doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Pads on Shotguns

I prefer them with the original Buttplate, a well done Pad is a second place.

You're not being irrational or crazy. Nor are those of us who prefer pads on most everything. That's our personal choice(yours and ours). Some of us shoot thousands of shots at clay targets to every one shot, in the field. "Self-butts" do get banged up and slip around, in a range gun rack. Pads prevent that and do the obvious, reduce felt recoil. Recoil from a typically light 28 ga. bothers me(without a pad) and even a .410 stays in place better, in the rack and against the shoulder.
Obviously, a skeletonized steel butt plate, on a fine gun, is a beautiful thing to behold, whether practical or not. A simple checkered "self butt" looks like a cheap air rifle. JMO, as always. Bottom line is, there's no right or wrong, here.
Merry christmas to all, again.

On an upland bird gun I prefer the original checkered butt or original horn butt plate or or original skeleton butt. But a pad is not a deal killer for me. I like the brown leather covered pads the best as they detract less from the looks of the gun. The Hawkins, Silvers, Jostam, Winchester, and Ithaca Sunburst are the least detraction and a Pachmyar White Line is the most detraction for me.

The authentic Silvers pads in particular seem to be heavy - they have some steel in them for sure.

Best,

Mike

I have "ape-hanger arms" as a gunsmith once put it. No "off the shelf" gun, the only kind I can afford, fits me. So I add an inch or more with some kind of pad.

On older guns, I either replace the wrecked pad some earlier owner put on it, or, if the stock is original with an original buttplate, I use a pullover. Very ugly, but they work. They also add some protection if you are into heavy cover, boulders, etc. The downside of the "butt condom," as my friend calls them, is that if you don't remove them after most hunts, moisture builds up and wrecks the stock finish. And removing/replacing them each time can be a drag.

Even a .410 that has a too-short stock kicks; the bigger guages get worse. So for me a pad is essential. If I could afford bespoke guns, I'd probably have no pads.

My only gun that has a replacement stock made for me is a 12. In ordinary hunting use, it doesn't kick me at all if I mount it correctly. The one time I used it for crows, it started to hurt after about 40 rounds, probably because I DIDN'T mount it right one or more times. Doves in Argentina would get painful! (Perhaps fortunately, I can't afford them either.....)

For some, life may well be too short to hunt with an ugly gun. On a limited budget, I'd MUCH rather HUNT with an ugly gun than sit home and look at a real beaut!

Merry Christmas to everybody! Very glad to have the Forum and your company!

Mike Armstrong

Amen, brother. Preach on!

All good points, pro and con. Certainly if your physical build needs that extra spacer for you to shoot it well, then you've got to do it. I do understand that. Ditto for those who shoot clays or skeet or any sport which requires multiple shots. As strange as it sounds, I never consider shotguns in those contexts: I don't involve myself in the shooting sports so it never enters my mind that the pads serve a legitimate purpose for those who do. I always look at a shotgun as a potential hunter because that's what I do with them.

I guess I wrote that post a little too soon after going through pictures of a bunch of beautiful old guns, with beautiful wood, most of which ended in a pad. I was a bit worked up, you might say. The ironic thing is I actually used to think a leather pad on a gun looked nice. Who knows? The day may come when a beautiful gun catches my heart and the pad seems to actually enhance its attraction.

Thanks for all the opinions and reasonings.

My Iver Johnson Supertrap came this way from the factory. Pad on a trap gun makes a lot of sense and the Jostam Antiflinch is one of my favorites:

One more reason for a expertly installed pad is physical (medical) problems. Over the years I've had both shoulders rebuilt and have run into some recoil issues. On my upland guns really don't have any problem as they are the smaller gauges so no pads. But for a lot of my waterfowl shooting with the 12 ga. I need a pad, also on shotguns where I'm going to shoot 100 or more shells in a day. So that's the way I do it to continue my shotgun shooting.

You've got no argument from me,popplecop! To keep you in the field, and with as much you shoot, I'd say the pads are a Godsend! Keep on goin'!

The day will come when all I want to shoot is a gas auto with a pad. When that day arrives, I'll be happy that I am still out hunting.