Leather faced pad

[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.

[OH Osthaus]

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