doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Lengthening stock on immaculate old gun

I believe Walmart is sourcing theirs from Optics Planet and they are a fine company to work with. At the web site below they have a sizing chart which will assure a proper fit. And they are also the lowest price retailer I am aware of. I will be surprised if yours takes a larger one than Medium or Large at most. All of my English game guns use the Medium.

What I really like about a removable pad is in the summer I can slip it on when shooting clays or whatever but during hunting season with extra layers of clothing I leave it off. Instant stock adjustment!

http://www.opticsplanet.com/galco-recoil-pads.html?_iv_code=GC-RC-EFFAAF-LT1032DH

Per the previous question, it would help to know how the butt is finished now and how much extension you need. You can add up to 1-1/2" with a Silvers repro pad, and you can boost that a bit with black (or other) spacers between the pad and the butt. A good fitter can bend the spacers and the pad to fit the curvature of the existing butt, so there is no need to cut or square up the butt before fitting the pad. I have had this done on a couple of hammer guns and it works well for me. Keep the old butt plate and everything is reversible if you decide to restore the gun to original.

Another alternative is to have a wooden butt made up as a thick plate, rather than as a butt extension. I acquired an Elsie with this treatment a few years ago from one of the members here and its appearance is superior to that of an extension with a separate plate attached. This particular butt has a design carved into it and looks pretty good, but you could also just have it checkered.

Here is my $.02 worth. I bought an old German combination gun that had an extension added by "letting in" the extension to the butt and then "letting in" the original metal butt plate to the extension. The whole thing was held on by new longer screws. This seems like an adequate solution(label and store the original screws).
Mike

Many thanks for the suggestions, all very much appreciated.

It never ceases to amaze me how much better served the US market is than the UK when it comes to shotgun accessories (over here I've not seen any pads with a choice of sizes, or indeed anyone making them on an artisanal basis).

I see from the comments that The Leatherman has shipped internationally before so he'll probably be first port of call to see if a leather slip-on will do the job, especially as his look very nicely fitted/finished.

In terms of a more permanent fix, the current stock is finished with a horn butt plate that is notched in slightly to the top of the stock (I suspect making it somewhat harder to make a wooden extension to fit?).

I've been given a recommendation for a couple of local stockers so (given there's not been a tidal wave of comments telling me I'd be insane to even think of changing anything here) am going to have a chat with them before, I suspect, letting one of them loose on another gun before deciding what to do with the Reilly if the slip-on still proves inadequate.

I just hope I've not left it too late to be ready for early partridges!

Although it is an expensive option, a wooden stock extension should be considered. Mark Larson in Tacoma Washington is an artist who has perfected the ability to match the grain and figure on the original stock on the extension and to make the job virtually seamless. I have had Mark do a couple of stocks for me and seen a number of others that he has done for others. At the level of skill/artistry that he has reached, the end result looks like an original, unmodified stock from end to end.

P.S. I wouldn't have the heart to put an extension on a gun with a unique original butt, such as heel and toe plates or a skeleton buttplate, but if the stock on the Reilly has a checkered butt, a plain buttplate or a pad, the stock extension deserves serious consideration.

It may be somewhat harder but certainly not impossible for one of the stockers to put an extension on that butt.
You can then get the pitch adjusted to suit your needs.
O.M

I had the same dilemma. I just slip a neoprene pad on when I use it and take it off at the end of the hunt.

Check out the Tourbon slip on leather pads listed on EBay. They are larger than most and less expensive. Yes, I know they are Chinese, but they are finished pretty well.

A well secured slip on is a pretty good solution.

Black Corian countertop material (12mm) is infinitely machinable and can be laid up to any thickness, and is almost incompressable. Ebony and horn are so.. declassee'