Hey! Does anyone know of a product or method to restore an old (50 years) hard recoil pad to soften
it or restore its foremer elasticity? The reason I want to do this, is the pad is original to the rifle and is embossed with the rifle maker's name.
There must be some way?...friends have advised very nice methods like boiling in chicken soup, telling me where to put it for extended lengths of time, etc. No one seems to have a real answer.
Any help with this? The idea is to restore the pad so it flexes again, maybe not 100% restored, but better than rock hard. I thought someone on this site, gunsmiths or those who run into this occassionally may have found an answer.
Thanks,
Tom

I'll try to help a bit here....hopefully someone will have a direct answer...

The recoil pads of yesteryear (and even today) are simply molded elastomers and as such are made with rubber compounds and "plasticizers" to allow for chemical adherance and resiliance. In short, they're a chemical mess designed to be "spongy".

These compounds over time allow the "plasticizer" (someone will correct me if the term used for plastics is different than that used for elastomers) to migrate away leaving the material crumbly and hard...non elastic....

See if you can find someone in the rubber industry to recommend a chemical that might be used to replace the original plasticizer.....it's worth a try....but I wouldn't take any bets on success here.

vapodog...thanks for reply...I assume some gunsmith may have tackled this or researched it at one time...and may have some feedback. I know that rubber is "vulcanized" to make it stronger & stable..don't know what ageing does to it...but there should be some chemical that can restore it.
maybe!
Best Regards & Happy Holidays,
Tom

White Bison

quote:

the pad is original to the rifle and is embossed with the rifle maker's name.

Who was the maker?

I have no personal experience with this stuff but if you go to your local BMW dealer they carry (or can probably order) a product called Gummi-Pflege (sp?)

They sell it for use on automotive rubber trim and seals and it is supposed to work miracles on rubber that was thought to be ruined. Again, other than hearing about it I have no other info or personal experience with it.

I also once heard of a process used to restore the rubber pads used on old printing machines but if I recall it was very complicated and had to be done under tightly controlled conditions because of the toxic nature of the chemicals used.

Have you checked with Galazan to see if they might carry this pad? (www.connecticutshotgun.com)

Good luck.

Doug...The Rifle is a M60 Schultz & Larsen bolt
action in 7x61 Sharpe & Hart. I'm assuming
its vintage 1960, although the range of
these models are supposed to be 1957-1960.
The rifle is all original, the pad has
"Schultz & Larsen" on it.
I also have a vintage Weatherby, 1958. It
also has the original Weatherby pad...but
is still flexible.
Best Regards, Tom

white bison, The old pads go south most of the time due to oxidation. I have never heard of any snake oil that brings them back. I have had customers supply me with old, very old stock original pads that had been in packages and they were unusable. Best thing to do is try to replace it with something close. Galazan may have a pad that is similar to the one you have.

Chic: Thanks for input...I didn't think there was a 'cure' either..but unlike some on AR, I don't know everything, so thought I'd throw out the question. I just wanted to keep the "Schultz & Larsen" Logo, embossed on the pad...all original.
I think what I could do, since "Schultz & Larsen" is back again in business...get one of their new pads (if they'll sell me one) and replace it with one again marked "Schultz & Larsen"...then it would be about the same, except new & thus flexible. I've done some restoration of old guns...and had never tried to think about pad rejuvenation...most of the very old guns had steel or bakelite pads...no babies back then!
Thanks,
Tom

Tom, if they would sell you one, that would be the perfect solution. I did not even know they were back in business.

Hey WB, You might want to PM " jørgen " and ask him how to go about getting one. I seem to remember that he works at S&L.

Best of luck to you.