers or taxidermists or other artistic professions then you know delivery will be late, costs may over-run and your "encouragement" will be of a negative value.

Making "your own" rifle stock is akin to tying flies, building hot-rods or loading ammo. Simplicity is NOT part of the game, nor is it very cheap financially. If you are paying someone to build you a rifle, set your parameters, discuss a budget with the maker and let him do it ALL. I believe there is a bit of "if you want me to do the cooking then let me buy the groceries" involved when you hand a gunsmith the pieces and ask him to assemble them. I have some "ugly" rifles on fiberglass and kevlar dating to Lee Six and Chet Brown and they are great rifles but now I find a nice piece of wood pleases me more. Gun nuts are fickle, well, I am. There is also the old saying "if you want it done your way then do it yourself".

Now that is one sweet looking Yugo.....

They needs some work to work