Pondering Pad Possibilities
Gunblogging, what a concept!
While actual shooting is still nonexistent, I was playing around with the Ruger No. 1 last night and decided it’s time for a change. The .450/.400 Nitro needs a new recoil pad. Now, I like this gun a lot, but Ruger did two things wrong (well, three if you count the original broken stock).
First, the gun’s at least a pound underweight. The good people at Holland & Holland (folks who know a thing or two about building big-bore rifles) like a .375 H&H to go 9 lbs in a bolt-action and about 9 1/2 in a double rifle. This .450/.400, with closely comparable power and recoil, is just under 8 lbs. I’d like to see it at 8 3/4 or 9 lbs.
Second, the factory recoil pad is a thin, rock-hard black rubber pad, the very same kind Ruger puts on light kickers like .243s and .270s. While I’m sure these skimpy pads work fine on those little guns, they’re simply not up to handling big-bore recoil. So the factory pad must go; I’m just having a little trouble deciding on a suitable replacement.
To my eye, the gun really should be wearing a red recoil pad. My first inclination is to use a Pachmayr Decelerator, a pad that’s worked very well on my other hard kickers in 9.3×62mm and .416 Rigby. They look great, soak up recoil very nicely, and don’t easily deform or degrade. Only problem is, the red pad doesn’t really look all that red on MidwayUSA’s site, and I can’t find any other pictures of it.
The other possibility is a genuine Silver’s, which is THE classic pad for big-bore rifles. I’m slightly hesitant to use a Silver’s because I’ve never fired a gun equipped with one. The few I’ve handled were very, very hard, but also very, very old (50+ years old). I’d hope a fresh new pad would be soft enough to soak up some kick.
Right now I’m leaning towards taking a chance on the Silver’s, if only for nostalgia. I don’t suppose any of my readers have used one recently?
Y’know what Ernest Hemingway would have said?
He’d've said: “Here, hold my whiskey while I shoot this fucking lion.“
Comment by Tam — July 5, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
Yeah, but I’m not Hemingway, just a Bwana-be
Comment by TD — July 5, 2009 @ 4:51 pm
Personally, I would use a Limbsaver, which has become one of the most popular pads for megabore rifles. It does an even better job on recoil than the Pacy Decelerator. The downside is, they’re like Model Ts: They only come in black.
And oh, The 450/400 ME is closer to a 35 Whelan/9.3×62 then a 375 “Ouch & Ouch”. The 375 has something like another 500 foot lbs of ME.
Instead of just weighting the stock, have you considered using a mercury tube? If you can find one that will fit the counter bore(I have no idea the size and depth)for the stock bolt, and then figure some way of retaining it in place instead of rattling around, it should work well.
Comment by HTRN — July 6, 2009 @ 11:43 am
Yeah, Limbsavers are ugly. I’ve also heard that they’re prone to taking a set if the gun is stored vertically and to degrading relatively quickly. I have no personal experience with them, though.
As for the recoil, well, I’ll make a whole post about that. Thanks for the blogfodder
Comment by TD — July 6, 2009 @ 12:44 pm
The big worry about the Limbsavers is grinding them to fit – they overheat much more readily than than more conventional pads, so you have to be careful with the belt grinder. As for the taking a set/degrading issue, you might want to inquire at the Accuratereloading forums. If anybody knows about any potential problems with them, it will be there.
Another option is a Kickeez pad, made from Sorbothane. Supposedly they do an excellent job dealing with recoil. I know they’re fairly popular with shotgun sports crowd.
Comment by HTRN — July 7, 2009 @ 2:25 pm