Cost to shorten stock?

As title says, any idea on the cost to shorten a stock and refit pad please? 

Thanks in advance.

john. 

At any point of shortening a stock, your old pad won’t fit anymore.. I would be thinking about fitting a new isis green pad, which is better than whatever was on there.. Whole job should be under £100 from a sensible place. Buy the pad yourself and supply it.

I agree with the price Will estimated above . The pad price , plus £80-100 .  There are loads of different pads and thicknesses out there . Microcell like the new Betetta are around £25 , my personal favourite Kickeez around £40 .  Remember to ask for your stock offcut back , you never know when you might need a bit of matching timber .  If you want someone to check the gunfitting and make sure you’re right about what length to end up with , another £80 on top . 

Actually I would think £50 for pad and £50 for work. I really wouldn’t go for Kickeez. It was the best 20 years ago, but it’s just a rubber spring that degrades after time and becomes even more of a spring. Isis green pad kills bounce / potential muzzle flip.

To be honest Will , I think those green pads are abhorrent .  They might be the most technically efficient pad on the planet , but I’ll never put one on a nice gun . 

I changed the Kickeeze on my K80 last year , it was looking shabby after nearly  20 years . Having said that I store the gun muzzle down so any compression set was is just from shooting , and I probably shoot a quarter or less than you do . 

Ive had two Kickeez fitted to two guns by two people in the last 12 months and I’m sure they  came out around £110-£120 , but I’d had casting and fitting as well so I might have the actual pad fitting wrong .

MartynB said:

To be honest Will , I think those green pads are abhorrent .  They might be the most technically efficient pad on the planet , but I’ll never put one on a nice gun . 

I changed the Kickeeze on my K80 last year , it was looking shabby after nearly  20 years . Having said that I store the gun muzzle down so any compression set was is just from shooting , and I probably shoot a quarter or less than you do . 

Ive had two Kickeez fitted to two guns by two people in the last 12 months and I’m sure they  came out around £110-£120 , but I’d had casting and fitting as well so I might have the actual pad fitting wrong .

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I’ve had both and will never put that terrible 1980s bit of Haribo on a gun again, but it’s a free country, for now..

The Isis pads look fine I think, especially when coloured black with the pen supplied. They are also as slippery as many people want, or you add the anti slip stickers supplied if wished. My advice is try one..

I'm interested to see this discussion. I wanted to increase the length of the stock slightly by either fitting a spacer or just a larger pad.

I went to see a Kickeeze in a store and its got a crazy sticky finish on it. Seems a sure thing to snag on clothing?

Is there a big difference between the Green and X ISIS pads? The X pads come in a bit thicker than required.

Doug Pinnegar said:

I'm interested to see this discussion. I wanted to increase the length of the stock slightly by either fitting a spacer or just a larger pad.

I went to see a Kickeeze in a store and its got a crazy sticky finish on it. Seems a sure thing to snag on clothing?

Is there a big difference between the Green and X ISIS pads? The X pads come in a bit thicker than required.

Click to expand...

The X pad simply has another 3rd soft initial layer that is meant to fit the shoulder (maybe a bit like memory foam). Then it’s just a green pad underneath. I think the 19mm and thicker green pads have two separate layers and are optimal for recoil attenuation. I have a normal green pad. 

Another pad option is the Micro Cell pad made by Cervellati. https://www.cervellati.it/en/ready-to-fit-microcell-recoil-pads/

They bear a remarkable similarity to Beretta's MicroCore pad. As with the others they need to be fitted, but I find them very comfortably shaped and they manage the recoil well if that's a concern. I learned of them when Midland Gun fitted one to my old trap gun so I fitted  one on the CG as well.

Mine came from Avalon Guns at a very reasonable price but others do them.

Also a thing to bear in mind , with any “   Rubber pad  “ is that the pad in the shop is just an unfinished item , what it ends up like can have a fair bit to do with the guys who fit them and the final finish  .  Nigel Teague fitted the Kickeeze to my 38 , and Brian Webster fitted the same to my K80. I  haven’t had any “treatment “ to slick the pad up . Kickeez have lots of comments about being “ sticky “ , but honestly I’ve never had an issue with mounting the two guns above and I shoot 80% gun down . But of course that’s just a personal observation , not a  guaranteed fact .  I know Kelbrook lodge recommend the microcell pads , and they are very reasonably priced . 

Doug Pinnegar said:

I'm interested to see this discussion. I wanted to increase the length of the stock slightly by either fitting a spacer or just a larger pad.

I went to see a Kickeeze in a store and its got a crazy sticky finish on it. Seems a sure thing to snag on clothing?

Is there a big difference between the Green and X ISIS pads? The X pads come in a bit thicker than required.

Click to expand...

Tim Greenwood fitted a kickeez pad to a gun of mine and he customised it to fit me.

The face of the pad is now curved (as I mount out on my shoulder) and the pad has a leather facing on it. It works.

Just for the record, I do like the Isis pads as well. Bear in mind that Isis pads are MUCH lighter than Kickeez pads of a similar thickness -  so they will alter gun balance.

Cheers all, as ever, for the discussion. I’ve been quoted £50 for the work, through a coach I’ve had a lesson from as he believes I need to loose about 1/2” off the length (oooh errr ).

Just a personal preference , but go for minimum wood off , and the thinnest pad to achieve the final length . It looks nicer ,also  the next owner of the gun can then add a thicker pad and minimum spacers if they want to lengthen it . 

MartynB said:

Just a personal preference , but go for minimum wood off , and the thinnest pad to achieve the final length . It looks nicer ,also  the next owner of the gun can then add a thicker pad and minimum spacers if they want to lengthen it . 

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This is a subject me and Martyn clearly differ on! If you are shortening the stock, it’s the perfect opportunity to get a decent 19mm or similar pad on there. Bugger the next owner.

I’ve currently got a 19mm pad on there, happy to have the same sort of pad when the stock is shortened . 

And anyway, as is normal for a first gun purchase I don’t ever plan on changing it so might as well get it sorted for me

For Sporting i prefer the Pachmyr pad with the plastic insert at the top,never a snag  :biggrin:

I had my Browning 725 shortened by 1/2" and the original squidgy pad thing put back on at a cost of £30. Excellent job too. I have fitted a 12mm Black Italian squidgy pad thing (as mentioned above) to my Browning 20 bore to lengthen the stock a touch. The Browning stock is cut curved and a black plastic heel plate fitted, to save cutting the wood I heated the pad with a hairdryer and used the screws to pull it to the 'curve'. The pad cost me £15. 

I have kickeez  on my guns. In fact I need to change the one on my gold e as its started to wear away at the top. But it's been on for 13 years so I cannot complain. I've never found them to snag or catch clothing.

X pad on miroku after shortening to 13 1/2 inch. I am really short bloke. Equivalent amount of lead in weight to the wood taken off and old pad stuffed into stock bolt hole. Balences just fine. Job done.