Attaching The Recoil Pad






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Below is described a procedure used to attach a recoil pad to a rifle stock. The recoil pad used is a Pachmayr model. Although the pad already has a white spacer built into it, a maple spacer was included in the procedure both because it was wanted and so as to describe its inclusion.

Even though epoxy is used as a bonding agent, retainer screws are employed to help secure the recoil pad to the stock. This is because epoxy does not actually bond with plastics or rubber. However, the epoxy will provide a very strong adhesion and can be defeated with determination if the screws are removed.


       
Left - Round tooth picks are punched through the pad to show where the screw holes are. Holes come molded into the pad from Pachmayr but are only visible from the back. For the spacer, an outline of the stock butt was penciled onto a 1/16 th inch thick sheet of maple and cut out using a jig saw. The spacer was cut out following the outside of the scribe marks so that the spacer would be slightly over sized.
Right - The small holes made by pushing the toothpicks through the pad's face were marked with a pen and a utility knife was used to cut very short slits into the pad where the retainer screw heads can push through and vanish into the pad's interior. The two screws came with the pad from the vendor. Pads should first be inspected to assure these slits were not already made by the manufacturer.


Brownells original glass bedding epoxy compound was used to attach the recoil pad to the stock. Within that kit came packs of both black and brown dye. For attaching the maple spacer to the recoil pad, black dye was mixed with epoxy compound to match the color of the recoil pad just in case the spacer did not rest perfectly flat on the pad surface after adhering. The epoxy should not be thickened so no other aggregate , such as the floc that also comes with the kit, was mixed with the compound.


       
Left - Epoxy compound was mixed and spread liberally onto one side of the maple spacer. All the surface was covered.
Right - Excess epoxy was then scrapped off the spacer until only a very thin and even layer remained. The remaining epoxy is so thin as to not allow it to ooze out when attached to the pad.
The recoil pad, where the spacer will attach to, is likewise treated to a very thin and even coat of the epoxy.



       
Left - The spacer is centered onto the pad and pad and spacer are sandwiched between two flat pieces of wood for clamping. The spacer is squeezed tight to the pad to prevent gaps between the two. The clamp is left in place for a couple days to allow the epoxy to cure.
Right - After curing the clamp is removed and the spacer is adhered, gap free, to the pad with no epoxy lines showing.



       

       
Top - To mark where the maple spacer is to be drilled for the retainer screws, a pointed pick is run, centered, through the screw holes and carefully driven through the spacer.
Bottom Left - The maple spacer is drilled through the pin holes so the retainer screws can pass through into the stock butt. Drilling ceases as soon as the bit passes through the maple spacer.
Bottom Right - Burrs caused by the drill bit are lightly knocked off with a medium grit sand paper.



       
Left - A Q-tip was cut in half. Each half was run through a retainer screw hole. The tips were then lightly coated with inletting black. The tips were then pulled back just inside the maple spacer so they would not protrude. The pad was then aligned onto the stock butt and the Q-tip halves, held perpendicular, were slowly screwed onto the stock butt.
Right - Inletting black left by the tips of the Q-tip halves mark were the retainer screw holes are to be drilled.



The stock is drilled to accept the two retainer screws before bonding the recoil pad to the stock.

For the same reason mentioned at the top of this procedure, some brown dye supplied with the bedding kit is used to match the epoxy to the color of the stock wood.

               
Left - Epoxy compound was mixed and spread liberally onto the maple spacer. All the surface was covered.
Center - Excess epoxy was then scrapped off the spacer until only a very thin and even layer remained. The remaining epoxy is so thin as to not allow it to ooze out when attached to the stock.
The stock butt, where the spacer will attach to, is likewise treated to a very thin and even coat of the epoxy.
Right - The pad is aligned onto the stock. The retainer screws are tightened into the stock and the pad is tightly clamped to the stock. The clamp is allowed to remain in place for a couple days while the epoxy cures.



The pad is bonded to the stock with no gaps or epoxy lines showing. The pad will be generally shaped using a belt sander. Final shaping will occur as the stock is hand shaped using sanding papers backed with sanding blocks . The plastic factory spacer can be seen in the picture below. It will become fully visible as shaping is performed.

       
       





Other Topics available:
Wood Stains and Gun Stocks
Floating the Barrel
Glass Bedding
Pillar Bedding
Barrel Bedding Block
Inlays, Tips, and Caps
What is M.O.A.?
Calculating Rifle Precision
Target Crowning a Muzzle
Building a Muzzle Loader from Kit
Eliminate Trigger Over-Travel
Attaching the Recoil Pad

 


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