I needed a slight adjustment to be made to the LOP of my Heym 88B .500 NE. While at it I figured I'd get the recoil pad wrapped in leather. Chris Sells recommended to me the gentleman that does that work for H&H in the USA.
Got it back today and it looks and feels awesome. I chose the classic brownish red color instead of black. Here is what it looks like. Underneath is a Pachmayr recoil pad. Here is a quick pic.
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Looks great, Tanks. Properly “Lined” English Pigskin too. These are much harder to execute than you might imagine. Even then, they are “darned hard to do” when using a firm Silver’s pad. Double that difficulty with a soft pad like a Pachmayr. Whoever did the work was highly skilled.
I might mention that these pads do erode, decay, and rot. They do so primarily from getting moist from sweat or humidity and then they easily damage. Yours with the Pachmayr underneath will do so even moreso because the pad will flex a lot more thus the leather will be “worked” greatly. Here’s what you can do to add to its life significantly:
Fiebings makes a leather care product for the trade called “leather balm with atom wax”. This is a milky, neutral color protectant and sealant that glazes over the leather and prevents loss of color as well. You need a piece of lambs wool (hide on) and you apply the milky wax to it but you do not rub it much, or you’ll start to rub off leather. About 15-30 mins later the wax has saturated the leather and it is no longer soaked. You then buff it with another piece of dry lambs wool similar to the one you used to apply it. It is now dry enough that the buffing is giving it a satin sheen and is protecting that leather. You can allow it to completely dry and reapply a couple days later, repeatedly. If you do this it will last a lifetime. My shotgun has easily hunted 200-400 days, plus countless range days and 100,000s of shells and while its showing wear, it is still functional. I was warned these only last 2-3 years of light use, my leather protocol has shown it to last 12 years so far and its endured 100x more use than a double rifle is ever subjected.
