The older I get, the more that plastic butt plate on my model 700's seems to hurt. I am going to put a recoil pad on it, probably a limbsaver. From past experience, I have found the prefit pads to not be an exact fit, so I am leaning towards a grind to fit. Has anyone done this themselves and how hard is it to do? Also what size for a bdl wood stock?

I’ve installed a couple Pachmyer Decelerator pads on Rem700 rifles. It’s not a difficult project, but around here a gunsmith only charges $50 to install the pad so I usually just have them do it. If you have a plastic butt plate on your rifle, not a recoil pad, then you will have to shorten the stock to get the same length of pull. In that case I would definitely take it to a gunsmith.

A backsaw, a 6X48 belt sander and you're ready to go.

Sand the pad flat and the stock flat that you shortened with the saw and epoxy on the pad after you have slowly contoured it on the belt sander.

A bit of masking tape on the stock to prevent dripping epoxy from gumming the finish on the stock.

I prefer the decelerator.....a medium size works well.

I did one with a hacksaw, rasp, and sand paper by hand. Got the job done, didn't look too bad, but I would not recommend doing it that way. If you put the Limbsaver in the freezer for a little bit it helps when sanding.

I'm surprised you've managed to shoot with a plastic butt plate for this long! That seems like taking undue punishment. Anyway, the prefit ones typically fit just as well as the ones that usually come on rifles, plus you can just screw them on and go. You might want to try one and see if you can't save yourself a little time and effort to get the same results. Either way, enjoy the pad!

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Sand the pad flat and the stock flat that you shortened with the saw and epoxy on the pad after you have slowly contoured it on the belt sander.

If I am understanding vapodog's instructions correctly, he is saying to epoxy the pad to the stock. Good idea, the epoxy will fill in any imperfections between the wood and the pad, HOWEVER, place a piece of plastic (Saran) wrap between the pad and the epoxy. The plastic wrap is too thin to be noticable, and since the epoxy will not adhere to the plastic wrap, it makes life a whole lot simpler if you ever want to remove the pad.

I did what Vapodog suggests with mine; the '06 was beating me up on the bench. I didn't sand the stock though; I put a belt sander in a vise (it was all I had), and contoured it to match the curve of the stock. A gunsmith could have done it prettier, but the stock has already taken a beating.

The biggest improvement besides the extra padding was that it fits me better; the stock was too short without it, now it fits perfect. Last time at the range I shot 50 rounds, and was more tired than sore.

Molar,

I don't have a bloody clue on how to fit one, but Vapo's instructions sound good.

Try the Pachmayr XLT in lieu of the Limbsaver, MUCH better pad.

Blair.