Hard Recoil Pad?

Papa72

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I purchased my Mauser .458WM earlier this year from a LGS at a very decent price knowing it was due for a few upgrades. The unknown gunmaker was a true artisan as evidenced by the fit and finish of the metal and gorgeous wood. The LGS estimated it was built in the 60’s or 70’s. It has a 26” barrel, Bold trigger, and retains the Mauser flag safety.
The “Old English” recoil pad was hard as Viagra on Saturday night. After watching a few videos, I decided the grind-to-fit process was within my capabilities so set about to order a new Pachmayr pad identical to the original. Well, the pad is the same but now says “Decelerator” instead of “ Old English”. Bummer.
The layout and grinding process is not difficult at all. The grinding part took about 30 minutes on my 4”x 36” vertical benchtop belt sander from Harbor Freight. It’s messy: rubber flies everywhere. It’s the same process for any brand of pad, but does require careful setup. I did mine on the open tailgate of my truck on a sunny day. The end result was great & my finished pad actually fits better than the factory pad on my new Ruger African! Good light is everything…almost.
The other thing is a grinding fixture. I bought a Miles Gilbert grinding fixture online for about $55. Took about 15 minutes to setup the stock’s comb and toe angles on the fixture & mount the pad for grinding. Follow the directions and it’s almost foolproof. So, here I sit with another tool (fixture) that I bought & used one time. Therefore, if any established member would like to replace their recoil pad(s) DIY shoot me a DM and I’ll loan you this fixture. If I get multiple DMs, then the 1st user just agrees to pass it on when finished. When everybody’s done, send it back.
 
Don't be bummed--the Decelerator is a much better pad than the Old English and looks the same. Easy to grind, too. I especially like the one with a narrow band of hard material at the top of the comb--it makes it easier to shoulder the gun without the rubber snagging on jacket material.
 
Agree it definitely is better material than the original. I just thought the Old English logo looked more “expensive” than Decelerator.
 
My buddy gave me a recoil pad cutting jig. Can't recall the name but probably the same brand. It worked slick! I ordered one of those Old English pads. Be careful to avoid ordering on that is too large. If trimmed into the baffles it's in the trash. Had to toss mine. Also the Pachmayer screws are WAAAY too long. Trying to drill the pilot holes for them I had two drills snap off in the stock. What a mess! Toss those screws and buy something about half as long.
 
Interesting you mentioned that, Ontario. I used the Lyman template to determine the size I needed, which indicated large. The online retailer was out of stock for a red pad in large, ‘tho. I remeasured on the template and the medium size would just fit…barely. So, I ordered a medium pad to get one in red. When it arrived, the Pachmayr packaging said medium and the printed dimensions were for a medium pad, but the pad itself was a large one. Got lucky on that one which ain’t at all typical for me.
 
I measured the back end of the new unfinished stock to determine the size recoil pad I would need. Forgot to deduct an inch for thickness of pad. Always account for this when calculating the size recoil pad. When I cut off the inch of wood to adjust for recoil pad thickness, the Old English pad I bought was too large. Cutting it down resulted in me cutting into the baffles. I had a salvaged "White Line" shotgun pad that I made work. No problem cutting that large pad down.
20231019_114147.jpg
 
Nice rifle and pad install as well. I was contemplating a new pad for my new(ish) Ruger African .375 but as the factory stock on that rifle is too slender for me at the wrist area my designs now will be for a total restock.
 
I have the wheeler engineering grinding fixture that I have used a number of times on various rifles, including the .458 whitworth in my other thread. As a point to anyone who wants to do this, adding WD40 to the belt on the sander periodically while working the pad gives a factory-esque finish on the final shaping. Otherwise you end up with the belt grabbing the pad and leaving little tears evrywhere that show up as a very matte finish.
 
BTW, isn't "hard recoil pad" actually an oxymoron? And yet some guns come that way!
 
Next time I’ll try the WD40 method. Sounds logical albeit more messy I’m thinking.
 
I have the wheeler engineering grinding fixture that I have used a number of times on various rifles, including the .458 whitworth in my other thread. As a point to anyone who wants to do this, adding WD40 to the belt on the sander periodically while working the pad gives a factory-esque finish on the final shaping. Otherwise you end up with the belt grabbing the pad and leaving little tears evrywhere that show up as a very matte finish.

I might give the WD40 method a try the next time around and see how it compares..

