recoil pad design

TRX
July 22, 2013
I'm slowly creeping toward completion of a rifle project. It's a No.4 Long Branch SMLE rebarreled to .45-70.

As I've gotten older I've accumulated the usual ailments, including a shoulder that may wind up needing surgery eventually. Since I don't want to aggravate things any more than I have to, I want to add a pad to reduce felt recoil.

I went looking at recoil pads, and now I'm confused.

As I see it, you can reduce felt recoil by spreading the recoil out over a wider area, or by spreading the recoil impulse over time, or by absorbing some of the recoil energy.

A soft or vented rubber recoil pad spreads out the impulse over time, plus is adds area as it conforms to your shoulder. Other than a tiny amount of hysteresis (energy converted to heat by flexing the rubber), you get all of the recoil, but it's not all in one sharp blow. That seems good.

A "dead" foam like Sorbothane is a high-hysteresis material, and absorbs some of the recoil energy by turning it into heat. (we're not talking about flaming buttpads here; you'd need instruments to measure it) These pads are usually softer than rubber pads, which helps them conform better to your shoulder and spread the load more. That seems good too.

Where things start getting weird is the shape of the pad. Most of the pads aren't very thick, and attach to a flat butt on the stock. Now, you're limited to how thick the pad can be by how much you can allow the rifle to move back. The ultimate limits are your face or trigger finger contacting metal parts that won't give way. In practice, I don't really know what the limits are. 1- 1/2" seems to be the thickest commonly available pad, and looking at the design, compression would be less than half that.

Okay, since the pad is relatively thin, it would help to start off with something that's not a flat surface beating on a round shoulder joint. Some pads have a slight curvature to them, but I doubt it accomplishes much. Some older muzzle-loaders and target rifles had elaborately dished shapes conforming to the shooter's shoulder, though they were in brass or steel. I don't remember when Goodyear invented vulcanization of rubber, but what we think of as "rubber" didn't really exist before the late 1800s.

Those shaped stocks spread the load, but I suspect their primary purpose was so that the shooter shouldered the rifle in the exact same way each time when shooting while standing.

On the other hand, some places sell pads with convex shapes for trap shooters, with highly rounded tops and bottoms, supposedly to make the shotgun easier to shoulder, with no sharp corners to get hung up in clothing.

It looks like I'd want something concave; maybe not as much as some of the antiques, but certainly not a flat or convex pad.

Speaking of sharp corners, all of the pads on my current rifles have very sharp edges. I've wound up with line bruises from them before, where the sharp edge dug in.

So, my ideal pad would be concave, fairly thick, with rounded edges that don't dig in, with a dead foam core. Of course, I haven't found anything like that for sale...

Art Eatman
July 22, 2013
My idea of a solution would be one of the modern pads. You can always chamfer the edges. IMO, thicker is better; adjusting the length of pull is easy enough.

Another assist would be to have a seamstress make a few padded shirts. They're common for shotgunners. Probably find some in the larger gun stores which sell outdoor gear.

Paul B.
July 22, 2013
Two words. Pachmayr Decelerator. I have these on some very hard kicking rifles and they work. I hear Limbsaver and Kick-Eze are supoosed to be good but I have neve used them and probably never will. I know the decelerators work.

I do hear you on the shoulder problem. I have arthritis in my right shoulder and the Deceleators make my .lightweight .300 Win. Mag. more than just tolerable on a hunt. For bench work I also use a a Past recoil shield. It straps on kind of like a shoulder holster and spreads the recol impact over a much wider area. it allows me to shoot my Ruger #1H in .416 Rigby from the bench. That rifle still has that skimpy little piece of red rubber Ruger calls a recoil pad. I can usually do 5 to6 rounds from the bench with the shield.

I no longer have a Ruger #3 in 45-70 but I'll guarantee you this. 500 gr. bul;lets at 1800 FPS from that lightweight ain't no fun. No pad, just a plastic buttplate and too short a length of pull. Couldn't get rid of that one fast enough. I also dumped a Marlin 1895 in 45-70, early remake on the 336 receiver with a curved buttplate. I still have the Ruger #1 in 45-70 though. Found a load that was relatively pleasant to play with.

Look into the Decelerator pad. I highly recommend it.

g.willikers
July 22, 2013
Get one of the above mentioned pads on the gun, another nice, thick one worn on the shoulder, and if you're an old wimp like me, some gel pack under that.

Short of a substitute shooter, that should do it.

