Grinding Recoil Pad

[Daddy Justin]

I am interested in getting a new recoil pad for my Weatherby Synthetic in 30'06. Limbsaver does not make one for it so I will need to get a grind to fit. How hard is that to do? What is the technique involved? I have a belt sander, but what grit sandpaper do I use?

Thank you in advance,

Justin

 

[Kevin Cram]

Justin,
It's not too difficult but take your time. First you should wrap a piece of masking tape around the stock area where the pad meets the stock. This way you shouldn't cut into the stock. Start with a fairly coarse (150) grit to knock down the majority of the material. Use a little finer grit when you get close to the tape line. For a nice blend you should just knick the tape, but not go all the way through it. If you can, take the table off of you belt sander(it just gets in the way). There are also jigs you can buy but they are more of a pain than they are worth. With a steady hand this will give you a perfect fit. Take your time and good luck.

 

[Centre Punch]

Daddy,
A small tip i read about, is to put 3 layers of tape around the stock and then start grinding untill you begin to cut into the first layer, peel this off and carry on untill you cut into the second layer, peel this off and sand carefully untill you cut into the final layer. Peel this layer off and you will have a nicely finished pad.

Ian

"I meant to shoot the pike but the duck got in the way"

 

[Quarter Round]

My method is to first mount the pad to the stock and scribe or pencil in the stock outline and do the rough cutting with the pad off the stock with coarse grit, maintaining square and toe angle. I then mount the pad and use the three layers of tape. I finish the last part by hand/block and use a finer paper to get the finish I want on the pad.

 

[lerch]

At my families business we have a man who grinds somewhere around 150-300 pads a year. he uses a belt sander but he does not grind the pad while attached to the gun.

he attaches the pad to the gun and then scribes on the bottom of the pad the outline of the stock and the takes the pad off and grinds it. You also have to keep the angle of the bottom of the stock in mind when grinding so you can make to pad and the stock match.

This guy recommends Limbsaver precision fit pads for most guns but if it has to be ground he doesn't like limbsaver, he says they grind like $h!t.

he likes a pad called KickEEZ pads. They grind great and he makes the pads look flawless.

I think the secret is to take your time and be observant.

Good Luck
Steve

 

[Sam11]

Justin: Like a few others suggested attach the pad and scribe the outline of the butt of the stock on the pad. I purchased a Miles Gilbert Recoil Pad Installation Fixture (about $20) and what it does is to allow you to get the angle on the toe exact while keeping the pad square to your grinder. One pointer if you use this jig is to grind the toe end first, reset the jig to the angle on the top of the stock, grind it and flare into the area you did on the toe end. I was surprised how close I could get it on the first try but had to touch it up a little more as I was being careful about not grinding off too much. One other thing I thought of doing was to wipe something white colored into the scribe mark so you could see it easier while grinding. I thought of using that white out typewriter correction fluid or just some white paint. Sam.

 

[Daddy Justin]

Thanks for all of your help. I bought a Kickeze through your suggestions. I mounted my hand beltsander in my table vise and within a 1/2 hour, had a professional looking new recoil pad! Using a bright light also really helped as did the final hand sanding.

Now let's try bedding. This stuff can get addicting.

Justin

 

[Ankeny]

[ QUOTE ]
Now let's try bedding.

[/ QUOTE ]

The American Gunsmithing Institute has a pillar bedding video featuring Darrell Holland that is well worth the money.