I have a rifle, Sako Finnbear Hunter, which has the factory pad on it (light orange). My father needs to use it on an elk hunt this Fall, but he has a shoulder problem and I want to install a new, better recoil pad. I think I will use a Simms. The slip-on pads seem to make the length a little long and uncomfortable for him.

So my problem is How do I take the original pad off the rifle? There are no obvious screw holes to detach it. Any help would be appreciated.

Take a phillips screw driver, put a little oil on the tip and probe the pad. Center, about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from each end. There you should locate the blind holes that conceal the screws that attach the pad to the stock. The screws themselves will take a flat blade driver to remove, but the use of the phillips will make the probing easier.

I use a 40-60 grit 10" disc on the disc sander and just grind them off, cause I hate trying to find them pond scum sucking screws and they are not all phillips!

quote:

Originally posted by vapodog:
I use a 40-60 grit 10" disc on the disc sander and just grind them off, cause I hate trying to find them pond scum sucking screws and they are not all phillips!

Who said anything about them being all being phillips?

I once had to replace the recoil pad on a Sako AI Varminter. I couldn't find a trace of any screw heads on the outside, so I finally sawed through the hard black plastic backing plate. (so as not to damage the stock) Hit a couple of steel pins about 5 or 6mm in diameter that were embedded in the base plate and extended into holes in the stock. This did not do the teeth of my tenon saw much good!

The recoil pad on my old Sako L61R is a different style - ventilated, not solid - and it does not have any screws showing, either. I don't know if it has pins in it like the AI, but I suspect it would have. It seems unlikely that there would be nothing but glue holding it in place.

If it's in good condition and you don't mar the pad in it's removal I will buy it from you! I would need the black spacer too.

Thanks for the replies.