And keep the shooting off the bench to a minimum.

And get a smaller gun??

TRX
July 22, 2013
> And get a smaller gun?

I have a few of those, too. I hope to shoot the .45-70 a lot, though.

Scorch
July 22, 2013
Well, it sounds like you've done your homework at least. A lot of folks come to the forum without even doing any research, and their questions sound like it. Good job!

I do stock work for a living. I install a lot of pads on rifles in the process. I install Pachmayer Decelerators by choice, they are one of the best on the market. Not as soft as some, but better than a lot of them at reducing felt recoil, which is what you buy one for. The other pads I install are Kick- Eez, a sorbothane pad. I do not like Limbsavers or Hi-Viz pads, they grind funny and seem to break down fairly quickly with minimal exposure to solvents.

Pachmayer Old English pads have radiused corners that helps alleviate the issue of line bruising at the edge of the pad. Kick-Eez pads do not, but can be radiused fairly easily. I have installed Pachmayer Decelerators on big, heavy kicking rifles, and my clients seem to like them. Kick-Eez pads get the nod for recoil reduction, but some do not like the look of them (they look different).

Pad thickness may make a difference to you, Pachmayer pads come in .6", .8", and 1"; Kick-Eez pads come in 1/2", 3/4", 1", and 1-1/4". If a thick pad is a must, then the Kick-Eez may get installed, but most stocks get cut to fit LOP with the pad the customer requests.

Jim Watson
July 22, 2013
The Decelerator is good if you want a nice appearance with the pad screwed on and sanded to the contour of the stock.

If you just want the sucker to QUIT KICKING, look at The Shooters Friend. http://www.buffaloarms.com/Recoil_Pa...M=Recoil%20pad

Possibly the ugliest firearms accessory made, it is a great cushion. I went to the Shooters Friend from one of those strap-on affairs and am more comfortable.

TRX
July 23, 2013
Thanks, Scorch! Do you know if the Kick-Eez pads are a firm shell over a soft core, or are they the same all the way through?

Jim: You're right, that's one fugly accessory. But it's very wide, which should help spread the load. At $20, I might pick one up just to play with.

The textured surface shouldn't be a problem. I've seen some pads with lugs and knobs that look more appropriate to a motorcycle tire. I haven't had any problem with the stock slipping on my shoulder, so I'm not impressed by the dramatic patterns.

SR420
July 23, 2013
TRX, I have similar issues with my shoulder plus problems with my neck. My .45-70 Guide Gun has a really comfortable Limb Saver recoil pad. My M21A5 EBR uses a Magpul PRS2 butt stock and I had to replace the thin, hard rubber butt pad cover with a real recoil pad, I used a KICK-EEZ.

Scorch
July 24, 2013
Quote:
Thanks, Scorch! Do you know if the Kick-Eez pads are a firm shell over a soft core, or are they the same all the way through?

Kick-Eez pads have a hard backing plate without a steel plate in them. The pad part is solid sorbothane all the way though. No foam core, no hollow areas

inside.
sc928porsche
July 25, 2013
I'm a bit partial to ventilated shotgun recoil pads. They work quite well on heavy recoil rifles. Case in point, I have a relative that purchased a Mod 70 in 458 WM. It was a bit of a beater. I removed the stock recoil pad and replaced it with an old vented shotgun recoil pad (about 1 1/4" or so). It brought down the felt recoil to about a 300WM. Its not something you would want to bench rest shoot all day, but for "huntin them barrs", it will do.

Slopemeno
July 26, 2013
I installed tons of Pachmayer Deccelerators and Sporting Clays pads. I like the Sporting Clays pad as it has a hard plastic heel that makes it a touch easier to shoulder quickly.

Bottom line- make sure you correct your length of pull before you install your pad. Good fit makes a big difference.

barnbwt
July 27, 2013
Has anyone mentioned those mercury-vial recoil absorbers? That's the only thing out there that supposedly converts a meaningful portion of recoil into heat (as the mercury is splashed around inside). Being mercury, they are also heavy (several ounces) and function well as stock weights--two birds, one stone. Many people install them in the butts of their Safari guns, or in the end of the magazine tubes of their lever guns (losing some capacity)
natman
July 27, 2013
The Franchi Renaissance used a pad like the OP described. It has a soft gel center and a rubber pad. It's called a Twin Shock Absorber (TSA) pad. It does a terrific job of reducing the recoil from a light 12 ga.