Found out that the way to glue onto pad is to use rubber cement.

I am going to have my Baker Elite SBT fitted with a pad so I can shoot it and enjoy it!

The stock is currently fitted with a tacked on red "spacer" that gives a total LOP of 14 1/4". I believe the red spacer to be the tacked on base of a Jostam sponge rubber pad with a 1917 patent date.

I do not want to cut the stock and removing the spacer is very tricky, so I need a thin pad. I have acquired a vintage but still soft 1 inch used Jostam sponge rubber two ply pad, without its red base, a 1 inch very hard vintage Jostam Anti-flinch and I could easily obtain a Galazan hard rubber 1/2" pad.

At this point I plan on installing a 1/2" Galazan and I will likely save the Anti-Flinch should the next owner want to cut the stock and install a correct pad to the new owner's LOP.

Any thoughts on trimming the Jostam sponge pad to 1/2" thick or less and gluing it to the red spacer?

Should it be cut above or below the middle spacer?
Above the spacer means I would glue rubber to the spacer on the stock. Below the spacer would mean I would glue the middle spacer to the spacer on the stock.

What type of glue should be used?

Should it be cooled before grinding or cutting?

Any other thin pads out there?
One possibility is to take a Winchester reproduction 1922 pad, and grind it down to 1/2 inch. The Winchester would be soft, I think, and it has 3 1/8 inch holes that would match the existing holes. Is the winchester soild all the way through?

Thanks

Lou

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If it were me I would remove the tacked on base and have a real S.W. Silver pad installed. They are available from Galazan and are certainly "period" for your Baker SBT. I had a Parker at one time with a similar setup. Its old Jostam pad base was very brittle and literally fell apart when starting to remove it. I doubt it would have made a good base for a NOS Jostam which is likely to be ozone deteriorated itself. Removing the tacks was no problem through use of a set of diagonal cutting pliers, so-called "dikes". The tacks were easy to pull out while working from the center outward. Silvers

What Frank (Silvers) said!! If I had that gun, that is exactly what I'd do. Then again, I've had my Fox J-Grade for 18 years and haven't yet gotten around to replacing the Morgan pad with a S.W. Silvers like I should!!

Good advice that the old Jostam pad base would not be a good base to hold a glued sponge pad.

Problem is that even if I could get the Jostam base off without hurting the stock I would still have 14 inches of wood and a period correct Silvers would bring the LOP to 15 inches, which is too long!

This is why I am planning to put on a 1/2 inch galazan. That way I can enjoy the gun and leave it alone for the next owner.

Any "thin" suggestions that do not involve cutting would be appreciated

This may not make a difference but in case it does the Galazan
"period correct" pad will be orange, very similar in color to a Hawkins pad. The genuine Silvers pad will be brick red. I have both and there is a distinct color difference. As a suggestion, and I've never done this, you could possibly use the Silvers and grind the face down to the 1/2" you need. My Silvers measures 7/8". Would be tricky but a good pad guy should be able to handle this.

I just bought two S.W. Silver Co. #3 pads from Galazan on special at $50.00 each. They are 7/8" thick. Although there is a cavity in the base of the pad it is only 7/16" deep, therefore the 7/8" thickness can be reduced somewhat by your pad man. Personally I would prefer a genuine SWS pad on a classic Baker SBT rather than a modern made whatever but of course that is your choice. Obviously I don't know if your base is glued to the wood with super strong glue but the tacks supplied by Jostam were very tiny and very sharp and they pulled out quite easily and with no stock damage on the Parker I referred to in the earlier post. Frank

Does anyone know the depth of the more expensive Galazan Silvers pad and whether it has a hollow space?

If I do decide to cut the Jostam sponge pad does anyone know what I should use to stick the black sponge rubber to the base?

One nagging question I have is why is my stock so long? Did trap shooters enjoy SBT's with 15" LOP?

Finally, any thoughts about using a thin Galazan hard black rubber reproduction of a Baker butt plate?

My Baker came with an old Morgan that had never been properly fitted to the stock. See Picture below.

FYI, the camera brings out the blond highlights in the wood, which is much darker and richer to the naked eye. The checkering is very intricate. The Cody has a similar Baker Elite with similar checkering (see page 40 of Frank Conley's book), and the Cody historian told me that when the Cody Baker Elite came from Winchester in 1972 it came with a notation that the engraving AND the checkering was by Rudolph Kornbrath. This is a good part of the reason that I do not want to touch the stock and I just want to put something thin on top of the Jostam base.

Another option would be to use a .6" old English and leather cover it. That would really look neat but may not be "period correct" if that is important. It would get your length of pull about right, I think.

What I am looking for at this point in time is to get the gun ready to shoot while preserving the integrity of the stock. Problem is that it feels pretty nice right now with the ugly red Jostam base. Although I appreciate the importance of the historical "look" My thought is that the next owner can worry about achieving the perfect combination of looks and length, which may involve cutting (Ouch!)

