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?
I'm waiting for Trevallion's new edition of Shotgun Technicana, as I don't have a copy. But, thanks for the heads up.
Just so there's no further misunderstanding, I'm interested in help with FACING a recoil pad with leather ........ not the same as a leather COVERED pad.
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:
I've used both Kangaroo and Hairsheep (a cross breed of a domestic sheep I'm told) leather for leather covered pads.
I've always acquired it from Columbia Organ Leathers in PA.
They supply the stuff mainly for the restoration of the musical instrument(s).
They can supply it in various thickness all the way down to .008/.010 with some of the same offerings up to .025. Other types go thicker and up into the .035 to .050 range.
Some are white color, but there are also brown, black and maroon.
The Kangaroo leather is quite something to work with. Sometimes you don't even need to soak the leather in water to get it to stretch over the pad and get the wrinkles out.
Some States ban the import to their State of Kangaroo leather in any form,,rough leather or in the form of completed clothing or foot wear. So don't be surprised if that becomes an issue.
I understand that not many have actually seen them, but may I once again state ......... I'm not talking about leather covered pads. I'm talking about Silvers type pads that are faced with leather........on the back .........where it contacts the shoulder ........not the sides. Graded Fox guns were done this way, at the owners request, when ordered. It is a classy way of facing the contact surface of a recoil pad.
Thanks, Bobby. I may give you a call and talk about it one evening soon.
For those of you that may be interested in learning that there are other ways to apply leather to a pad than completely covering it, here's a link:
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