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.
|