I've got 2 of the standard Pachmayr pads leather covered & done by Del Whitman & they turned out very nice although I really prefer to use a Silver's pad as a base mostly because it looks traditional w/ the larger plugs & it makes a firmer base for the leather. The only issue with the Silvers is the weight.
Del uses leather covered wood dowels for plugs on the Pachmayrs & it's not an issue with feeling the plugs on recoil.
The non plugged leather covered pads are IMHO a bad idea. At some point in time the pad is going to need to come off for a variety of reasons & then what do you do that doesn't involve a saw or a chisel?
Maybe there is a way to install plugless leather covered pads not involving glue that I'm not aware of but I really don't mind the look of the plugs when done correctly so I don't see the point of complicating the installation.
