... as in the case of most shotguns for me, I need to add length to the stock ... I'd rather not bore out the stock and I do not want to add weight to the front.
I am in the same boat. I always seem to need more length than the "average" guy, and I am pretty picky about gun balance and handling.
The best solution is to make a wooden stock extension, and forget about the butt pad. In an ideal world you would find a broken stock of the correct length, cut the butt off and affix it to the existing stock - but long, broken stocks are right up there with hen's teeth in terms of availability. It is not easy finding a chunk of walnut either. The stuff available from the wood supply stores is usually too thin and of the wrong colour and grain. A good chunk of shotgun stock walnut is not cheap, either. I had to look for some other wood to use, but if you can find walnut it is the best.
After some research I settled on basswood. This wood is usually used by wood carvers to make statues or deep relief carvings, so it is easy to find chunks large enough to make stock extensions. It is also very stable wood, not prone to cracking, and is very easy to work with. It is a little less dense than walnut so weight is not an issue, but strong enough for this purpose.
Take a block of basswood and cut it to the correct length plus 1/4 inch. Carefully drill holes to line up with the existing butt pad screw holes, then from the back of the block drill the holes wide enough to accommodate the heads of the screws down to about 1/3 of an inch from the stock end of the extension. Now you can use the existing butt pad screws to attach the block to the stock.
With the block screwed in place you can now cut it down to follow the lines of the stock - first with a saw, then chisel, finally sanded into shape. Take your time and do it right.
When all is ready except for the butt itself, take another piece of the basswood and a hole saw and cut a couple of plugs to fill the screw holes (they only need to be 1/4 inch thick). Remove the extension from the stock, tap the plugs into place and finish the butt, shaping it as you like and adding some chequering or lines cut into the butt with a fine saw blade (to prevent it from slipping on your shoulder). This is also the time when you trim the butt to the exact length you require. Finally you need to pop the plugs back out with a thin rod from the front end (through the screw holes). Heel and toe plates (available from Brownells or CSMC) are a good idea if you want to take the time to fit them - they add about 1 oz. though.
You can skeletonize the extension by drilling out all excess wood from the front end of the block. Hog out just enough to give you the balance point you want, but leave lots of wood surrounding the screw holes and at least a fifth of an inch around the perimeter.
Basswood takes a stain very readily, so if you want to try to stain and shade it to look like walnut go right ahead, otherwise just lacquer it black.
When all is ready apply some glue to the front of the block, screw it into place and replace the plugs which hide the screw holes (touch up finish as required).
Obviously this takes a lot more time and effort than just screwing on a big thick butt pad, but the finished result looks much better and most importantly you retain or even refine the balance and handling of the gun.
This post does not cover wood finishing techniques, there is obviously more to it than I have covered here. However the project is not terribly difficult and (except for the glue) does not alter the original stock - you can always remove the extension and put the gun back in its original form.
On very fine guns stock extensions are frowned upon. You are supposed to have a stock made to fit you. For real world shooters there is no better way to make a gun fit while retaining a refined balance.
Obviously using proper shotgun stock walnut is the better approach, but basswood will do the trick and is lighter, making it easier to achieve the correct balance. It is also inexpensive. I bought a chunk 4" X 8" X 24" for $20.00. This is enough wood to do a dozen extensions. At that price you can afford to screw up and start again.
Sharptail
ymmv
