Remington 700 recoil pad attachment help

[aspade]

I am trying to replace the recoil pad on a Rem 700.

I removed the two screws in the pad, which did not free up anything. Discovered the pad was molded to the spacer / butt plate, and that spacer plate was glued to the stock as well as being held by the screws.

I cut away most of the pad, and cleaned off the remaining material with a wire brush which removed it very effectively.

The problem I have run into is that the spacer plate has a 3" screw spacing which does not match any of the templates for prefit or grind to fit pads I have found. The pad installation instructions suggest filling the old holes and re drilling, but I can't do that through the metal plate.

Other than screw spacing, the dimensions of this plate exactly match the #10112 prefit Limbsaver. I had the idea of buying that pad, ignoring the screws (or using them to reinforce the buttplate-stock connection prior to attaching the pad) and securing it to the plate with some type of glue.

Another issue is the metal spacer plate is bevelled around the edges. Getting a flush fit for a flat surfaced pad would require either relieving a section of the front of the pad, or else filling around the edge with a soft setting glue and trimming.

Think this would hold up? The gun is a 375 H&H and has just a bit of a kick. What glue or glues would you use?

Appreciate any help.

 

[aspade]

I also had the idea of leaving it as is for newbie friends shooting for the first time.

 

[asknight]

I am not a gunsmith, but if it were me doing that job I think I would cut the stock 1/16" or 1/32" depending on width of the blade in front of the old recoil pad plate and drill out the predrilled holes to 1/4" and fill with a hardwood dowel coated in Gorilla Glue. After it cured and the stock sanded square I would drill the stock to fit the 10112 Limbsaver that otherwise fits.

 

[Jim K]

Cutting a stock and putting on a recoil pad is one of the trickiest of the "simple" gunsmith jobs. I am not sure exactly what it is you want to do. For installling a recoil pad, the normal procedure is to cut the butt of the stock flat (if necessary) and install the new pad, using its screw holes and ignoring those for the old buttplate. If you want, or if the new hole is too close to the old one, fill the old one(s) with a piece of dowel rod cut to screw shape, glued and then driven in. The dowel is left long so it can be cut flush after the glue sets.

Make sure you have a pad that is well oversize for the stock. Place the pad on the stock where you want it (see note below), and use an awl to push through the pad and the holes in its plate to mark the position of the new holes. Then use a drill a bit undersize for the new screws, and drill the holes for the new pad. Then put the screws through the pad and through the plate and install the pad. (Soaping the screws will help.) The rubber of the pad will close up where the screwdriver went through.

With the pad installed, put two layers of masking tape around the stock at the pad, then use a belt sander to CAREFULLY trim the pad to match the contour of the stock. (The masking tape protects the stock from the sander.) If you want, you can then remove the masking tape and carefully hand file the pad to exactly mate with the stock.

NOTE: Don't forget to position the pad so you can extend the line of the bottom of the stock; some people just cut the pad so it comes straight out, which looks like heck and is a certain sign of amateur work.

Jim

 

[aspade]

To clarify what I would like to do, I would like to leave the spacer / plate assembly intact on the stock, and attach a new pad directly to that spacer plate using glue.

The back of the spacer plate is finished flat other than the bevelled edge and cutouts. If the front side (as in facing the muzzle when installed) of a new pad is also flat, that should give good contact for some sort of epoxy.

My hesitation is that a glue juncture won't hold up under recoil. Another question mark is whether the flat front side of a pad is stiff and strong enough to do well without a 100% coverage flat support. I could fill, sand, and score to get a larger flat than there is now, but getting all of the beveled edge would be tough.

If the expert opinion is that glue is stupid, then I am going to recognize my limitations and pay someone more handy than myself to go through the saw/drill/sand procedure both of you outlined.

Appreciate the help.

 

[Jim K]

Recoil pads come with a hard plastic back that is intended to fit the stock. I am not sure why you want to leave part of the old pad in place. You don't glue the new pad on, you use screws. The screw holes in the new pad backing are too small for the screw heads, so the screws hold the pad on, not glue or anything else. As for trying to fill gaps and the like, I don't know why you would need to. If you saw or sand the stock correctly, there won't be any gaps. It is your rifle, so if you want to leave gaps and fill them with plastic wood or something, you can do so, but the result will not (IMHO) look good.

Jim

 

[rcmodel]

+1 to what Jim said.
You simply haven't got all the old recoil pad off yet!

That metal part was what the old rubber recoil pad was molded over.
The black spacer in front of it is part of it too.

I can't tell from the picture if it is actually glued to the wood with grey epoxy, or just stuck to it with stock finish.
I would try smacking it a few times with a yellow plastic mallet, or even a hammer and see if you can pop it loose.

Regardless, it needs to come off one way or another in order to properly install a new recoil pad.

If you install over it, the stock will be too long.
If you cut the stock off in front of it, it will be too short.


rcmodel

 

[aspade]

Update: I had a new recoil pad correctly installed using the procedures outlined. The spacer plate was stuck to the stock with residual stock finish, not epoxy - the greyish stuff in the picture is a spot of the old pad I had missed. I tapped a small screwdriver underneath it from the inside (near the greyish stuff) and was able to pry it off without great difficulty.

Thank all of you for the help.

 

[asknight]

aspade, Excellent! I always like to hear when a good plan comes together and the job was done right. Now you'll have to put that workhorse to the task and harvest some trophies!