Greetings Redhawk. Always good to hear of a fine Savage rifle that is being used and cared for in faraway locales.
No pic was posted, but my bet is that your stock was sawed/squared off before the recoil pad was attached. In all likelihood the original buttstock had the double curve which made it difficult to correctly add a pad. May have been shortened too. The length of pull should be about 13 1/2" from the center of the trigger to the end of the wood.
That said, an original buttplate will not go back on without some creative wood/metal fitting.
Lightfoot, who posts regularly here (and others) may be able to assist with parts, if you want to give originals a try.
My humble recommendation would be to go to an outfit like the below and get a Savage or a plain shotgun buttplate and one of the Savage/Fox repro grip caps. Email to get dimensions to insure a close fit. Looks like they ship overseas too.
http://vintagegungrips.net/ao-s97.html
