>  but I never made the distinction about the separate receiver.  thanks 
> for the
> explanation.

I hadn't made that connection either. It's not quite a perfect 
connection since
any number of percussion arms have a separate receiver and two piece 
stocks.  Sharps
long arms are a prime example.  But point taken.  The earliest receivers 
required
a two piece stock.

> A question - wood is wood.  If the stock is fit to
> 1/32”, what happens if the wood decides to move around a little?

Essentially, you learn to live with it until other materials for stocks 
come around.
There's glass bedding but...

> And how do you install those barrel bands?  Looks like they wouldn’t 
> fit
> over the larger section of stock to get to their recess

The stock is stepped so that the largest section is at the rear, and all 
subsequent
bands involve subsequent steps.  The band slips down the stock to it's 
proper place
and is held in that place by a detent and is further tightened by a bolt 
that runs
through the bottom, squeezing the band together.

Mike soon to be in Woodland