FINISHING OUT THE SAWED OFF BUTT STOCK
When you have finished sawing off the butt stock it will be necessary to sand the butt end of the stock
after sawing, and before installing the recoil pad. You have to make sure that the recoil pad will fit
perfectly true so that there is no space or uneven in line between the wood and the pad. You can mount
a piece of sandpaper on a flat woodblock, but you have to be especially careful that the block does not
rollover on each end of the stock. You can place the stock vertically between the padded jaws of a vise.
Then, true the butt end with one thickness of sandpaper tacked to a flat board. I usually use a piece of
hardwood about eight inches long and two inches wide for sanding the butt. You can attach the
abrasive paper with contact cement to hold it in place. You had to be especially careful to be sure you
do not round off the tow and heel of the butt during the smoothing up operations.
CUTTING THE RECOIL PAD TO THE PROPER SIZE
When you have selected the proper size of the recoil pad, place it against the butt stock with the heel of
the pad as near as possible in line with the heel of the butt stock, and be careful that the entire pad is
centered on the gunstock. When you have the pad centered, punch a center mark through the top screw
hole where a hole is drilled to take a screw. Now take a screw, lubricate it with a fine oil, and tighten it in
place. Now with the pad partly in place, get a sharp scribe to mark the butt stock outlined on the hard
rubber portion of the recoil pad. When that is done unscrew the pad from the stock and with a belt
sander or some other type of grinder, grind all of the excess material from the pad. Be extra careful to
shape the toe of the pad at an angle that will blend in with the stock lines when the pad is mounted in
place.
After you have finished grinding the pad down to the scribe line, screw the pad to the stock and realign it
into the proper position. At this point, the toe hole should be drilled into the stock and a screw tightened
in place. Sometimes it is necessary to scribe a new line on the recoil pad since the earlier mark that
you had scribed onto the pad will be slightly off when you have screwed in the second screw. You must
be careful here and exert a little extra care in grinding since the position on the stock is now determined
and you probably will not have very little room for correcting mistakes.
FINAL SHAPING OF THE PAD
After you have the pad screwed in place, I usually apply a strip of masking tape around the stock next to
the recoil pad. What this does it is to keep you from making a mistake and put sanding marks on the
finish of the stock. Use finer grit of sandpaper when you sand down the pad to the masking tape. Go
around the butt plate with the sandpaper of about 120 grit. Keep sanding until you are just touching the
masking tape. If you are careful, you can use a sanding desk in a drill or a drill press. Take the pad
down until it is flushed with the masking tape. What ever you do, never shape the recoil pad while it is
on the stock to finish it. There are very few, if any gunsmiths who can grind a recoil pad down while it is
attached to the stock without scratching or marring the stock in some way.
A scratch stock is certainly no indication of the gunsmith's skill. After you have the recoil pad finished,
rub a bit of linseed oil over the butt end before finally putting on the recoil pad. This will darken the
edges of the wood slightly to help match the butt plate. Never use any type of glue to help fasten the butt