Recoil Pad Dry-Rot

[canny]

At the end of last season I went through and cleaned and wiped down all of the guns in my safe using Birchwood Caseys Sheath. I went to pull out a couple guns before season started to verify their zero and noticed that one of them had a large chunk of its recoil pad missing. the area around it appears to be dry and my first thought was some how it had dry-rotted in the safe.

The gun is a Howa 1500 in a Hogue Overmouled stock (original factory configuration). I sent the photo below to Hogue to see if they had any issues reported with their pads and their "specialist" said it was a chemical burn and not dry-rot.

Kinda hard to figure out how that happened when the pad showed no defect when it was stored at the end of last season and now it shows a missing corner. There are no chemicals stored in the safe and the other firearms that were stored next to it show no effects.

I had a similar issue with my Browning A5 and browning acknowledged that their recoil pad material was not as durable as they hoped and they sent me a new pad. Hogue wants to charge 30.00 for a new pad.

I respectfully told them that wouldn't be happening and I would refrain from purchasing any of their products in the future as IMO this is a material defect. Not that it really matters, but just kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

[Pigpiggy]

There’s a piece on Donaldson air filter assemblies that breaks down over time and turns into a sticky, crumbly mess. It’s the bottom part called a dust ejector valve. This part is commonly found on zero turn mower engines.

It reminds me of the way your butt pad looks.

[Eric Pence]

I had a Remington 700 CDL that did the same thing ,the gunsmith I took it too said its was a mixture problem with the rubber at the manufacturer he said he saw the newer Remington's do this often.

[canny]

I had a Remington 700 CDL that did the same thing ,the gunsmith I took it too said its was a mixture problem with the rubber at the manufacturer he said he saw the newer Remington's do this often.

Yeah I was pretty ****** when their "specialist" said it was a chemical burn. What has happened to standing by the quality of your product. Its ridiculous!

[Bigfootwolff]

Looks like the soles of a pair of Rocky boots I owned. The soles began falling apart on a hunt. To Rocky's credit, they requested that I send them in and they put new soles on them and shipped them back to me at no cost to me. Now that social media is in full play, you would think a company would realize that by just sending a customer a replacement, particularly a rubber pad that likely cost them a couple of bucks to make, would be a good PR move. Happy customer posts good things about how Company X stands by their products. Hundreds or thosands of people see the post, and comany gets great PR that cost them almost nothing. The flip side is Company X tells customer the product's failure is not their problem, and frustrated customer posts pics of the product and numerous people read it and some choose to buy competitors product.

I have read posts on TBH about certain scope makers that have sent the customer a brand new scope to replace the one that failed, even with the scope being several years old with a few dings/scratches. That type of customer service says a lot about a company.

[Katch66]

I had a Remington 700 CDL that did the same thing ,the gunsmith I took it too said its was a mixture problem with the rubber at the manufacturer he said he saw the newer Remington's do this often.

I had a Remington CDL pad do the same thing. There was a problem with the rubber for awhile. I notified Remington and they sent me a new pad free of charge. I haven't had any issues with the new pad.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[Walker]

Got a pachmeyer decellerator thats about 12 years old and its turned to almost glue. Sticky sticky sticky.

[Tony Pic]

I also have had a recoil pad go bad in the safe on a TC Encore. Turned into a mushy sticky mess. Like playing with Tar. I blamed myself and bought new furniture, but used the same cleaners on all my guns and never had a issue. Maybe I should have complained.
But it would be nice though if Mfg put what Chems are bad for use with their products.

I use FrogLube and Breakfree CLP now for most everything.

[db@100]

I had a Remington CDL pad do the same thing. There was a problem with the rubber for awhile. I notified Remington and they sent me a new pad free of charge. I haven't had any issues with the new pad.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

Yep, Remington sent me a new one free also!

[kkp005]

Dang. Disappointing in Howa. My dad has a Benelli vinci that the recoil pad has dry rotted on. I was going to buy him one for Christmas. After seeing this thread I emailed Benelli. I immediately got a response and a new pad is in route free of charge

[meltingfeather]

Disappointing customer service.
Smart companies know that threads like this cost them more than a recoil pad.

[wdtorque]

Bazinga

Dang. Disappointing in Howa. My dad has a Benelli vinci that the recoil pad has dry rotted on. I was going to buy him one for Christmas. After seeing this thread I emailed Benelli. I immediately got a response and a new pad is in route free of charge

This is how to take care of customers!

[bubba joe]

I also have had a recoil pad go bad in the safe on a TC Encore. Turned into a mushy sticky mess. Like playing with Tar. I blamed myself and bought new furniture, but used the same cleaners on all my guns and never had a issue. Maybe I should have complained.
But it would be nice though if Mfg put what Chems are bad for use with their products.

I use FrogLube and Breakfree CLP now for most everything.

same here, T/C used a sims recoil pad... it's pretty nasty