I am half tempted to cut all or almost all the sponge rubber off the Jostam double sponge in the picture above and just layer the orange rubber onto the Jostam base with glue.

That Baker SBT is one fine looking gun. I have some older original pads- Ithaca sunburst etc- and recently bought a 1895 era Uncle Dan LeFever 12 gauge- DT and the side cocking pins-very impressed with the cocking mechanism and the ball socket style hinge- gun had one flaw- original buttstock and BP was cut down to a 13" LOP from front trigger, and the aprox 4 degree pitch line from heel to toe was ignored and it was cut flush (90 %) so I spliced a spacer of walnut from another era gun, used a bisquit joiner and Gorilla glue and of course, masking tape and clamps. Gorilla glue is almost foolproof-trick is to moisten both mating wood surfaces with tap water, and as it "migrates" under clamping pressure a bit, spread it with a popsicle stick just in the center areas (I did, however, coat the bisquits evenly with that adhesive. I had an older period Silvers pad and I used both the Gorilla glue and two drilled holes in the spliced stock for the screws- now that it has dried and set, and I have finish sanded and refinished with tru-oil and added stain to match, it is as solid as the original stock was. I have a gunsmith friend who gives me the "drops" from various stocks, buttplates and older recoil pads, so advise if you are looking for something older, perhaps I can find it for you. The "repo pads" from Galazan are nice, ditto from Midway, but expensive.

Thank you Run with the Fox:

FYI: I brought my Baker to Griffin & Howe on Monday and they told me that the Jostam spacer simply has to go.

They also said that fitting a nice pad a bit long to start is okay because its easy to take LOP off.

I listened to their advice and I am having a vintage Silvers fitted by them - Hard to wait!

Here are some pictures of the engraving on my Baker. It was for sale on Gunbroker last week but because of the underwhelming response I took it off before getting any bids. Now I am going to enjoy it myself.

Lou

If I were looking for a short stock, I would grind the base until it looked good, possibly bevel the edges a little, and shoot it that way. I have had guns with this base before and have not had any trouble with the nails pulling out. I would never consider cutting the wood for a Silver pad to get my short stock. I think I looked at the gun on gunbroker but don't remember what the pricing details were. If you really wanted to sell it, give it another chance. I have a friend who collects Baker singles but he probably didn't see the ad.

Lou,
If you are going to dispose of the old Jotsom pad, I would like to talk to you about it.
Thanks,
Chris
hiflyer34@hotmail.com

I may also be interested, if it is the pad with spacer. Chris asked first, so he's "at bat" but I'm in the "on deck circle" if he passes?? Opening Day- 2 weeks and change- Red Sox will repeat and the Bambino's curse will fade away like his 60/1927!!

And Mr. Bushmaster almost every one here gives same advice to remove base also same advice from G & H but you thank only RWTF?

Thanks to all for the advice about removing the Jostam.

With the Jostam base removed and the Silvers ground down a bit if necessary the LOP will be fine if not perfect. I do NOT plan on cutting the stock.

Note, I thanked RWTF for saying he liked my Baker. I had received some bad attitude about it on another forum.

Here is a comparison of my Baker to the Baker Elite in the Cody (See page 40 of Frank Conley's book, The American Single Barrel Trap Gun). The historian at the Cody told me that the Cody Baker Elite came from Winchester in 1972 with a note that the engraving and the checkering was by Ruldolph Kornbrath. My gun is within 125 serial numbers of the Cody Baker and the checkering looks the same. Engraving on my Baker looks a little more detailed, but that might just be because the detail was lost in the photo from the book. Now that I am getting my Baker fixed up to shoot I will not be trading or selling it for a while. If I determine that my Baker, with its long LOP and 34" barrel is too big for me after I shoot it I will consider a Winchester 21 trap as a trade.


My Baker Elite:



Baker Elite at the Cody:

For now I am going to go with putting a Galazan reproduction of an original Baker butt plate.

Only .388 inches thick and it can go on directly over the Jostam base.

I found out that the Baker Elite in the Cody has a Baker Butt plate.

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Lovely gun!
But if you're going to do something traditional to the butt why leave a red line spacer in the design?

I want to keep the gun and shoot it. Therefore I need some type of pad.

Unfortunately, the Jostam is attached by a myriad of tiny nails close to the edge.

I am concerned that the stock could be damaged during their removal.

As a compromise, I am having the thin pad put over the Jostam. this will let me shoot it and I can still appreciate its good looks! If I find an original Baker plate I will think about removing the Jostam, but most likely I will leave that for the next owner.

Here is a picture of the Galazan reproduction:

Found out that the glue to use is Rubber Cement