Installing a recoil pad?

F

Farmer17

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
5,628
Reaction score
7,345
Location
Edmond, OK
I recently picked up a new Remington 700 BDL 30-06 and mounted a 2-7 Redfield on it and I haven't fired it yet but I'm pretty sure I'll want a recoil pad. The stock is actually a hair too long for me so I was going to shorten it so the total length of pull with the pad is about a 1/2" shorter than it is currently. I installed a recoil pad on a cheap Mossberg shotgun with synthetic stock and it turned out great but this M700 has really beautiful wood and I would hate to screw it up. I have watched a couple of Youtube videos and I don't think it will be a problem I was just wondering if anyone had any tips or feed back to assist in the process.
 
^^ What he said. Too easy to screw it up. I replaced the recoil pad on my Winchester 70 but I didn't shorten the stock. If you just want to add a pad, some of the manufacturers make direct replacements that might be close enough. If you really want to shorten the stock, take it to a professional.
 
Last edited:
Re:OP. With all respect, take the rifle to a good gunsmith and have him properly fit the recoil pad. I have from time to time done a recoil pad or two on shotguns and rifles. If you do it enough, you get good at it. But, if you only do one once in a blue moon, it is very difficult to do the job w/o any bobbles. I'm not saying that a careful worker cannot do such work. I am saying that I've done a few, but that was years ago. Now over twenty years later, if I had a rifle that needed a recoil pad, I'd go to a good gunsmith and have him fit a Pachmayr Decelerator. The one I had fitted on my 700 BDL LH back in 1985 never gave anything but extremely excellent results! JMHO. Sincerely. brucev.
 
I know Jay from setting up at National Gun Day gun shows and he does a great job installing recoil pads. I've seen red pads really clean up old waffle pachmyer recoil pads on nice doubles.

Vintage Firearms, Inc.
 
Making that cut to remove the 1/2" or so t fit you is a critical cut. Just a little off in any direction can really make a difference. You need a jig to properly set up the gun t make the cut. Leave it to a pro.
 
All it takes is one wood splinter to ruin a good stock.

My age is probably showing but many years, I put a recoil pad on a shotgun and it consisted of a rubber sock-like device with the pad on the bottom. The rubber was stretched and fit over the stock until the pad was fit against the base of the stock. It was a rather slick device which required no screws holes to be drilled. The original butt plate could be removed if a slightly shorter stock was desired and put back on when the recoil pad sock was removed. No permanent modifications to the gun. I don't even know if those "sock recoil pads" are even made any more. It just might be what would solve the problem.
 
BigBoy99 said:
All it takes is one wood splinter to ruin a good stock.

My age is probably showing but many years, I put a recoil pad on a shotgun and it consisted of a rubber sock-like device with the pad on the bottom. The rubber was stretched and fit over the stock until the pad was fit against the base of the stock. It was a rather slick device which required no screws holes to be drilled. The original butt plate could be removed if a slightly shorter stock was desired and put back on when the recoil pad sock was removed. No permanent modifications to the gun. I don't even know if those "sock recoil pads" are even made any more. It just might be what would solve the problem.
Click to expand...

Just put one of these on my Beretta. Pachmayr and Kickeze make them in small/medium/large sizes. Works nicely and doesn't mar the stock.
 
I put a pad on my Savage......

I put a pad on my Savage 110 with the synthetic stock because I didn't want to put any money into it and it turned out ok even if it was kinda Bubba, but very usable and worked great. A good gun with good wood I wouldn't try, especially without the right clamps, jigs, templates, grinders or whatever. If I had messed up the Savage it would have been 'Oh well", but nice gun would be an 'Oh no."
 
Limbsaver medium slip on fit my 700 BDL with a 4 15/16" stock. Ugly but effective. The multiple choices of the trim to fit or prefitted with close but no cigar tolerances made me go for the quick fix.

Kind of a gooey texture when it came out of the package made me hope it wouldn't melt after a while so I dusted it with corn starch before I slipped it on. A year later and regularly used it held up fine and can still slip it on and off easily. Installed over the existing pad added about 1/2 inch to the throw and it doesn't move around during use.
 
Agree that it is a job for a PRO on a nice gun.

