Softer recoil pads

[Blackwater]

I haven't typically been very recoil sensitive, but now that I'm older, I "enjoy" kick less and less it seems. I put a Pachmyr Decelerator on a couple of my guns, and they really seemed to make them shoot a LOT softer. A friend has been touting the Kick-Eze and the other brand of "gel" pads that I can't recall right now. From the outset, I suspected that pads THAT soft might not hold up in the safe in an upright position, resting on those soft pads. Now, it seems that my fears have been proven valid, and he's got to replace his pads on several of his guns. Has anyone else noted this phenomena - gel pads not lasting that long before having to be replaced?

My Decelerators seem to be holding up very well over time, and are now about 6-7 yrs. old, and just like new. Has anyone else noted the difference between the decelerators and the gel pads??? I need to put pads on a couple more rifles, and had been considering the Kick-Eze and the other brand of gel pads, but I dislike fitting pads, and would much prefer to do it with the longest lasting pad, which so far looks to be the Decelerators. There's no question the gel pads work well for reducing felt recoil, and they seem to stiffen as they yield, making for a progressive dampening effect, which is nice, but refitting them every so often isn't nearly as appealing, to me at least. What have you guys found in your experience on this issue between them?

[Cap'n Morgan]

I had a Kick-Eze on my .270Win, and had to replace it as it became "sticky" over time. Since recoil really isn't a problem I put the original hard rubber pad back on.
Later I read of several people having the same problem, and that the company would replace the faulty pads. I still have a Kick-Eze on my 375 H&H and like it very much.

[corbinace]

I have a Decelerator on a Cowboy action double shotgun that was installed in '96. It is still going strong with no deterioration. I just installed a Limbsaver on a little Spanish Mauser. The Decelerator would not grind down to a small enough size to fit how far I cut the stock off. I likely do not have enough years left to find out if it lasts as long.

On another front. A long time ago it was recommended to me to store my firearms muzzle down to keep oil off of the wood and to save the softer pads. I put a soft pad on the safe floor for them to rest on. Not all of my arms are stored tip down, but a fair number of them are. It also helps more to fit in the safe as well. And we all know...more is better.

[pietro]

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IMO, you're fighting a losing battle............ when I got old enough, that I objected to getting beat up by a gun's recoil, I sold all my heavy (caliber) rifles and 12/16 ga shotguns in favor of the .250 Savage & 20/28 & .410 shotguns.

The deer and small game ended up being just as dead as they were after I shot them with the bigger stuff.

I don't do targets/games, so I would WAG that the repetitive shooting wears on us older folk even more than the occasional shot on game.


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[Clark]

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx220/ClarkM/Buttpadsgonewild5-17-2012.jpg

I have replaced Kick-eze for kicking too hard and gone to large Limbsaver grind to fit, and then not grinding them. I want to preseve contact area with my shoulder.
Tonight I made a butt plate for an old Rem 510 single shot, so I went through my collection of take off recoil pads. Maybe Ozone is attacking them. They look sick.

With the big Limbersaver, I can shoot without pain in a BAR 338 Win Mag 250 gr 2500 fps.
With a hard butt rifle with light varmint barrel [too heavy to hunt], I can't take the recoil of a 257 Roberts Ackley.

I think it gets down to pressure. The skin feels pain at 20 psi. The rifle has a mass and a velocity the shoulder must stop. To keep the skin from ever seeing more than 20psi anywhere, that recoil must be spread over time and area.
I have a Pachmayr157807 XLT on an 8mm, but I can't remember how well it works.

[Wolfer]

When I put a Pachmayer triple magnum pad on my 338 my gunsmith friend advised me to store it barrel down if it had to be vertical. Otherwise it would build a memory.
I always have and it's still fine at 16 years.

[NavyVet1959]

Over the last couple of days, I've tried the medium and small Limbsaver slip-on pads for a sporterized Arisaka for which I'm trying to find a new butt plate. The one that a previous owner put on it was some sort of hard plastic piece for a Remington, but it is slightly damaged and does not fit right either (too narrow in width and too long in length). If it had been too long in both dimensions, I would have just filed it down to fit.

So, anyway, the two different Limbsavers did not work. The small one fit better, but it just didn't look right since it was a bit narrower than I thought it should be.

So today I went around to a couple of gun shops to see if I could some sort of replacement hard plastic butt plate, but no luck. I'm not worried about the recoil, so I don't particularly need a recoil pad, just some sort of hard butt plate.

[Blackwater]

Navy Vet, why not put a small grind to fit pad on it. You can cut the butt off very well with a "chop saw," the one with the very fast spinning blade that you pull straight down on the wood. Cuts very clean when I've used it. You can square up the butt so a grind to fit pad works very well on it, and just order the right thickness of pad to get length of pull right for you. I've done a number of old guns like this.

And pietro, you're certainly right about long strings of fire taking more of a toll. I don't know what happened. One day I was 10 ft. tall, bulletproof and immortal. The next ... not so much. Very humbling, but I'm just proud to still BE here, so I'll call it good to go.

Putting a pad on right, getting the right length of pull, pitch, etc. ain't easy, but it surely pays off. Just wondered what kind of experience you guys have had with the gel pads. I think I'll stick with the Pachmyrs. I like their looks better, too. Just more of a classic look, while the gel pads have that modern, glitzy look about them, at least to my eye. Still, to get a little softer "kick," I thought I'd at least consider them. Thanks for the comments and input.

[Hick]

Why not go the other way? I've had a couple of pins and screws in my shoulder so I bought an energy absorbing shoulder pad that fits under my shirt or jacket. One pad instead of one on every rifle.

[ubetcha]

I have used the limbsavers on my rifles and they work fine. makes long bench time more enjoyable and does take the recoil factor out of the back of your mind when trying to concentrate on sight picture and trigger pull.

[NavyVet1959]

Navy Vet, why not put a small grind to fit pad on it. You can cut the butt off very well with a "chop saw," the one with the very fast spinning blade that you pull straight down on the wood. Cuts very clean when I've used it. You can square up the butt so a grind to fit pad works very well on it, and just order the right thickness of pad to get length of pull right for you. I've done a number of old guns like this.

The wood of the butt of the stock is already squared up good. It just needs something to cover the end grain. That could be anything from a wooden butt plate to a steel one -- I'm not that picky. Finding one in exactly the right profile would have been nice, but I doubted it was possible.

[Wayne Smith]

When I redid my Chileano Mauser the stock on it was sportzerized but too short for me. It is beautiful light walnut - not common. I added an inch and a half piece of persimmon that I had and used this both for adding length and for a buttplate. It works well. One day I need to learn to checker ...

[robg]

I use hogue and pacmyer pads work well and I'm a wimp☺

[JSnover]

I bought a 'poor man's Scout' (Lithgow SMLE rebarreled to 45-70) about ten years ago and mounted a LimbSaver. It works great and has not gotten hard or sticky.

[DerekP Houston]

Why not go the other way? I've had a couple of pins and screws in my shoulder so I bought an energy absorbing shoulder pad that fits under my shirt or jacket. One pad instead of one on every rifle.

I have not found a combination that keeps that pad in place for me. Usually I get fed up and just go back to getting mule-kicked.