To coin an old phrase, " necessity is the mother of invention"......
That's funny how while I was writing up this tutorial I had that exact phrase ready to be posted, but you beat me to it! LOL. But yea, "necessity" for some kind of a practical modification is exactly what's going on here. This LEO shotgun almost got dumped by me because of the way Remington designed it to be fired.
Honestly, I don't know why Remington couldn't provide these features for us at the factory themselves. (??) Would it really have taken a brainstorm by the design team to supply an extra 3/8" of recoil pad, and a snap-on piece of rounded laminated plastic or rubber as a cheek weld?
Ok guys..... here's some info and tips about how to go about this;
_____________________________________________________________________
The flip-flop simply gets glued directly to the metal butt plate just as was the original Remington 1/8" hard rubber pad. I simply grasped the 30 year old rubber pad with my fingernails and pulled it off. If your gun is newer then mine and stuck on real stubborn, very often a hot air gun will heat up the old rubber so it can be peeled off easy. (available at Harbor Freight, or at Hobby shops). Be sure to clean the metal buttstock and your new rubber flip-flop recoil pad with alcohol so the glue sticks well.
Detail & Construction Tips:
1)
Making the recoil pad;
Walmart sells 98¢ black rubber flip-flops which will make a good 1/2" thick rubber recoil. It absorbs the recoil very well. Stand the butt of the gun onto the flip-flop to draw a pattern with a blue pen. Cut the required shape with a scroll saw or table band-saw. If you don't have a scroll saw I'm sure that an x-acto knife will do the job. A small Harbor Freight style power table-sander works great for final shaping, but even a slow 60grit sanding block will neatly finish it. It will take much longer to shape the rubber flip-flop pad with a sanding block, but that's how I did the final finish shaping, as the table sander can remove rubber too fast if you're not careful. Clean all surfaces with alcohol to remove dirt, oil, and blue pen markings.
Glue the recoil pad to the folder using "Goop" glue on both surfaces. (read instructions on tube)
"Goop" brand glue is sold at Lowes or Home Depot. I've used this stuff for years. It's great! It applies like rubber cement and can be neatly rubbed off anything with your finger while it's drying over the next hour. (just like rubber cement balls up and rolls off) I have used this "Goop" glue for many projects over the years, including twice already to firmly reattach the separating rubber soles of my Timberland boots ( 15 year old boots with dry-rot) I glued the soles back onto the leather upper half of the boots...and they are still attached 2 years later! Apply Goop to both parts, attach them together, and use clamps to hold the recoil pad firm to the metal butt, and rubber bands to hold the cheek-weld hose onto the folder edge. (the hose especially needs to be held down tight at the bend close to the butt plate). Once the hose is firmly held in place, dab some wet glue into the both ends of the hose to seal the openings and help keep the hose ends from loosening down the road. Let everything dry for 24 hours.
I've detailed more on the cheek-weld below in paragraph 3.
2)
Modifying the metal folder to allow the recoil pad to fit;
Carefully file about 1/32" to 1/16" of metal off of the folder (as shown in photo) a very little at a time until the 1/2" thick flip-flop pad will fit snug onto the barrel. (you're done when the pad is sandwiched firmly between the barrel and folder with no slop or play) If you do the filing neat, no bluing removal or damage will show on either side. For those purists who care about keeping the gun in it's original state, the gun can be returned to the same original state later with hardly any visible evidence. (ie; you can peen the inside of the folder with a center punch to buldge the metal back out, and then reattach the saved original hard rubber pad back on. (...if the gun becomes a collectors item 35 years from. LOL) If you take your time and do this slow and carefully, no modifications will be noticed. Somebody would have to examine VERY closely. BTW; the resale values of this kind of gun is very poor anyway, and mine is now only worth about $150 more then I paid for it 25 years ago. Not a great investment, so I don't mind doing minor modifications to it so it's useable.
3) Making the rubber Cheek-Weld for your face;
The best thing to use is a 3/16" thick-walled, black rubber fuel-line hose. Most auto dealers sell it by the foot, and you need only 12" of it. Get the 3/16" size, as the small opening will grasp tighter onto the thin metal rail then larger sized hose openings. Use a blade to splice one side of it so that it can be squeezed firmly onto the metal folder edge. Clean all surfaces with alcohol including the inside of the hose after you sliced it open. . Apply Goop to both surfaces (folder surface & the inside of the hose), and hold the hose firm to the metal contour with rubber bands to let the Goop dry overnight.
1/2" thick Flip-Flop pad glued directly onto metal butt plate as was original 1/8" hard rubber.
Red arrow shows where to file off about 1/32"- 1/16" of metal from top edge of folder. Heck, if you're a purist who hates altering your guns, this is very small. Just put black magic marker over that filed edge to cover it. Most folks would probably not even notice it.
Photo below;
Red arrow; shows same edge where metal is filed off to allow folder to rise high enough so that thicker 1/2" Flip-Flop will fit. It's been filed already in this photo and shows how no alteration shows if you take your time and do it slow and careful. Green arrow; shows retainer ring you can pop-off so that you can work easier on folder. BTW; you can buy a $7 Harbor Freight tool designed to easily remove the retainer rings on both sides of folder.
![Image]()
Photo below; shows an optional small 1/4" long piece of black vinal tubing (that is spliced open) I glued it to the top of the metal butt plate to serve as a bumper. This way when you quickly flip the folder over on top of the barrel, the barrel doesn't get hit and dinged. (it's the thin black vinal hose from a Fluidmaster ballcock, and is sold separately at Home Depot if you want this optional feature. But you can probably find other kinds of rubber thingies to glue there instead of paying $2.50 just for a 1/4" length of tubing) The fuel hose is too thick to glue there unless maybe you sand it thin.
![Image]()
Photo below; another pic of the 1/4" long piece of Fluidmaster tubing that serves as a bumper to prevent metal folder butt pad from slamming into barrel. Though the flip-flop recoil pad sticks out about a 1/4" beyond the metal butt, the folder can still swing down hard enough for the metal to contact the barrel. That little bumper prevents this contact. This is optional, and something that Remington never much was concerned about. (but the butt slamming onto barrel bothered me enough to put a "bumper" there)
