doublegunshop.com - home Forums Thread Like Summary - Leather facing a recoil pad

I did my first a couple weeks ago, not having any prior instruction. It came out okay for a field grade gun that's going to get a fair amount of hard usage. I faced a Silvers pad that I put on a little 20 ga. Sterlingworth. Looking around for some thin leather in my shop all I found was some scraps from Grandaddy's old leather hunting coat. I was given it by my Grandmother after he died in '75, and it eventually fell to pieces, but I salvaged some of the leather. Very old and wrinkled, dried out .....not the best condition for this application. But, I used it with a nod to nostalgia, knowing that when hunting birds here with the little gun I'd have something with me as a tangible reminder of him, and his taking me on my first quail hunt. Actually, he had told me it was the coat that he wore when drifting the river for ducks on the coldest of days. The leather is probably a little too thick, and deteriorating to the point that the cut edges look a little "ragged".

So, now I'd like to learn the right way to do it, with the right kind of leather, and the right glue. Can anyone point me towards some written instructions? I searched and all I can come up with is leather covered pad tutorials. Do any of the gunsmithing/custom gunbuilding books give it any more than a passing mention?

Thanks in advance, SRH

I have leather faced quite a few pads, and pretty much all of my own guns have a leather faced pad. I mostly use pigskin, but any thin leather should work; I don't think it has to be super thin, my pig is about probably .025 - .030 or so. You need to sand off any markings on the pad and I think you need to round slightly the edges of the pad, so there is no proud edge to catch. Sanding , or wiping to get the mold release off gives good adhesion. I just use Barge and apply it liberally to both pad face and the oversize leather, soak it in well, kind of saturating the leather, let it dry a bit and apply it, pound around the leather with your leather mallet. When dry use a sharp! exactor knife or such to carefully cut the leather around the pad, keeping the knife pretty much parallel to the side of the pad. You can use 120 grit sharp paper to carefully sand the edge, and If you have stained your leather, you need to re-stain the cut edges, You can use an acrylic finish (Tandy's) if you wish or just finish like you shine your shoes. Maintenance is more shoe polish. I have never had one of my own come loose, and don't hesitate to put the gun in a snow covered gunrack. Works just as well as fully leather covered, but much less work, but lacking the "cool" factor, of course.
Some good-looking pads shown here.

There have been several good threads here on Doublegun that have pretty good instruction.

The best instructional video I have seen is this one

I have a couple of pads on hand and a skiving tool on the way to do this with a couple of my guns in the next month.

I have only come across a couple leather faced pads in my life, a fairly rare way to treat a butt in my mind. I have not installed one myself but on the ones I have seen the leather seemed quite similar to what I use on leather covered pads, 1&1/2 to 2OZ top grain pigskin:

https://www.zackwhite.com/Full-Grain-Pigskin-Lining

I would use the same glue I use for covered pads, barge cement:

https://www.myshoesupplies.com/prod...Qr6et7gIVjb3ACh0RyAV3EAQYFSABEgI_q_D_BwE

Keep us informed as to what you decide and how it works out.

Steve

Thanks so much for the video links. Watched them and found them both extremely helpful. The one you posted, Jim, covers what I need to learn to do, in order to have the edges of the leather facing dressed nicely. Time to shop for some good leather and skiving tools, now. The Cole video should be a "must watch" for anyone interested in learning to cover pads with leather. He's very clear and definitive, and funny at the same time.

I'll take a pic of the "Grandad Pad" I did, battle, to show how badly one can look without the skiving of the edge. Maybe I can get it on here tonight.



Best, SRH

The stock wood on this gun has been stripped with acetone wiping, so it looks rather dull. But, maybe you can see how unfinished an unskived piece of leather looks on the edge.



Second pic, the distressed wrinkling of the leather from Grandad's old duck hunting coat.



Looking forward to doing better next try.

SRH