The problem I have is when I'm having to remove the pad a few times when painting and finishing composites. More that a couple of times and you stand a chance of those little slits getting buggered up or least scarred enough that they're noticeable. What I do with my stocks and if client doesn't mind, with others' stocks, is put the pad in the freezer (overnight if possible). Then I'll take a small drill - smaller than 1/8th but at least 1/16th and drill a hole from the back side out. If the hole is too large I wrap the drill in a few wraps of 1/2-in masking tape about 1/4-in from the end to keep it center-aligned as I drill. I've actually done this with a cordless Dremel which pretty damn slow but higher speed cuts easier. You'll end up with two small holes that don't look bad since the "look like they belong there" and if you do have to remove the pad, your drive won't tear up the pad material.
One other suggestion, I reduce the diameter of all my stock screws heads at least a 1/3 if not by half. I've never had any issues with the pads coming loose but it saves alot of wear and tear on the recoil pad. You NEVER want to permanently attach recoil pad. If you need to take it off, you'll have to saw it off and often that involves damage to the stock . . . and then you end up bringing to an old grouchy SOB like me to fix it.
