FITTING RECOIL PADS

In the gun shop one of the most common stock alterations is adding a recoil pad to a shotgun or
high-power rifle. In most cases, very few gunsmiths turned out a good-looking job. When a gun owner
brings in a good-looking weapon to have a recoil pads installed, he expects that installing the recoil pad
should not mar the general appearance of his gun. In all the fitting of a recoil pad, they should fit flush
against the butt of the stock at all contacting points. They should blend in with general lines of the stock
itself, and above all the old finish should not be damaged while installing the pad.

SELECTING THE PROPER RECOIL PAD

When the customer brings in a gun to have a recoil pad installed, the gunsmiths should first find out from
the customer just what make of pad he would like to have installed. In most cases, the shooter does
have a definite preference as to what make of pad they want and it is advisable to satisfy him in using
the pad of his choice. Sometimes, the customer brings in a particular recoil pad to be fitted, but before
he leaves, make certain that the recoil pad is large enough, both in length and width to fit the gun.

When you buy a recoil pad, there will be three sizes, which are small, medium, and large. The pad that
you select should conform has nearly to the finish butt size as possible. By selecting the pad that will fit
closely to the butt of the stock, a good deal of unnecessary cutting of the pad will save much time.

THE STOCK LENGTH

Once you have selected the correct size of the recoil pad, find out from the customer the length of the
stock that he wants to end up with on his gun. Find out if the stock as it is now is too short or too long for
the tide of shooting that he does. If the stock is too long now, then a 1/4 of an inch may have to be
removed from the stock to bring it down to proper size after the recoil pad is mounted. If it is too short,
all that needs to be done is too square up the end of the stock before adding a recoil pad.

Two major up the stock carefully measure from front to back of the recoat pad (at its middles section)
and marked this distance calls from the end of the butt plate on both sides of the stock. You also need
to measure the distance from the trigger to the butt stock toe, as this must be taken into account for the
proper pitch to be achieved.

After the centerline and pitch-line distances have been taken and marked off, a line should be scribed
around the stock to show where the sawing off of the stock is to be done. By doing this, the original
pitch and general measurements of the stock will be the same after the recoil pad is on the gun.

PITCH

The pitch is important stance it can affect the shooting qualities of a gun. Pay individual who is the
custom to one particular pitch on his shotgun may find that the shotgun shoots different after the recoil
pad is put on. Therefore, it is wise to not change the pitch of the stock very much.