Ive replaced probably a half dozen pads over the last 3 or 4 years.. I used to go with Pachmeyr decellerators exclusively, but Ive really become fond of the NECG universal pads lately and the last 2 jobs I have done have been with them.. I find that as long as I finish with a high grit belt (I typically start with a 60 grit to hog off large amounts of material.. then when I get to about 1mm left to go around the edges I start working down to 120, 240, 400, and then finish up with 600 grit) I get a very fine, factory looking finish...

but that takes a whole lot of belt swapping... and Im guessing not everyone has a 2x72 belt grinder out in the garage with hundreds of belts ranging from 20 grit to 1000 grit just laying around lol.. (I do quite a bit of metal and wood work where the 2x72 gets a whole lot of use)...

 
I might give the WD40 method a try the next time around and see how it compares..

Ive replaced probably a half dozen pads over the last 3 or 4 years.. I used to go with Pachmeyr decellerators exclusively, but Ive really become fond of the NECG universal pads lately and the last 2 jobs I have done have been with them.. I find that as long as I finish with a high grit belt (I typically start with a 60 grit to hog off large amounts of material.. then when I get to about 1mm left to go around the edges I start working down to 120, 240, 400, and then finish up with 600 grit) I get a very fine, factory looking finish...

but that takes a whole lot of belt swapping... and Im guessing not everyone has a 2x72 belt grinder out in the garage with hundreds of belts ranging from 20 grit to 1000 grit just laying around lol.. (I do quite a bit of metal and wood work where the 2x72 gets a whole lot of use)...

Yeah, I just use my little grizzly 4x48 belt sander. A 2x72 would be nice for contours and such, but for metal working, my next purchase will be a langmuir systems CNC plasma table.

Anyway, I only go to 220 grit with WD40 and get a smooth pad with sharp corners.
 
Nice rifle and pad install as well. I was contemplating a new pad for my new(ish) Ruger African .375 but as the factory stock on that rifle is too slender for me at the wrist area my designs now will be for a total restock.
If you don't mind doing a lot of wood shaping finish inletting and finishing, Richard's Microfit stocks are pretty nice!
 
If you don't mind doing a lot of wood shaping finish inletting and finishing, Richard's Microfit stocks are pretty nice!

One of those NECG pad installs mentioned above was on a Richard’s microfit…

I actually had it out tonight.. I swapped out triggers on the rifle and had to do a little additional inletting to get the integral safety to fit and function properly..

The price on a microfit is good as well… I really like the one on the 30-06 I was tinkering around with tonight…
 
I use a 6" belt grinder 60 grt down to a 400 and then finish by hand with a wood block until I can feel no ridge at the fit with my fingernail,.but been doing them that way for 60 years, probably not for the beginner, back in the day it was the only..A proper recoil pad is actually one of the most difficult installations I can think of, few are correct unless wood and rubber are sanded together with a block, but thats best left to the stock maker for a custom rifle on a blank, not a finished rifle.
 
Don't be bummed--the Decelerator is a much better pad than the Old English and looks the same. Easy to grind, too. I especially like the one with a narrow band of hard material at the top of the comb--it makes it easier to shoulder the gun without the rubber snagging on jacket material.
Also makes it easier for gun to fall over if it's leaned against something butt on the floor. Be aware!
 
I used disk sander attachment on my Shopsmith to grind my pad. It worked slick. Very easy to change grits.
 
Since I originally posted, I ground another Decelerator for the poor man’s double I built. Tried the WD-40 trick but quickly abandoned that effort…WAY too messy for me. What I did do differently was use aluminum duct tape on the pad’s base and Xacto knife instead of scribing the plastic and filling the line with chalk or talc. Much easier edge to see IMO.
 
Don't be bummed--the Decelerator is a much better pad than the Old English and looks the same. Easy to grind, too. I especially like the one with a narrow band of hard material at the top of the comb--it makes it easier to shoulder the gun without the rubber snagging on jacket material.
Hi I'm a custom stock maker in Australia and after many years of trial and error I found that the kick ezz recoil pads are the way to go. In the very hot and humid conditions in the Northern Territory in Australia and the very hot and humid conditions in Africa the kick ezz recoil pads do not suffer hydrosis as they are made from sorbothane not rubber. As you well know decelerator pads break down and go hard after some time kick ezz pads don't I have them on all my rifles and after 15yrs haven't had any drama's. You can get them in 1 3/8" in black magnum pad, and in std pads they are varied from 12mm-28mm in black,brown, orange and red. Just my 2 cents and knowledge
 
Thanks, Brett! Great info & welcome to AH. Your knowledge will be well appreciated here. I have one rifle left to re-pad so will look at those Kick Ezz!
 

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