But plate re-finish or recoil pad

[kelvinator]

So I inherited granddads otherwise super nice condition Navy Arms percussion 12g SxS manufactured in 1985.
Everything about it is primo except the but plate.
Granddad made a really nice hand stitched leather slip-on recoil pad for it back in the day which I probably should have just left on.
But... I took it off... only to reveal some moderate rust and pitting of the metal but plate and screw heads evidently caused by the leather absorbing moisture from wet grass or dew while loading in the field, he did hunt pheasant with it regularly.
There is also some minor chipping of the wood where the but plate meets the stock that looks like it was caused by a really sharp edge on the but plate.
I can re-blue the but plate easy enough but I'm not sure how to address the chipped areas where the metal meets the wood.
The purist in me says do the best you can with the metal but plate and touching up the wood... but the perfectionist in me thinks cutting the stock back and properly fitting a recoil pad would end up looking better... maybe.
I'd rather not refinish the stock, but I have fitted several recoil pads to existing stocks without refinishing, it's tedious but doable.

If this belongs in a different section my apologies and please move to the appropriate area.

 

[wiscoaster]

No, don't cut the stock back, and forget the recoil pad, but do post some detail pics and I'm sure you'll get some useful advice and recommendations to restore back properly.

 

[64Springer]

Word of the day: Butt.

Word that should never be used by grown men: Super.

Clean it. Lube it. Reassemble it.

Those scars are from a hard life and part of the guns character.

Leave the old girl alone. Your Grand Dad will thank you.

 

[kelvinator]

Word of the day: Butt.

Word that should never be used by grown men: Super.

Clean it. Lube it. Reassemble it.

Those scars are from a hard life and part of the guns character.

Leave the old girl alone. Your Grand Dad will thank you.

Duly noted on all points.

 

[oldwood]

Used to hunt with aPed/ 12 ga. and a 10 ga.. Never noticed much recoil with max. loading. That said , if the butt plate has some minor rust spots on it , I'de clean them up with a wire brush wheel , on a Dremel tool. Once shiny , apply cold blue to it and do it a couple times to deepen the blue. This will make a repair to the finish , w/o changing the ambiance of the shotgun. Once the butt is refinished , put it on the stock , and apply , Minwax Special Dark furnature wax to the whole gun. That will fill some of the cracks , and dents , and prevent rust. After use , the finish should maintained with this wax. Been there , done that for more than quarter century with success.

 

[IanH]

I have a "word of the day" at work, spelling is so bad that I put up a small dry-erase board for daily help with really tough ones like "owner", "brake", "solder", "fuel", etc. Today's was "scissor".

I'm with Springer on all counts. If you can't put the leather cover back on, make or commission made a new one. This advice is for your own protection, Mr. "Comfortably Numb" and his team of curmudgeony purists do have trucks and will hunt you down to personally deliver the what-for or worse if you dare admit to putting a modern shotgun recoil pad on a percussion shotgun.

 

[kelvinator]

I have a "word of the day" at work, spelling is so bad that I put up a small dry-erase board for daily help with really tough ones like "owner", "brake", "solder", "fuel", etc. Today's was "scissor".

I'm with Springer on all counts. If you can't put the leather cover back on, make or commission made a new one. This advice is for your own protection, Mr. "Comfortably Numb" and his team of curmudgeony purists do have trucks and will hunt you down to personally deliver the what-for or worse if you dare admit to putting a modern shotgun recoil pad on a percussion shotgun.

Great advice Ian, Oldwood, wiscoaster and the nod from "comfortably numb" on Springers post.
I went and contemplated this all over supper, ahem, dinner or whatever the evening meal should be referred to as.
Upon closer examination of the leather recoil pad, it looks like the bottom seam is not sewn with the same thread or stitch as the rest of it.
I believe I can make a bottom seam on the recoil pad that can easily be loosened for occasional removal.
SO... my plan is to tidy up the metal parts and wood as best I can, then put Grand Dad's recoil pad back on with a modified seam to allow occasional removal to check for rust.
Probably be prudent to treat the leather pad with something like Sno-Seal to make it more moisture resistant.

 

[The Crisco Kid]

Good choice. It's nothing you will regret later.

 

[Trigger]

Butt stock on my grandfather Shotgun was beat up.

I could have sanded it and fixed it up but I wouldn't have liked it then.

Just me though.

Like his knife axe kabar combo.. grinder marks from him lol.. I can't fix it i love the knife and its an easy fix it just I remember him running that right across the grinder saying I need this thing sharp.

 

[Rob M.]

Word of the day: Butt.

Word that should never be used by grown men: Super.

Clean it. Lube it. Reassemble it.

Those scars are from a hard life and part of the guns character.

Leave the old girl alone. Your Grand Dad will thank you.

Agreed !!

 

[Trigger]

Havnt heard it called a shoulder stock much.

I did shoot a Mossberg turkey cannon that something was broken in there or put together wrong.. doesn't eject and puts you on your butt man.. that gun had a butt stock.

My buddy bought it used and was like is this normal. At first I said yes 3.5 hits hard and then I shot it lmao.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I used titebond 2 mixed with black walnut sawdust to hide the chip somewhat. I protected the butt plate with masking tape when I carefully sanded the patch smooth then used a stain to match closely. Not perfect but better. BTW the shotgun is a Navy Arms built by Pedersoli. Must be the nature of them. I suspect it happens when loading with the butt on a solid surface.

 

[kelvinator]

Well, it turned out better than I expected, I guess.
The butt plate seems to have some flex to as it's tightened up and the underside edges were REALLY sharp, thus actually cutting into the wood right near the edge and chipping away at it in places.
I was able to glue and clamp most of the chipping back down and dulled off the underside edge of the re-blued butt plate.
One small spot on top that the wood was already missing, I may go with Kansas Jake's suggestion for repair of the chip, for now it just has some stain spot touch up on it.

 

[64Springer]

Looks great.

I'd hit that chip with a bit of Minwax Golden Oak stain and a smidge of satin poly.

If it isn't sealed well, it will absorb dirt and grime and turn dark in no time.

PS: Mr. Jake had a far worse problem on his hands. Stop looking at the little chip and you'll no longer notice it.

 

[kelvinator]

Looks great.

I'd hit that chip with a bit of Minwax Golden Oak stain and a smidge of satin poly.

If it isn't sealed well, it will absorb dirt and grime and turn dark in no time.

PS: Mr. Jake had a far worse problem on his hands. Stop looking at the little chip and you'll no longer notice it.

Thanks, Springer. That one chip looks worse in the photo than it actually is, I may work on it a little more but I'm OK with it as is.

Maybe I should start another thread to ask this, but, do these have any choke to the barrels?

 

[kelvinator]

Fixed up Grand Dad's leather recoil pad with a laced bottom seam for occasional removal.
It had a piece of old short pile carpet in it for the pad, replaced that with some 1/4" yoga mat material.

 

[boberator]

Fixed up Grand Dad's leather recoil pad with a laced bottom seam for occasional removal.
It had a piece of old short pile carpet in it for the pad, replaced that with some 1/4" yoga mat material.

I was going to suggest adding eyes and a boot lace to make it removable. My dad cut down the stock on a side by side .410 for me when I was 6 or 7. I outgrew that fix so he made a similar boot for the stock which included the piece he had sawn off and got the gun back to original length. He didn’t care about collectibility. He just wanted me to be able to take out some quail on a covey rise or some woodcock when they were flushed.

 

[ZUG]

You did a very nice repair on that SXS . My taste is for leaving off that leather butt protector or whatever it is - I think it's ugly . Leave it on if you like it.