In my experience they're not gapped correctly out of the box all the time. I've had both ngk and denso plugs new out of the box at .024 all the way up to .028 before. To gap them closer I'll tap the ground strap part of the spark plug with a rubber mallet or to open the gap I usually put the ground strap on the edge of the rubber mallet and use man-strength. Always careful not to touch the center electrode.

 

just dropped in the new plugs car runs great...no bucking...pulled hard and much smoother than my original (correct) plugs...buy the way the plugs they gave me were gapped at .39!!! compared to the bpr6eix plugs which were at .25