doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Fix for sticky recoil pad

Any suggestions for how to make a sticky recoil pad slicker (other than replacing it)? Can something like a light varnish be applied to the rubber to give it a slicker finish?

Doverman,

I presume your gun is a reasonable age, if so then the sticky problem may be due to the pad breaking down with age. Not an easy problem to solve without replacing the entire pad, however you could try a leather lace on stock boot. They don't look very pretty and they do add about 1/8th of an inch to the LOP if they're unpadded.

I don't believe that varnish would work, rubber butt plates are slightly flexible and that could cause the varnish to crack and peel off.

Harry

The CSMC had a thing on their website about how to season their rubber pads, maybe try that and see what happens? I think it was listed with their "silvers" pads.
CHAZ

Doverham: On a hunting gun I guess because of my technique of shooting I like the butt end slick too and prefer either a checkered butt or a hard butt plate over a recoil pads. What I do and it does not look real great is put duct tape over a sticky pad. It is utilitarian and easily removable and works great. I don't even like leather covered pads unless they are really slick. A target gun which is premounted, however, then I want a sticky pad such as kick-eez. Take care

Thanks guys. This is a new target gun that came with the maker's standard recoil pad which was obviously set up for pre-mounted shooting. I shoot low mount so we are not simpatico.

I checked out the CSMC "treatment" option for Silvers pads:



Do you think this means equal parts varnish, tru-oil and shellac or three separate coats?

The duct tape would look at little out of place on this gun, but it makes me wonder if I could buy some slick material and glue it to the pad.

It's "either-or," rather than successive coats or a mix. Any one will work by itself. If your factory pad is ribbed or textured, start by sanding or grinding off the texture. Simpler than the vaseline buff with another coating on top of that is to just hit your pad with ArmorAll after you remove any texture.

Black electrical tape works fine on a black pad. Also a friend used liquid electrical tape and it worked well also. Again on a black pad.

Red Green?

Doverham:
I shall avoid criticism of the Galazan technique. Suffice to say, don't try it. First, smooth the rubber to at least 400 grit finish if it's rough, Then simply coat the pad with something like Tru-Oil or other quick-drying stock finish. It will take up to 10 coats to get it to retain a surface that's slick. But stick with it. The dry time between coats will also be extended. All this assuming your pad isn't one of the newer "recoil absorbing" types. If so, you're stuck.... with duct tape??

Also, the finish you apply will flex fine. As it gets older it will crack a bit, but that just looks better.

Best, Kensal

Why don't you just rub baby powder onto the pad? This practice will smooth the pad without making it excessively slick and the powder can be removed easily for applications like trap and "regular" Skeet when a bit of "stickiness" in a recoil pad can be a good thing.