I saw one mentioned here, found it online but did not save the link. If I recall it was a name of one of the classic english companies. They offered them in rubber and leather covered. It was not the Silver's pad. Any ideas?

I believe NECG has them; Google them.

Kynoch carry the Silver's:

Kynoch/Silver's

I found them. Griffen $ Howe. Looks like a copy of the Silver.

Galazan also offers a copy of the Silvers

I've wondered for a while about these Galazan and Silvers' pads. Do they offer any real recoil protection? Or are they the traditional hard rubber of yesteryear?

Thanks fellows,

David Walker

I do not have either of these pads. From what I have read the Silver is a hard pad. Some have said the Galazan copy of the Silver has a little more give. Here is part of the description of the Galazan "Screw holes are 3¼' apart midway between these holes is a cavity 1' wide and 2½' long" The cavity leads me to beleive it is a step up from a solid rubber pad.

quote:

I've wondered for a while about these Galazan and Silvers' pads. Do they offer any real recoil protection? Or are they the traditional hard rubber of yesteryear?

Yes, and no. I think that whilst hard they are not probabaly the exact same formula as the old rubber pads that used to eventually go "queer" and crumble or "melt" of old.

Although being in UK I only know the Silvers. They offer more recoil protection than a similar sized and position piece of wood! But that is about it. They were used, actually, for other reasons on most guns as against rifles.

In many cases, in fact, they were more often used to lengthen a stock for the taller man who did not like the idea of a mismatched wood extension. Both my Webley and Midland Gun shot guns had them for that sole reason.

Also cheaper! As no checkering or scoring to pay for to finish off the butt end and can be shaped on a grinding disc rather than by hand with chisel and file.

A stock extended with a wood extension shows that you can't afford to have the gun fully re-stocked! With a Silvers pad it doesn't!

They also allow a gun to be stood up (resting on its butt) against a wall with less risk of slipping over than with a wooden butt.

They are less resistant to chipping or damage at the heel and toe than a wooden butt. And cheaper to do this than the old solution from muzzle loading days of a skeleton style metal inlet to toe and heel of butt.

S useful where rough handling such as duck flighting at dawn and dusk might take place or being taken from stand to stand on a driven shoot in the back of a metal floored lorry or trailer.

Those two reasons alone are worth considering them for!

But they don't mount as well as a wooden butt and need to be "slicked". This is done by rubbing a thin coating of a 50/50 shellac/French polish mixture on them. Otherwise if NOT "slicked" they can drag on clothing.