Getting this Ruger #1 Lott outfitted...

I have several Limbsavers, and they seem to be doing a pretty good job, but they seem a little soft.

Question:
Who currently makes the best recoil pad for big bores?

Choices:
DECELERATOR
KICK - EEZ
LIMBSAVER
OTHER (please reply)

 

I like the Decelerator for the simple fact that it works well. The others are a bit soft as you say. I have haad Kick-Eez pads rip and Limbsaver pads not finish very well. I like the feel of the Kick-eez very much, but for me they just don't hold up.

Ditto BigBullet:

Pachmayr Decelerator: Old English or Sporting Clays 1" Pads.
From their catalog:

D752B
Decelerator Old English
Black, Brown, Red, Green!
.600", .800", 1.00"
"The Worlds #1 Selling Recoil Pad"

SC100
Decelerator Sporting Clays
(It is just like an Old English Decelerator pad with a hard, slick, plastic heel surface-insert for no-snag-on-the-clothing-speedy-mounting when shouldering the gun.)

Both pads above are very effective and as pretty as a non-leather-covered pad gets.
Very durable, effective, and endearing.

Pachmayr's "F990 Triple Magnum Field" 1.5" pad is better at shock absorption but it is about as ugly as a pad gets, though it finishes up nicely and won't crumble. Just that ventilated/open/honeycomb look to the sides of the pad is a turn off, and it is so thick it looks funny, even if it got a leather cover, makes the rifle look like it belongs to a handicapped person ... much like my rifles with slip-on pads over other pads.
Pachmayr touts that one for 50BMG shooters.

Sims Limbsaver is excellent too, just looks out of place on anything but a synthetic stock.

Kickeez: I tried one, and promptly lost a chunk out of the edge of the pad with first shooting on a hard kicker: too soft and crumbly. Never again for me.

Pachmayr XLT Ultrasoft Large ( PN 1641 )

Mui Grande & Just Squishy enough ...

I voted for the decel because it gives you a fairly soft pad that's tough enough to withstand hunting rigors. The others, especially Kick-eez just won't hold up. Honestly, the Limbsaver might, but I've only used one on an Encore Pro Hunter stock. The Kick-eez are target pads unless you're gonna baby your gun. I've had them break toes off in a soft case and I've paid to have my last one installed. From here on it's Decel for me.

Another good one, probably for some real heavy kickers, is Pachmayer's Triple Magnum pad, I think # 1590. It's 1.5" thick and really soft. Comes with a little metal "post" that goes in one of the screw holes for storing it standing up, so the material doesn't compress and go bad. It's not real purdy, but does a great job of soaking up recoil.

David

I too like the decelerator.

Mad Dog

(Leather Covered )Decelerator

Old English Decelerator.

Von Gruff.

limbsaver for function and looks, decel for looks, f990 for pure function, ripease for frustration

I like the XLT. It's soft and probably won't look like new in 10 years of use but for me it makes a very noticable difference. Probably not the best for flushing bird shooting, but trap shooters love them. I put them on all my heavy recoil guns......TAP

Decelerator. The Limbsavers are a POS and God help you if you ever leave one butt down on the carpet for too long. I guess they were designed by environmentalists to be biogradable.

I picked the Kick-Eez because I like to shoot with that pad over the others. It is a bit slicker than the others, which I like for quick mounting of the gun. Really, all of those are good pads and I've tried one or the other on various guns. Right now I happen to have an Old English Decelerator on a Savage 110 in 416 Taylor and a Kick-Eez pad on a Zastava Mauser 375 H&H. The hardest kicking gun I have is a Mossberg 935 3.5" magnum that I have a Limbsaver on. I also have a Winchester Defender 3" magnum that kicks pretty good even with an XLT pad on it. I like the feel of the Kick-Eez pads best, but it may have to be replaced sooner than either of the Decelerators or the Limbsaver. If I'm really worried about durability I just put on a slip on pad over the permanent pad for range work where most of my shooting is done anyway.

Pads aren't that expensive or difficult to replace so I don't worry much about that. I'd much rather replace a pad than shoot with what passes for a recoil pad from the factory.

Decelerators on most everything. I just put a Sporting Clays Decelerator on a McMillan stocked 375 Weatherby and it seems to be working great.

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:
Decelerator. The Limbsavers are a POS and God help you if you ever leave one butt down on the carpet for too long. I guess they were designed by environmentalists to be biogradable.

I have a splotch on my gun safe from a limbsaver, changed to the pach, no meltdowns.

John

I hear that the early LimbSavers were indeed defective in their chemistry.
Recent ones have been improved.

But to no avail, since the Pachmayr Decelerator is "Optimus Prime" of recoil pads.

No Pachmayr Decelerator ever transformed to goo.

another vote for the decelerator.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
I hear that the early LimbSavers were indeed defective in their chemistry.
Recent ones have been improved.

But to no avail, since the Pachmayr Decelerator is "Optimus Prime" of recoil pads.

No Pachmayr Decelerator ever transformed to goo.

May be true, my wife has a remington 30-06 with the R3 limb saver pad, no meltdown. Still, I have the stain to encourage me to buy decelerators.