I did some of my own work for a rough Remington 1100.

I removed the stock and paid a local cabinet maker to make the cut.
He dis some magical adjustment on his table saw and made the cut
parallel to the original end.
He said no charge, but it was the best $10 I spent in a long time.

I did my own filing and sanding. Not EXACTLY flush with the wood but
plenty good considering the general condition of the shotgun.
 
good info above, all I can add is measure twice and cut once, use a sharp, finer blade saw......take your time, neatness counts
 
H Richard said:
Making that cut to remove the 1/2" or so t fit you is a critical cut. Just a little off in any direction can really make a difference. You need a jig to properly set up the gun t make the cut. Leave it to a pro.
Click to expand...

This is correct...you also need the jig to properly grind the recoil pad to exact size and angle or it will not look good. Between the setup to cut off the stock and the recoil pad jig you will easily tie up several hundred dollars. I don't think I have ever charged more than $60-70 to do the job.
 
I was a "Pro" for many years and putting a recoil pad on a shortened stock is not a job to take lightly or without the proper tools, attitude and intestinal fortitude. I sweated blood one time after being asked to shorten the stock on a $10,000 Perazzi and put on a decelerator type pad. I did the job, but probably took 4 hours to do what I usually did in about an hour. ................. Big Cholla
 
I've done it for my guns, and some were very nice figured wood. I fitted a Win Model Pre 64 steel recoil pad to a model 12 shotgun I was refinishing, it brought tons of Wow's. It took a longtime.

To learn this portion I started on some cheap guns back when you could buy used and or rough Mossbergs 500's, High Standard or Savage pumps for under 50 bucks. And most of them had an UGLY home brew pad on it. Now a quality pad will cost that.

If you have ever seen a bubba done recoil pad you will gladly let a pro do it.

I was doing one fancy AA stock that was going to use a rubber pad. I had my friend who does it for a living do that one. Sure I could have done it, but my friend is a gunsmith who does stocks superbly. I had to refinish a stock or two for him in trade. I was glad I used him.
 
Getting the end of the stock flat is the first hurdle.
A table saw will do it but may result in chip out on the edges. A paneling blade helps reduce that.

I use a handsaw and follow up with a belt sander
Belt sanding the saw cut w/a 50 or 80 grit belt can sharpen up and square up the saw cut nicely.
But it can also take you to bad territory very quickly if you're not paying attention. They cut very very quickly!
Free hand cutting takes some experience. If you want to use a fixture to hold it while sanding, the odd shape of the butt stock makes for some creative design.

You can relieve the center of the wood on the end of the butt stock with a scraper and allow the butt pad to contact only around the edges. That makes for an easier fit. A very common way of doing it before machines and factory fitting were common.

Then fitting the flush surfaces together is done. Trying to get the pad down as close to the stock as possible w/o touching the wood is difficult.
I fit them right to the wood and the wood gets refinished. But with the few I do, they are part of restoration jobs, so it's not a problem re-doing the wood.
Many times the wood needs reshaping anyway from bellied & tapered shaped sides on the butt stock to straight sides. The former makes a fitted pad look sad when viewed from the top or bottom of the stock.

Anything short of that will be an 'all most' perfect fit. Some better that others, but none will be that perfect wood to pad fit of one done where the the two are sanded as one.

The one thing to make sure you do is keep the toe line of the stock continuous as it makes it way out onto the pad.
A break there in line is a disaster from a visual standpoint and is a sure give-away of an amateur job.

It's not easy,,take your time no matter how you approach it.
Just my .02
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

antiques24
New wheelchair ramp VA installed
Replies
6
Views
425
Kinman
Kinman
Ghost Magnum
351 Cleveland pushrods, rocker arms & intake installed
Replies
4
Views
378
Ghost Magnum
Ghost Magnum
Jeff423
Water heater installation cost
2 3
Replies
48
Views
1K
ACORN
ACORN
Ghost Magnum
New AC Installed On My Motorhome
Replies
10
Views
565
Ghost Magnum
Ghost Magnum
biku324
A Crook is a Crook
4 5 6
Replies
101
Views
4K
Ματθιας
Ματθιας

Latest posts

Back
Top