CSMC Best period

[Rick Riddell]

I have a VHE with a broken butt plate and was hoping to replace it with one of the correct period recoil pads from CSMC. The pad is 6" long and my stock measures 4 3/4, will this pad work or when grinding to fit will I run into where the holes are? This is a new adventure for me so I apologize if it sounds confusing!

[John Campbell]

Why not try to keep the gun a bit more toward the look of originality and replace the broken plate with one of CSMC's repro Parker Plates? Better yet... why not let them do it?

[George M. Purtill]

Will CSMC do that?

[Brian Dudley]

Here are things to consider...

Any buttplate will require some fitting both around the outside and also in the spur area. Either the spur on the buttplate or the wood needs work. This is because no two plates are exactly the same.

Also, the screws will need work to get them timed correctly on the new plate.

If looking at installing a recoil pad, this can be done, but you need a pad that will flex since the buttplate is curved. The CSMC period correct pads and the Repro silvers pads work well for this. They do not have a metal plate in them so you can grind them to smaller sizes with no issues.

If your gun now has a spurred buttplate, you have to consider what to do with that. Their "period correct pad" has a spur, but it is significantly smaller than the original Parker spur. So, you will have to put a spur on the pad. What I like to do is remove the spur from the broken plate, or remove one from another broken plate and glue it to the pad. Then you have to grind the pad with the attached spur for a proper fit.

The CSMC repro silvers pads ($50) are a very nice pad to work with and the Red color (as opposed to orange) is very nice.

Also, most times original screw holes have to be plugged and re-drilled when installing a pad due to different screw spacing.

[Rick Riddell]

Thanks Brian, CSMC pads are on sale, so it makes it a good choice, I was curious if the 6"pad will would work, I understand the mentioned above, my concern was grinding one to fit a 4 3/4" stock without interfering with the predrilled holes in the pad. I not sure if there is an extra 1 1/4inch that could be removed without interference.