doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com What leather for covering recoil pads?

A big thank you for the mail re making a leather covered recoil pad. There are those naysayers that think I will never get a good outcome the first time, if this site can take attachments I will send a pic of the pad both on and off the gun and pledge to tell the truth about the number of tries.

I looked at some leather yesterday and handled some pig, goat and lamb. Not having done this before, I am curious as to which works best for a bird gun. It seems to me that the goat was less supple than either the pig or lamb. The pig seemed to have a grippy surface and seemed to me to be good for a target gun while the lamb had a harder finish and seemed the most supple of the leathers, but thinner and maybe less durable?


What do you guys think makes the best covering for a bird gun?

I'll be interested in your replies.

Phil

It's all about pliability, how well the leather will stretch over your pad. You'll see what I mean when you try to work the wrinkles out! This should concern you much more than the outside characteristics, all leathers will be somewhat slick on the shoulder once the pad is finished out. Thin pigskin works the best for me.

Best, Dan

Thanks Dan,

I'll try the pigskin.

Phil

If you use the pig skin you want to get the skin near the bottom of the hide. This skin is more supple and will stretch aroung the toe a lot better. The skin that goes up higher is a lot stiffer.

Just my two cents, Gordon

Pig skin will wear better than lambskin but tougher to work with.

I have a Mauser rifle with the leather just on the face of the pad. It looks great, and feels great. Not as showy as a full-cover, of course.