Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Gluing a recoil pad to a carbon fiber stock

I have a carbon fiber stock with a foam-filled butt. I want to glue a recoil pad to it (it's too long, had to cut off the old pad and a half-inch of stock. The old pad was screwed into escutcheons which were glued into the end of the butt, which itself was laid up with carbon fiber, but not after I cut if off. Nothing but foam fill now.) Any tips or tricks I should be aware of? Will epoxy adhere to the foam fill? It is an expanded foam. TIA

Typically what I've done when installing a pad on a stock such as you describe, is to but a couple of small wood blocks in the end of the stock, positioned so that the screws will bite. I size the wood blocks so that they can be epoxied to the internal side walls of the stock. Been doing it this way for years.

Thank you sir.

Another alternative is to route out some relief - about a quarter inch - of the foam and fill to level with epoxy. Then later drill slightly oversize holes for your stock screw escutcheons after the curing is complete. This is what I do with all the stocks I do and gives a very strong, reinforced broad surface area for your recoil pad to mate to.

Guy who did my Brown stock in the early 90s gouged out some fill,
put in Bondi, then screwed into it.

Seems sketchy.

I've had that pad off 3 or 4 times, never an issue.

I epoxied a 1/2" thick piece of Pine into the butt of a Bansner stock, so I could screw on the Limbsaver recoil pad.

Yours looks nicer, but thats exactly what I did on my wife's .243 that I cut down a bit.

Interesting.... I guess I'm extremely simple. In many Bansner stocks I've finished using flip flop recoil pads I've simply covered the foam with clear 5 min epoxy/glue and glued the pad to it. I put it butt end up in a vice, place a flat object on the pad, then a 5 lb weight on the flat object while it dries. I tape off the stock for any glue overflow and wipe it before it hardens. Very light and I've never had one come loose. On these I've been looking to make them as light as possible and have no desire to take the pad off unless I wish to replace it (cut/sand). If I wanted the option of removing the pad from time to time it wouldn't be a good method but for light weight it works well.

Have used Acra-Glas to attach a bunch of pads WITHOUT screws on various synthetic stocks, and never had any come loose. Among them was the Banser stock on the .338 Winchester I hunted with a BUNCH during the 1990s on hunts in the U.S., Canada and Africa, including horseback pack-trips.

But if installing one on hollow, injection-molded stocks that are shortened so much the original pad screw-holes are eliminated, would probably add something inside such as wood, or whatever works.

Yep. Been there and done this . . . .

Not being picky, but being from the humid and often soaking wet South, I'm of the mindset that the objective of composite fiber stocks has always been to migrate away from wood which (unless it has been chemically stabilized) will always be subject to varying degrees of water absorption. Especially in the area where you have a recoil pad or buttplate, it can cause some swelling or flex of your outer layer of composite. This can result in the edge fit changing or worse your finish paint cracking followed by peeling.

Push come to shove, if you're not comfortable with mixing catalyst/hardener with glass, epoxy, or related resins, I hold-heartedly recommend Alves Apoxie Sculpt https://avesstudio.com/shop/apoxie-sculpt/
This is a putty/clay type epoxy that is easy to mix and has a good 45-min working time. I use it for stock building, repair, and reinforcement including bedding. It drills and finishes better than MarineTex and other traditional epoxies and is just as hard and strong when cured. Not saying it's a replacement because as clay/putty consistency, it does not flow and fill voids as do the more liquid pastes; but I do think once you try it for stock repairs where you can't get liquids or pastes to stay in place, you'll find it invaluable. (PS. I've tried various colors but seem to get my best results with the NEUTRAL color.)

I believe there is usually more than a single way to accomplish an objective and my advice should be treated as an alternative not necessarily the best solution for you and how you do things. As always, YMMV.

thanks for the advise guys. I appreciate it.

I will point out that the picture on this thread shows the correct method of installing the piece of wood, do not have the end grain facing out. I have seen people install two blocks of wood in the heel and toe and epoxy them in with the end grain facing out, they will not hold

No need for wood. Besides, who wants the extra weight of wood in their rifle’s buttstock?

