adding a modern recoil pad ?

[Milton Starr]

well the recoil pad on my gun isn't original in fact looks like a boot heel .
im thinking if I have the barrels re-damacused and bores polished. Probably leave the wood alone because the wood finish doesn't bother me besides it has a few chips and nicks in the stock. though im thinking the recoil pad needs to go it looks bad possibly homemade ?

anyhow ive been wanting one of these http://www.pachmayr.com/home/T550.php with the pigeon face . Ive always had a problem with guns slipping off my shoulder. I always shoot in T-shirts . Its south Georgia it pretty much stay hot here today it was in the 70s ! and its late December .

only hesitations I have I I slike a short length of pull around 13.5" though I have long arms so the stock would need to be trimmed down. has any of yall added a rubber recoil pad to a old field grade shotgun to make it more pleasurable to shoot ?

[Wild Skies]

Here's a modern recoil pad that would look more age-appropriate for your damascus gun. Note the shape is contoured to help prevent slippage when mounted into your shoulder pocket.
http://www.mbabllc.com/catalog/item/7927876/9579131.htm

[Milton Starr]

I know the red recoil pads is what was on a lot of vintage guns . But I jut don't really like them to me its distracting if that makes sense. Not distracting in a functional sense but in appearance . guns with the old style red recoil pads all I see is the recoil pad lol .

[B. Dudley]

For a vintage gun, nothing looks more correct than a Silvers style pad as mentioned above. A Noshoc, Hawkins or other similar style of pad is nice too. And they have that type of shape that works for what you are looking for.

However, I understand not liking the red color. In which case, sometimes a brown or black pad will better suit.
I think that a very nice Modern pad on a classic gun is the Pachmyer Old English pad. It has a clean and classic look that is not distracting. And it is offered in the. Decelerated material to have a nice cushion.
They also offer this pad in a porting clays model which has the hard plastic insert on the top as to not catch the shirt.
Kick-eez also makes som very nice cushy pads in black color of different shapes for different types of shooting.

The particular pad you provided the link to May very well suit your needs and I will not debate that. The installation of any pad to a normal length stock will require cutting of the stock. Unless the stock is short to start with. Most pads are 1" thick. And if you like 13.5" lop, then you would have to trim It down to 12.5" at the wood. To be quite direct, this will destroy the resale value of the gun since it's chances of being put back to a normal length for another shooter have been diminished. Short of putting a 1.5" thick pad or spacers on it, which also can look odd.

The Old english pads are offered in 1/2", 3/4" and 1" thick. Maybe cutting to 13" LOP and using a .5" pad will be better since a 1" pad can always be added to bring it back out to 14" LOP.
Anyway... these are just things to consider. Obviously any pad needs to be expertly fitted to the stock for a proper installation.

One other thing to consider is the pitch of the butt on your gun. Flip the gun upside down and measure the angle of the buttplate surface. It if it striaght up and down 90 degree (or 0 pitch) that might be more of your issue. I have found that 0 pitch guns are more likely to want to slip off the shoulder than guns with maybe 3-5 degrees of pitch to them. putting some pitch on them will make the gun recoil down into the shoulder instead of off. If you have to trim the butt anyway for a pad, might want to trim it with a pitch to it. You may find that the crescent shaped pad may not be needed.

[Jawjadawg]

I have read of a technique used by people to season the color of the pad by taking a cotton swap and rubbing with spent gunpowder. Search the lc smith site. I think Rev Drew might be the source.

Does anyone know the depth of that pad on mbabllc? I'd like to add a pad with 1-1/4" of depth, but I only see 1" and 1-1/2" on galzan. Can the taller pad be reduced?

[B. Dudley]

The Silvers style pads can be shaped. Many like rounded edges and tops and the elimination of the indentation in the middle. However, making all that grinding look smooth and even can be a trick. A 1" pad with an additional 1/4" spacer may be a better option. for a 1-1/4" pad.

I use a lot of the Galazan "Period Correct" pads. Which looks just like the silvers pads. I really like them because they are VERY flexible. They can be conformed to the curved butts of an original Parker very nicely. Making the need to trim the stock a non issue. I usually keep at least 3 or 4 of these pads on hand.

[Milton Starr]

Thank you all for the replies. I understand that having the pad fitted would hurt the resale but this is was only a 500$ sxs . Now I have seen the same model and gauge with people asking 2500-3000$ but they have more of their finish left on them . its a c.g bonehill 1886 model. Eventually I want to get the barrels re finished but not sure I can afford a Damascus job . I am going to get a professional gunsmith to install the pad .

[B. Dudley]

Contact dale Edmonds in Kansas City on the barrels. He is very reasonable. PM me if you want his contact info.

[Steve McCarty]

I am not a collector. I am a shooter. If one of my guns has a hard original butt plate, I do not change it. I just shoot it, but if a gun has some kind of after market soft recoil pad I don't hesitate to change it. My Parker SBT had a trashed Silver's Pad, and I replaced it with a new Silver's pad. I am happy.

I love shooting old shotguns. If it isn't at least 50 years old, I shy away from it (but I did buy a new 870 20 gauge gun a few years ago). Frankly I have never been hurt by a shotgun so I don't mind shooting them with hard butt plates. Shoot what makes you happy. Resale? Smesale. Do what you want to do.

[Milton Starr]

Well the recoil pad on it looks like it was made from a piece of black tile or something flat but not recoil pad material. it shoots soft I just the the recoil pad takes away from the looks and it has some big ugly screws exposed holding the "pad" on that are a eye sore.
Though I may sell this gun to fund another project or I may keep . Who knows im pretty whimsical lol