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.

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

Leather Faced Pads
 

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

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?

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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