Is this normal?

[Chris in SE PA]

After a very significant hassle dealing with a stock manufacturer,  this is what I received. 

At this point in time I'm not going to mention who it was.  Nor am I going to go into the details and hassles I've had up to this point.

What I will say is that I paid to have a barrel inlet.  I also paid extra to have the breech plug inlet.

I have a hard time looking at that thinking that I would be okay sending that out to a customer if it was my business.

So, am I right in thinking that this is sub par?

[rich pierce]

Well, it’s a start and it’s not an oversized inlet. So, nothing ruined.

[Dennis Glazener]

 Does the barrel fit the channel? If not I would send it back? If the barrel fits the channel ok I probably would just send him a photo of the tang inlet and go ahead and open it up to fits the tang and save the shipping cost to send it back.
Dennis

[Frank]

I have never gotten a stock that was advertised as barrel inletted that did not require additional work to be fully inletted. So yes, I would say this typical. The only exception would be Jim Kibler’s offerings.

[Ken G]

The barrel inlet looks normal to me.  I can't remember ordering one with tang inlet so I can't say but what you have would pretty much be my expectation if I did.  Most of the wood is removed and it's not over inlet so you are ahead of the game. 

Ken

[smart dog]

Hi Chris,
Yes, that is completely normal.  Unless he uses hand chisels, his router duplicator cannot cut into the tight corners so he leaves it undersized for you to hand inlet.  That is how it should be unless he has the CNC multi-axis machinery that Kibler uses, which none of those guys have or could afford to have.  If the barrel fits well and the back of the bolster will butt against the back of the mortise when fully inlet,  I would be happy with that job.  Most kit guns, other than those by Kibler, come like that.

dave   

[Mike Brooks]

Clean out the corners and it should fall right in.

[smylee grouch]

Looks ok. He might have left some so you could shape your tang to different end shape. To finish it will take less than 30 min. 

[flinchrocket]

That looks good compared to some l’ve seen. You can always remove wood, putting it back is not as simple sometimes.

[heinz]

Chris in SE PA.  I never get the breech plug inlet.   Yours is certainly not what you get from a Jim Kibler kit, but you can work with it.  First file a bit of taper or "draught"  to the breech plug.  It should taper  about a 1/32 on the long tang and 1/16 on the wide part of the tang from the top or outside to the bottom of the inletted part.  This makes it easier to do.  Do not worry if you get it a bit wide at the top, this breech area is a good candidate for a little barrel bedding compound.

[Chris in SE PA]

Ok. Sounds reasonable.

Thank you everyone that commented

[Eric Krewson]

Perfectly normal, count your lucky stars that the inlet is undersized with enough wood to make perfect fit.  I have seen enough pre-carve slopped up nightmares to have vowed never to use a pre-carve again, I got tired of gluing in patches to fill the oversized voids.

[Bigmon]

I don't know if I do it correct or not, but in a case like this (which looks normal to me) I remove the breech plug and fit the barrel perfect as I can.  Then I re-install the breech plug and inlet it as good as I can.  Everything down in to the bottom to the best og MY ability.
Then I add ONE tenon nearest the breech and inlet it and work my way out. ALWAYS keeping the barrel back againt the stock and clamped in place.
Maybe I go overboard doing this, but I find trying to be perfect usually results in acceptable work, far from perfect.
Good luck

[little joe]

That is normal on a precarve stock. If you cannot handle this you will never get a rifle built. Mr. Kibler has us all spoiled, however when you do a Kibler,you are not a builder, just an assembler and finisher. You do get some some experience on the workings of a rifle. Wade into it and Git er done.

[Bill Raby]

I think it looks pretty good. Here is what I don't understand. Barrel and tang inletting is a problem because it is not totally finished, but lock inletting is not even started yet and that is just fine. I don't get it. In

[Mike Lyons]

I think it looks pretty good. Here is what I don't understand. Barrel and tang inletting is a problem because it is not totally finished, but lock inletting is not even started yet and that is just fine. I don't get it. In

That’s a very good point!

[jgraham1]

I too had an "incident" of a stock from a big-name supplier that was less than desired.  Barrel channel undersized, ramrod hole off center, wood sub-par from what I ordered, but paid for.  They advised me that due to COVID, they are not receiving decent stuff.  My answer was, "why accept it".  Sent it back and finally got my refund, but it cost me shipping back.  To say the least, i will never buy another stock from them.

Jerry

[Jim Kibler]

Maybe I’m seeing things wrong, but based on the first photo it looks like there is very little drop behind the barrel and down the wrist.

When I look at precarves like this I can’t help but being a little critical.  It’s not just how far something is completed, but also how well it is done.  Things like funky architecture, huge thick webs etc. are the norm.  But many don’t know the difference or perhaps care.  A lot can be said for perspective.