Leather faced pad

[Bruce Day]

I am going to leather face ( not leather cover) a Silvers recoil pad that I have on a C. I have thin black leather and Barge cement. It looks like a straightforward job. Is it as simple as it appears and any pointers?

[Dean Romig]

Well Bruce, it has been a good three hours since you posted the question...

I would suggest also asking over on the gunshop.com website. There are some very knowledgable and helpful gents over there who I am sure could offer some excellent advice.

Dean

[John Campbell]

Bruce:
Basically, you are correct. It is essentially simple. But... (there always is one) it is the "curve" of the butt that will hang you up as well as the Barge cement. You must find a way to get the leather onto the pad and smooth it out before the cement fixes it forever. You may also find that you have to thin the Barge a bit to keep lumps out of the surface. Use Barge thinner only. A shoe man can get you some. Best to cover TWO pads. One for practice, one for real. Especially on a C grade gun. Of course you trim the oversize leather after attachment.

Best, Kensal

[Bruce Day]

Phil Carr has sent me some excellent instructions and I will follow those.

[tom leshinsky]

Bruce Please share those excellent instruction with the rest of us. Thanks

[Bruce Day]

I have been asked to provide a step by step photo guide and I will , incorporating Phil's guide.

What I have is a 1905 CHE Bernard with high straight stock, originally a no safety gun, went back and a safety was added and a Jostam two layer red and black sponge pad put on. The sponge pad was hard and crushed, and Briley put on a Silvers for me. Parker put on leather faced pads , there were some with full leather covered pads, but many more with leather faced Silvers. So I have photos from an A-1S with leather faced pad, I have thin black leather from a bootmaker friend, Barge cement, and Phil's instructions. What I want is an authentic, dressed up look.

[Rick Losey]

i have done a full leather covered pad in the past, but had not heard of leather faced.


is this just what it sounds like? just the back end surface covered with leather? how well do they hold up and is it meant as a non slip application?

[Bruce Day]

Yes.
Yes.
I have seen them last for 100 years.
Don't know.

See TPS for examples. On Parkers, they are not uncommon. Full leather covered pads are rare on Parkers and usually raise an issue about authenticity. There are some backed by factory letters.

[Rick Losey]

Yes.
Yes.
I have seen them last for 100 years.
Don't know.

See TPS for examples. On Parkers, they are not uncommon. Full leather covered pads are rare on Parkers and usually raise an issue about authenticity. There are some backed by factory letters.

thanks Bruce

I did the covered pad to extend the length of pull on a London Hammer gun.

[Bruce Day]

Sure, and I think they look elegant regardless of what gun they are on.

[Bill Murphy]

The leather faced pads I have seen on older guns seem to taper down to nothing at the edges. Do we think this is from wear or is the leather somehow shaved at installation? I have a leather faced G&H Silvers repro on a thirties Springfield sporter that a Maryland riflemaker did for me. He also did one of the best leather covered pads I have ever seen on a DHE skeet configured 12. His plugs are perfect or close to it. He even plugged the faced Springfield. Unfortunately, he won't take any more work. He says his secret to perfect plugs is to use wood dowels, not rubber plugs. They are much easier to cut and shape and they can be easily cut to length and can be tapered for a tight fit. Personally, I wouldn't plug a leather face, but he just did it as an added touch. It is quite elegant looking.

[Rick Losey]

I would guess the leather was skived prior to installation. Skiving's purpose is to thin edges (or specific spots) of leather for neatness.

[Austin W Hogan]

I have had two original leather faced pads on trap guns. One was red and one black.

I made a leather faced pad on a thick Galazan replica pad for my live bird/trap gun. It has stood up to several years of a club trap league, and was not difficult to make.

Contour the face of the pad to your fit. Be sure the face is at a right angle to the sides of the pad all the way around, except the toe.
Select a scrap of tanned, split, leather in your choice of color and thickness.
Coat the face of the pad, and the leather with a coat of DUCO cement, and allow to dry.
Apply a second coat of DUCO to the pad, and roll on the leather, sttarting at the toe.
Continue to roll over the leather until the DUCO appears to be dry. Allow to stand overnight.
Rest leather face on cutting board and trim with razor blade or exacto knife .

A missed spot on the edge can be repaired with DUCO. The cut edge can be rounded with fine sand paper.

Best, Austin

[Fred Preston]

I have a nice old BHE 12 with great dimensions for me and the original SSBP. The butt doesn't seem to fit right; it sort of slips and doesn't lock in; maybe the pitch isn't right. I really don't want to paste anything on the butt. Would a leather patch sewn or tied on the shirt or jacket be the better approach? Anyone else have this problem?

[David Holes]

Some of the shooting vests have a shoulder pocket for adding cushion or what ever else you want. My guns that don't fit right get custom fit with this vest. Hopes this helps, Dave

[Dean Romig]

Fred, have you tried one of the slip-on leather pads that are secured with a Velcro wrap-around flap?

I use them a lot and find they are just the ticket.

[Dave Suponski]

Fred, I have two guns with skeleton butts on them and I have to use slip on pads or they slide all over hell and creation.

[Bill Murphy]

I have done different things to cure slippage, but recently, I have cut up a sticky back sanding disc into several pieces and just a small piece applied to the skeleton butt or hard recoil pad does the trick and can be removed in seconds.

[Daryl Corona]

The most effective non slip surface for any butt surface that I have found is RTV silicone. It can usually be found at most HVAC or restaurant supply houses for about $7.00/ 11oz tube. Apply it, wet your finger and evenly smear it over the surface you want covered. Allow it to cure for about 12 hours and you're good to go. It can easily be peeled off leaving no trace behind. Another source may be WW Grainger. Feel free to contact me if you are having trouble finding it. I use it every day in my job and its uses are like WD40.
BTW- If your gun is slipping off your shoulder after each shot your pitch is wrong. Period.
Daryl

[Bill Murphy]

Daryl, we won't be modifying the pitch on our skeleton butt guns, no matter how many birds we miss.

[Daryl Corona]

Bill,
I've modified the pitch on a number of my guns with no damage to the original butt. Using the RTV as an adhesive and adding anywhere from 1/16-1/8" of leather rubber to either the heel or toe will keep the gun on your shoulder. It does'nt take much to correct the pitch for shootable dimensions. Anyone who would cut a SSBP should have his head examined and be banned from owning any nice gun.