Stock Arrived- PROBLEMS-

[54Bucks]

 Some may route the open forward section where the ramrod will be. But the breech end has to be drilled from entry pipe area rearward.

[Curt Larsen]

I've gone back and re read the original post several more times.  I don't think this rr inlet was a "normal" rout out groove in the barrel channel precarve.  As far as I can tell, this was a really poor job.  If the provider re routed the rr channel more deeply into the stock, it has made the web under the barrel waaaaay too thin.  It will be tough to inlet the thimbles and be able to pin them to anything.  I don't fault the carvers who use the easy rout-out groove method--it is easy enough to cut a piece to fill that gap after the rr is installed and then trim it to accept the barrel.  For my money, I would ask the guy for a replacement that I could inspect first before paying.  If the guy is a real PITA and you are stuck with it, I think the method I suggested earlier is your best fix.  That is, to plug the rr hole with a dowel, add new wood to the channel, scrape the rr channel to the proper depth by hand, and them redrill the ramrod hole yourself.  Then if it trends a bit toward the sideplate it is no hassle as others like Acer have noted.  It is possible to make a proper fix for almost anything in this game, but if you bought a super piece of wood and turned it over to a guy who did a less than super piece of work, I would be sick myself.   

[Cody Tetachuk]

There's nothing intrinsically wrong with the RR done this way. It will not effect the end result in any way. You will have to scrape the groove down so the RR will go in properly but, bear in mind that the RR should be tapered so there won't be as much scraping as you may think. It has been suggested that this routed channel "weakens" the forend but I don't see it. The forend/forestock is supported by the barrel, not the other way around. When the barrel is out of the stock, the foreSTOCK (the wood extending from the entry pipe to the nosecap) is extremely thin and fragile (if done right) and if a break were to occur it would be here, NOT in the forend because of a routed RR hole. The first rifle I built back in '88 had the RR done this way. When the gun was finished, I received lots of comments but not once did someone say "nice rifle but is there a groove under that barrel or was the RR hole drilled?". Like Taylor said, if the groove offends you, patch it or send it back and get a drilled one but bear in mind, the only thing you will gain by patching is experience on doing that kind of "fix" and by getting a different stock, it will cost more (shipping both ways), may have less curl and the RR hole may wander to the lock side or low (and you won't know 'till it's too late and then you'll get some REAL experience fixing a problem. I would rather pull a barrel and fine a routed RR hole than find the barrel and/or breech bedded with acraglass.

[Jim Kibler]

As I said before, quality is a matter of perspective with this stuff.  Now I'm going to tell you what my perspective is.  I think the stock shown is pretty poor.  To take it a step further, so is most of the stuff being sold in the muzzleloading industry today.  Here's the situation as I see it.  The vast majority of parts are sold to hobby builders who often are not that knowledgeable, experienced and are often very concerned about the money they spend.  With this being the case, a just good enough quality level is acheived to satisfy the majority of consumers.  There are some exceptions to this general statement, and I believe improvements have been made over time, but this is still how I see things.  This is one of those things people sometimes think, but don't say.  Well there it is.

[Waksupi]

I'm just finishing putting together a rifle for a customer, who had bought parts at this same supplier. The stock was a total disaster, huge knot and bark void on the cheek piece side, and a weather crack running over four inches up from the butt. I could actually feel the moisture in the wood when I unpacked it.
After a bit of whining and excuse making, they replaced the supposedly hand picked stock. 
I also found the Siler lock they supplied, had a broken tumbler. I just went through Chambers for a replacement, and didn't even bother with contacting the original supplier. The ramrod thimbles were not soldered together, heck of a way to save a nickle. But, I guess it is a kit, isn't it?
Like Dan, I absolutely hate a stock that has the cheap dodge of routing out the ramrod channel. I put an insert in the stock to strengthen it, and make it possible to clamp it securely.
When I had given the bid for this job, I expected decent parts to work with, but this has been a pain from the start. I've taken a beating on this one, and will never accept parts in from this supplier again. You get what you pay for, and I imagine there are more than one first time gun builders that got took by this guy, and never were able to produce a good firearm from what they got.