I have no idea what is a reasonable expectation on these. That is a small flaw. It is a production rifle. I know they are expensive, but that is relative to other production rifles. Compared to a nationally renowned wood stock maker, I would bet the total cost of the rifle is less than what the stock would be.
I am in construction. We so various projects from light commercial to multi-million dollar high end custom homes and remodels. The expectation for quality in light commercial is abysmal due to the fact that nearly all projects are awarded to low bid. The expectation on high end stuff is to make the customer happy no matter how hard that happens to be (unless it turns out to be impossible, which it is with some people).
In the gun world, you appear to be somewhere in the middle. This looks like the wood chipped in the stock making. A high quality finish applicator could color match and fill this before clear coating and make it dissappear. I would say that would be the expectation for a stock where you are waiting for custom order product and shelling out $1k-2k for the stock. For what they are selling these for, the reasonable expectation is that you bought a nice piece of wood on a production rifle, with a production machined and finished stock. It doesn't appear that the finish is that well applied when I zoom in either.
If you plan to hunt with the rifle, you will either have to pay someone to keep repairing it, repair it yourself, or be fine with the use marks. If it is a safe queen thing, you have to decide if you want to roll the dice and get a different one, or have someone repair that one for a perfect finish.
If I was concerned about that kind of a flaw, I would want to drive around and pick it out in person before buying. I would not order one through the mail.
currently trying to purchase a new Model 70 Super Grade and found this odd part of the stock and since I paid a pretty penny for it, it is bothering me a bit. Thoughts? Would you refuse a transfer?
