buzz, if Wild Skies has the original letter and says it came with a 14" lop, then it wasn't too short for the person that ordered it.
Maybe it was a half pad, do as I suggested in the first post, if it has the duplicator marks then it is original and since then another recoil pad and spacer were added.

Cutting a curve is no big deal, not eveyone uses a radial arm or mitre saw to cut one.

What was, was and what is, is.

David