Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Rem 700 Recoil Pad Issues

I bought an M700 LSS from Sportsman's Warehouse, NIB, last month. This rifle is a 2007 model and has the new X-Mark trigger and all that. What is strange is the recoil pad. It is marked Remington and Limbsaver emblems. The problem is....

IT SEEMS TO BE MELTING BEFORE MY EYES!!!

It sticks to everything that touches it, and leaves rubber goo. You can see where it looks like the recoil pad was melting in my soft rifle case. The edges of the recoil pad are almost all melted and the pad sticks to the carpet when I prop the rifle up. The only thing I've done is take it out of the box and put it in the case. I haven't had the case near any heat sources. I'm really perplexed. This recoil pad seems to be different than the pad on my M700 XCR. What is going on?

One reason I like the decelerator pad...I had one R3 that got tacky like that...

The one factory Limbsaver I have is also doing that, and so are 2/3 of the ones that I've ground and fit for other rifles. It does suck, cosmetically. Mine seem fine functionally.

The only GOOD news is, they are otherwise excellent recoil pads.

Contact Remington or Limbsaver and one or both will probably warranty the pad. I had one that I installed on an LSS gun do the same thing and contacted SVL and they sent me a new pad free of charge.


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I've heard of Limbsaver pads doing that on numerous occasions. The R3 on the XCR seems to be a great pad.

I've got a LimbSaver pad (grind to fit) on a custom rifle doing the same thing...and have been told that it would be replaced as a warranty item. I haven't yet seen the R3 pads or precision fit LimbSavers doing the same thing.

I had the same problem with the r-3 on my CDL. Replaced it with Decelerator. No problems now.

BP...

I have a Rem LVSF with the R3 pad that looks like the edges melted. I broke the stock in an ATV rollover and found the same stock with pad here on the fire for sale. Guess what? The R3 pad has the same melting effect happening. If you put the rifle in the safe pad down and come back in a few days you will find it sort of stuck to the carpet of the safe floor....strange.

They make them soft for recoil absorption, but it seems they are TOO soft.

Good idea, poor execution.

You hear lots of stories like this.

I waxed the pad to make it not hang up on my clothes, it's squishy but doesn't have a melted appearance yet. I almost hope it gets that way so I can swap it for an Old English Sporting Clays pad.

Makes me wonder if there's a chemical reaction happening with gun cleaning solvent or oils that we inevitably get on our hands, and then perhaps transfer to the pads.

Son-in-law's XCR has that soft pad, but so far nothing like this has happened to it.

...so far.

i've read where rem recognized that their pads (limbsavers made for rem) were "melting" and added another substance to the never ones (which are also made by limbsaver or so i have read) which prevents the melting. read this about 4 months ago in some gun rag. i only have one limbsaver pad (bought about 2 months ago) on an 870 and it seems to be holding out just fine. ymmv.

The XCR pad is different. It seems like is build with ridges to compress easier and more evenly. The pad also seems to be made of a more robust material.

I haven't cleaned the rifle yet because I just bought it, so I'm not thinking that I could have put anything on it to do that.

As far as the Limbsaver pads "melting", that would be as good a description as any.

I own 7 rifles with that pad. Bought them sometime ago right after Limbsaver started marketing them. They are located where my MIL lives in WA state.

Had the same problem.....everything it touched, it stuck to. Placed it on the ground, butt down, sticks, leaves, dirt, EVERYTHING stuck to it!

Called Limbsaver. Talked with a gal there.......real nice and helpful. Seems a large batch of these pads were "undercooked" by a newer employee which caused this issue. He is no longer an employee there, many pads have been replaced FOC and Limbsaver has done everything (that I'm aware of), to make things right.

All my pads were replaced FOC as well and none of them have that sticky/melting issue.....none. Big difference.

Give 'em a jingle......I expect that their CS approach hasn't changed.

Good luck..............

I just bought a Rem 7 and it has the Limbsaver. Hate the pad as it seems to jump out and grab your clothing, just way too tacky. I much prefer the hard "recoil" pads such as the thin Ruger's or Pachmayer. But then I don't shoot a lot of hard kickers, my Mod 7 is a .223 and sure doesn't need the thick Limbsaver.

The Limbsaver on my XCR is also melting... those ridges are getting blurry...

One of the ones I ground to fit is fine everywhere except one spot about the size of a quarter, which is gummy.

Two grind to fits are melting away on me. I didn't notice the first until last year's late elk season. Very cold and snowy, yet the SVL on my 280 Mtn rifle left black goo on everything it touched. Still managed to shoot an elk though.

I intend to call SVL one of these days. I do like the look and feel decelerator better. The SVL does seem to a little better job at felt recoil reduction.

I have a Remington 700 CDL that has the new "Supercell" pad which seems much better. I read on another forum that Remington would replace the R3's with the Supercell if you call Remington CS and complain.

I bought a Rem 700 CDL in 2005 that has the same pad and it has "melted" also. I bought the latest pad, Supercell, to replace it. I started to write Remington to replace it but said to heck with the aggravation for $30.
I did not realize so many had this problem.