Spacer Material

[jdmacl]

I'd like to put a buttplate spacer on my Remington 870, because of the ill-fitting gap between a new recoil pad and the original stock. I plan on doing the work myself, and need a material I can work with basic shop tools.

What material is best, and where can I get it?

[aippi]

What stock is on the weapon? If there is a cap there then it must be the wrong recoil pad. I am curious what stock and what pad you are trying to put on it.

Remington has so many pads that you can order the right one and some clown in shipping sends the wrong one.

[jdmacl]

Oops! Guess I should have stated that. The gun has the laminated wood stock.

I am replacing the stock pad with Remington's SuperCell pad, for it's added recoil absorbtion. The new pad I have indicated it was for an 870 with laminated stock, but I find the pad is slightly taller than the stock and also slightly narrower. I'd like to find a suitable spacer material that I can contour slightly to smooth the transition from the stock to the new pad.

The new pad and the original/removed pad are similar in design in that both are a single piece of rubber/absorbing material, and there was/is no spacer currently between the pad and the wood stock of the gun.

[aippi]

You would be better served to simply return it and get the correct one.

[jdmacl]

As I indicated, the packaging said this is the correct pad for a laminated stock.

In retrospect, all the postings I've read since buying this pad said even if you get the right pad, the fit is often very sloppy.

Back to the original question, what is a suitable spacer material?

[-hanko]

As I indicated, the packaging said this is the correct pad for a laminated stock.

In retrospect, all the postings I've read since buying this pad said even if you get the right pad, the fit is often very sloppy.

Back to the original question, what is a suitable spacer material?

Brownells.

Not having seen your pad, the usual method of fitting a pad to a stock is via a belt or disk sander. Have you thought of that?

-hanko

[jdmacl]

Unfortunately, new pad is narrower than the stock in width, and longer/taller in height.

Also, pad is (I believe) open cell under its outer surface, so I don't think it could take any grinding.

What I'd like to determine is what sort of spacing material it typically used? I'm thinking something approx. 1/4" thick and sandable, probably something like sheet urethane.

[johnthomas]

Teflon, plastic or PVC.

[diginit]

You would be better served to simply return it and get the correct one.

What he said... Or a slightly larger one and sand to fit. You can remove material easily, But it is very difficult to add material or add a spacer to reduce at an angle to fit correctly. Your stock will end up too long for proper fit to your forearm with a spacer when shouldered. To check the fit, Hold the weapon upright on your shooting hand, the butt should rest on the crook of your arm and your fingers should be comfortable on the the trigger and grip. That will tell you if the buttstock is too short or too long.
Alot of recoil pads require cutting of the buttstock to insure proper fit of the pad and shooter. A micrometer will help you accomplish this properly as it will help you to determine the cut placement on the stock. It is beter if the pad is larger than the stock. If your stock fits you well and you want to add a 5/8" recoil pad. You want to take 5/8" of of it. It it is 1/4'" short. Cut 3/8" from the butt. Etc,Etc. Take alittle at a time. You can play with it for a comfortable length and pad fit. Fit the length before the overall diameter of the pad. Sanding is better after cutting.

Yes, I have done this before....

[-hanko]

Unfortunately, new pad is narrower than the stock in width, and longer/taller in height.

Also, pad is (I believe) open cell under its outer surface, so I don't think it could take any grinding.

What I'd like to determine is what sort of spacing material it typically used? I'm thinking something approx. 1/4" thick and sandable, probably something like sheet urethane.

Urethane is workable, if it's hard enough. I'd use Delrin, which you should be able to get out of the scrap box at most plastics suppliers...hdpe (cutting board material) would also work, but you're stuck with white as a color.

Honestly, if it were my gun, I'd find a recoil pad a little larger that the buttstock and sand to fit. Making a spacer with angled edges may take more time than it's worth.

hth

-hanko

[aippi]

That Laminated stock retails for $88 plus shipping from Remington. That is just the stock. Think about that before you start cutting it down to make a $ 19 pad fit as was sugested in one response.

[jdmacl]

Thanks all for the feedback.

I decided to make my own spacer and tried a couple of iterations before I came up with something I liked.

I made the first out of a hard rubber/urethane material I got from a shoe repair place. It filled the gap nicely but was hard to work and finish nicely. I finally decided on some scraps of plastic that I laminated and ended up with the following (hope the picture shows up).

You can see I made up for about an 1/16" difference in length at the bottom of the stock and what you can't see is I made up for about a 1/32" of difference along both sides. I'm pretty happy with the finished results.

[johnthomas]

You did a great job, looks professional.

[Barabas]

Looks like you got it taken care of and did a great job to boot. Let us know how it stands up over time.

Back in the old days, linoleum was the preferred spacer material. You used to be able to get it in a huge range of colors, but black and white were standard items kept on hand by most gunsmiths who did stock fitting.