Here’s what I do:

With a dremel tool, hollow out about a 1/4” deep by 3/16” wide channel of the foam around the outer edge of the synthetic stock. What you are wanting to do is expose the inside edge of the stock shell.
Once you have that thin, inside edge of the stock shell exposed, you want to rough it up a bit with some sand paper or a small needle file….anything to score the inner stock surface will do so that your epoxy will bite and hold. Your dremel bit will probably have scored it well enough depending on which bit you used. If it’s still smooth(especially with a plastic stock) then using some 80 grit sand paper should be adequate to give the plastic some bite.

Next, take a small drill bit and drill a few small 1/8” deep holes in the bottom of the face plate of the recoil pad(around the outer edge so that the holes will be directly over the small channel you hollowed out in the stock once the pad is installed).
The holes in the bottom of the pad and the roughed up inside edge of the stock shell will give enough bite for your epoxy to bond the pad securely to the synthetic stock.

Next, completely fill the small channel up with epoxy and also apply a thin layer of epoxy on the bottom of the pad plate. Use a toothpick to make sure epoxy fills up each of the small holes you drilled in the plate. Brownell’s Acra-Glas(black) works good as an epoxy for this kind of pad installation because it stays in place well and its extended working time allows you time to cleanup or fix mistakes vs quick setting epoxy.
Warning…the stuff is incredibly sticky/tacky so be careful. That is a good thing as it’ll ensure that your pad doesn’t come off or come loose once the epoxy is dry.

Use masking tape to mask off the first 2” of the buttstock before starting with the epoxy. This will help keep the epoxy that oozes out between the pad and stock from making a mess once you mate the surfaces together ….Did I mention the stuff is sticky?
😁
Also, use a couple long pieces of masking tape stretched over the pad and down the sides of the buttstock to hold the pad in place until the epoxy has set. I usually just set the stock gently in a corner for 4 or 5 hours with pad up so the pad isn’t touching the wall while the epoxy sets. After a few hours the epoxy will be set enough that the pad will not slip. But allow for full cure over night before use.

Rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab will work good to clean epoxy spills off stock and recoil pad while it’s still wet but once the stuff sets it’s permanent! So, be patient and clean up as you go. This will ensure the job looks professionally done when you’re finished.

Using this method will firmly bond the recoil pad to the interior edge of the stock shell…it won’t come off unless you cut it off( no screws needed). Because of this I recommend using Pachmayr Decelerator recoil pads because they look great, perform great and last a long time and never get sticky like Limbsaver pads.🤔

Sometimes masking tape will leave residue on the rubber pad that is hard to get completely off. I’ve found that Armorall(original formula) works well on this and will also keep the rubber surface on a newly ground recoil pad from catching on hunting clothing. I wipe down my recoil pads with Armorall a couple time a year…great stuff…and will help keep rubber pads from getting hard and drying out.

Also, Acra-Glas gel has a 1:1 mix ratio. It’s easy to use just follow the instructions. Remember, you’re only gluing on a pad. It should only take about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of the stuff for the whole job. The small black dye packet in the kit goes a long way. You only need a couple drops to get the epoxy dark black. Once you have mixed it up well and it looks dark black add another couple drops and mix well. Adding a couple more drops will really help keep the epoxy dark and ensure the best color match to the black base plate on most recoil pads.

Good luck,

Leftybolt

I use Marinetex and just make sure there is enough roughness around the inside of the stock to give it decent mechanical lock. Bansner told me they use Loctite 416 to attach their pads, just cut and square the end and glue the shaped pad on. As far as I can tell from Manners and Bansner, they seem to just use epoxy and attach the pads without any sort of reinforcement.

The .9" microcell pads save 3-4 ounces over a decelerator, if you care. You can buy them from Hastings.

Those microcell pads are nice, as is dealing with Hastings. I ordered a few of the red and they were here 3 days later in a flat rate box. 👍