Well I got the rifle sighted in. Recoil with the first pad was brutal especially off a lead sled, it just pivoted up and smacked me in the face. Even handloads downloaded to 376 Steyr levels were tough. The problem was the pad was firm and had little "give" to it.
I put a new recoil pad on and now its much much better. No more face smacks and it rocks me back only slightly more then it did at the original weight.
The look and balance are just what I wanted. I backpacked up a mountain the other day and the rifle was noticably easiler to carry and maneuver through brush. I'm very happy with the project. The next step will probably be a new scope to give a tad more range then the current 1-4 Leopold. But for now its perfect for bears.
