Why doesn't everyone use recoil pads?

Eaglelord17 said:
Not 100% true. When I shoulder a steel butt-plate shotgun if it touches clothing it just slides. When using my rubber butt-plate shotgun it can stick to the clothes messing up the process and can legitimately slow me.

OP personally I actually prefer steel butt-plates. Recoil doesn't bother me even in rifles which people constantly complain about (Mosin Nagants, M95 carbines in 8x56r etc.) and I find it less comfortable to try and shoulder the rubber recoil pads because they aren't designed to be shouldered properly, rather to go everywhere so someone doesn't get hurt (which I also believe has made a generation of shooter who don't know how to properly shoulder a rifle). To each there own.
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.If it's sticking, you are doing it wrong. Raise rifle, jam back into shoulder. Don't drag it into place.

There are some rifle pads that are a bit unnecessarily sticky though, no question about it. Again, the way around it is to lift it up, then plant it back.
 
Brister, Shotgunning: The Art and the Science p. 84

"Many shooters have a problem with the stock catching on clothing beneath the armpit in fast-mounting situations. This can be helped by grinding off the top of the recoil pad (the heel) so that there are no sharp corners or angles to the pad. Additional insurance against this problem (which has cost many a quail, woodcock, and grouse) is to paint the sides of the recoil pad and also the rounded off area at the top with clear fingernail polish. Do not paint the portion of the pad that will rest against your shoulder; you don’t want that part slick because you want the gun to stay securely in position at the shoulder during recoil."
 
i didn't have one on my 270 WSM until i started to do more target shooting with it, but after about a hundred rounds thru it during my outings, it kinda made my day a little more enjoyable. Now that i have my 308, i dont feel i need anything, it just fine the way it is.
 
I bought one of these to extend the stock for comfort and to absorb recoil on my PU sniper Mosin. Unfortunately I does nothing, if anything it make the recoil perceptively worse. I placed this pad overtop of the existing metal buttplace using the original screws as a fixture for both. I am unsure if this is why the recoil is so bad on this rifle (ie double kick). I haven't made the time to do it but will be removing this pad before my next shoot. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PAD AT ALL! I have an Allen slip on and it works great for recoil reduction. SKS has little kick but its imperceptable with the Allen, also with the 2"extension pad recoil is mitigated somewhat but really the SKS does not kick much. SVT does not require a recoil pad as it is very smooth shooting. For 8mm Mauser the recoil is half the fun and also much more tolerable that shooting a Mosin with the horrible pad below.



Also Bench shooting makes a lot more sense to have a recoil pad, when out hunting with a coat recoil is essentially a non-issue since at most you shoot a few rounds and are more distracted by what your doing.
 
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I have a bad shoulder so I'm a fan. Call me a sissy, but a torn rotator cuff and damaged tendon are happy with the limbsavers.

Being stubborn about the recoil is all well and good and manly, but I usually shoot alone so I don't care.
 
This is posted in the target and precision rifle section.

Are you asking why at the range most competitors don't use recoil pads?

If you are here is why. Most bench shooters are shooting 6PPC and more recently 6BR. If you've ever shot them you'd know why a pad is unnecessary.

F-open guys are using 21lbs and change rifles. Again not nessisary.
 
I would like a shoulder attached recoil pad for my shoulder not for my guns buttstock, I haven't found one I like is the main reason. Also I don't need or want one for 223, 22lr, x39, handguns obviously, my hunting rifles and shotguns typically have one permanently attached to the buttstock.
 
TheSmartShooter said:
Is there a reason why not everyone uses a recoil pad? Such as quicker target acquisition, better aiming...Something else, or is it just "Real men/women don't use recoil pads"?
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Main reason is that in many cases they are not required.

However, in today's world, many makers have just jumped on the bandwagon because many new shooters seem to be fearful of recoil or simply can't conceive of owning any rifle without every conceivable accessory and doo-dad stuck on it.

Marlin used to supply all of it's lever guns without a recoil pad. Now they only supply them with a solid recoil pad.
Yet, in most cases they are not needed. A .30-30 or .44 Magnum does not recoil much with the flat, shotgun style butt-plates typically found on Marlins and Winchesters.

I find them catchy and grabby and pointless. However, if I were firing a large magnum rifle or a .375 H&H, I would want one.

Otherwise, they are useless.
 
Some people do not use recoil pads because they simply don't know any better. Recoil pads protect the stock as well as the shooter and a stock with a pad is less likely to split at the toe. In addition, recoil pads are less likely to slip out if the rifle is leaned up.
 
I use them on stocks where I have LOP problems "and" on heavy recoil toys like my KSG. Run a couple of tubes of 00 or slugs out of a KSG and you feel it.....
 
Eaglelord17 said:
Not 100% true. When I shoulder a steel butt-plate shotgun if it touches clothing it just slides. When using my rubber butt-plate shotgun it can stick to the clothes messing up the process and can legitimately slow me.
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As far as I am concerned if the pad is dragging on your shoulder as you 'shoulder' your rifle, that is operator error. Throw the rifle out from you and bring it back to your shoulder... Teach that to beginning shooters and they will never have a 'shouldering' problem...

Looking back at the original post, this thread should probably have been posted in Sporting and Hunting Rifles... I have not built a Target / Precision rifle for anyone that did not have some sort of pad on it.
 
My rifles usually end up with an after market recoil pad, but that is mostly due to needing a longer LOP. A few are long enough, at least for light recoiling rifles. On the heaviest recoiling rifles the pad doesn't help all that much, compared to the somewhat bigger problem of your brain getting bounced around in your skull. It can take a bit of sting out of small ones though.

I would rather that rifles came with a throw away plastic butt-plate than with a stock that is too short and and a thick pad. Its easier to fix when you're not scrambling for spacer material or unusually thick recoil pads.
 
guntech said:
As far as I am concerned if the pad is dragging on your shoulder as you 'shoulder' your rifle, that is operator error. Throw the rifle out from you and bring it back to your shoulder... Teach that to beginning shooters and they will never have a 'shouldering' problem...

Looking back at the original post, this thread should probably have been posted in Sporting and Hunting Rifles... I have not built a Target / Precision rifle for anyone that did not have some sort of pad on it.
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So your changing your stance to reflect the gear your using. My point is still valid that you can shoulder a steel butt-plate firearm quicker than a firearm with a rubber butt-plate. You throw out the firearm then bring it back, I simply slide into place. Operator error only applies if your failing to use the proper techniques for your equipment, in my case I use steel pretty much exclusively and it isn't a problem for me unless I use a recoil pad, in which case I adapt to the slower throw the firearm out and bring it back in.
 
I absolutely can't handle a rifle with no pad on it. The only reason is when you lean it up against something and the butt slips out and the rifle hits the floor. I won't even own a rimfire with a plastic pad.
 
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