doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Recoil pads on SxS

Just be careful with slip on pads, they can and do cause the wood under the cuff to color/discolor differently and can trap contaminants/water. make sure you take them off on occasion and keep the wood under the cuff protected with your product of choice.

Thanks for all the comments guys.
I am going to get a thin pad installed that will increase LOP little or none.
And I wont cut the stock.

At 6'4" and of modest means I always have to add length to any gun I buy. Unless I hit the lottery and start ordering bespoke guns I would imagine that will never change.
I always try to add the pad without disturbing the butt so it can be returned to "factory."
I absolutely love a checkered butt, or better yet heel and toe plates, but I don't imagine I will ever own one that fits me.
CHAZ

It is your gun not a national treasure. Do with it what you like to make it more versatile. There are a lot of pads with different thickness to adjust lop or keep as is. To me adding an 1/4" means nothing and plastic plates tend to be about 1/4" thick so I just find a nice 1/2" pads to replace it if the lop is close to what I want. I've even thinned them down on a disc sander to alter pitch slightly as well. Easy to gain more pitch if you reduce 1/4" on the top/bottom half of the pad and taper it so it is still flat against the stock. 1/4" might be 1/2-1" pitch change for the gun.


Pachmayr made a solid, old English pad that came in 1/2" or less thickness in brown, black and red with a smooth leather type face. I bought 25-30 off EBay for less than three dollars each. Been using them up for years on doubles. Easy to heat and bend to curve if needed, cheap and they look great on a double. I use red for rifles and black and brown for doubles. It's not recoil reduction I'm after but I like the non slip surface and it does protect the stock well. Again since I don't cut the stock it is completely reversible.

KY Jon,
Thanks
I had my gunsmith order a 1/2" brown Pachmayer just now. He will install it. I would fudge it up.

I shoot several Parker 16's with skeleton steel butt plates.

I wouldn't dream of sticking a recoil pad on these.

No need since they are all very pleasant to shoot with RST ammo.

I�m kind or surprised nobody has said this but, in my opinion, a proper recoil pad installation usually requires hollowing out the stock so it balances right. Then again some people put lead in the butt...

Anyway, might as well make it balance right if you're going to the trouble of installing a pad.

On my 1890's vintage 14ga Husqvarna hammer gun with 13.5" lop, just this last weekend I decided to forego a pad and add a (blended) extension to a vintage, coarsely checkered plate with a spur at the top and engraved screws to match the engraving on the gun. Lop is now 14.25". I had considered a nice leather covered pad, but not only does the vintage plate match the character of the gun better than a pad, but I saved 3 oz vs. a pad by hollowing out the stock and the extension as well. It was 6.ll lbs, but is now 6.8, balanced at the hinge pin, even with 31.5" long barrels. Huns and roosters watch out.

All that said, pads are certainly more durable and obviously offer more recoil absorption. It really just depends on the gun and what you're after.

Then, there are guns which were shipped from the factory with a recoil pad, but no longer have it because of deterioration or because some previous owner just didn't like a recoil pad and removed it. I have a AE Fox 16 ga. that letters as having been shipped with a Silvers pad. It no longer has it, and is way too short with the plain "hard rubber" buttplate it now wears. It doesn't feel right either, with it's 30" barrels and 13 +" LOP. It will soon be wearing an original Silvers pad as it should. It will again be in "spec", and I will like it much better.

SRH