What's the best way to repair the hole for the recoil pad screw?
Thanks, Kelly

Mr. nash22:
I generally drill out the hole with an appropriate sized Forstner bit and epoxy in a hardwood dowel. Usually �" dowels will be fine. I leave the dowel a touch proud and grind it off flush after the epoxy sets. Then I re-drill the hole with a drill bit to fit your original pad screw.
I�m sure there are better ways, but that has worked several times for me.
Good luck.
Dwayne

Thats how I fix them too. Works quite well.

Good advise has been given. All I can add is to take note of the dowels used in the furniture industry ..... they usually have grooves either spiral or straight cut into their exterior to allow trapped air to escape while inserting.

Dip 2 or 3 toothpicks (depending on thickness) in carpenter glue and stick them down into the stripped-out hole. After the glue dries, cut the toothpicks off and screw the screw back in.

I prefer to drill the hole out slightly oversize and add a little epoxy (with some fibers added). Then insert a new, well-waxed screw into the hole with the pad in place. Wax the pad well also. Everything can be lined up prefectly and when the epoxy cures you do not need to do anything but use it...

Adding dowels, toothpicks and such works great, but getting the new hole EXACTLY right is much harder. Making the hole in exactly the right spot is automatic with the epoxy.

Sitka Deer, what type of epoxy and wax do you use?
Kelly

A person who can't drill a straight and centered hole in wood for a recoil pad screw, probably shouldn't be playing with disc sanders or epoxy.

+1 for the hardwood dowel and glue.

Another possibility, haven't tried it yet, but have all the "stuff" on hand. Buy a stripped hole repair kit. Metal corrugated pieces that you put in the hole and thread the screw in after.

BoreSnake
"A person who can't drill a straight and centered hole in wood for a recoil pad screw, probably shouldn't be playing with disc sanders or epoxy."

Good point, but the issue isn't about getting the hole perfect, but rather getting everything the first time without waiting for the glue to dry or anything else... It is faster and easier by quite a bit.

The other ways work great and the smiley is noted. Just talking about easy and right. And, thinking about it, there are lots of folks that should not be near a gun with a grinder that do install pads... and they will find my trick easier...
art

Any epoxy will work, just make sure you have enough open time to get the job done if using 10-minute... Pre-assemble everything once to make sure there will be no errors. Plain old Johnson's paste wax works fine, a shot of One-Shot works fine, too.

sounds like this has been pretty well covered but FWIW, I've used primarily brownelles acra-glass gel. I've done it in the "Sitka method" as well as just filling the hole and redrilling (acraglass will drill and screw and shave pretty easily within the window before it gets really hard (in my basement, say 15-24 hours later).

I'd oil the screw, gob some epoxy around it, stick it in the hole and let it dry.

It's not often you need to remove a recoil pad anyway, but the oil on the screw ought to make it possible.

The thing about epoxy is that it builds up, and there's its main value. It fills in holes.

The dowels and drilling mentioned are at least as good and probably better, but how good does it have to be?

I can't beleive anyone would ask that question, If you can't figure that out you shoulden't be messing with it.

Well, I do this for a living so it had better be right.

There you go being logical and professional again!

Nash22, I sent you a PM!

Some of the other guys need to chill. I bet all no one came out of the womb as a master gunsmith! I would like to believe this forum should be helpful and positive! Just my two cents worth!

toklat
More than one way to get a job done... Getting different input from several people might just help someone hesitant to do it a particular way. I doubt anyone on this thread got bent feelers.
art

Well, just because this is beginning to look like a compendium of methods, I'll add another.

I put butt plates on with bolts - because I take them on and off many many times. And wood screws wear out their welcome with the wood pretty quick.

I use a variant of Art's method - I fit the plate for a given size of bolt - often a #10 or #12. I then drill the center and thread a short piece of 3/8" or 5/16" bolt which will become the threaded anchor for the bolt holding the plate. The anchor is then bedded into the stock in a slightly oversized hole with epoxy. Doing this with the butt late bolted to the anchor, with the screws regulated, and everything that needs to release well coated with release agent is all that is left. The plate can be clamped to the stock with a piece of inner tube while the epoxy sets up.

When you are done, the buttplate can be removed in a moment. That's handy if you switch between stocks and have to contend with a through bolt such as you might for a Borchardt that is used both bench and offhand.

Brent

Brent
I like that idea! Would not need it often, but might need it once in a while... Thanks!
art

No problem. If you need unplated bolts with proper profiles, www.trackofthewolf.com has them.

Brent

Brent,

Time being money, these inserts may be worth the cost.
Gun Nut II @ Brownells

I'm not a pro but installed these on my O/U for pad changes for trap, field, cold weather field. Also for a few others where quick change was wanted. Work well.

Thanks for all the tips. I'm not to worried about fixing this as I have done this before. Was curious about other peoples methods.
Kelly

you don't need to be a master gunsmith to put a tooth pick in a screw hole and put the screw back in.

No you don't. But then it doesn't take a master garage mechanic to screw it up either.

The toothpick method is good for one thing - emergencies. And pretty marginal at that.

Brent