doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vintage Recoil Pads

I cannot show ya'll the most unusual recoil pad I have ever seen but I can tell you where you can see it. Recently, while watching "The Ghosts in The Darkness" starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas, there was a scene with Douglas as Remington, holding a sidelock double rifle. I noticed the recoil pad, and as best I could determine it must have been the first Pachmayr basket weave, black base model.

J.S. Johnson spring loaded pad, which looks to be a slip on

Stan: the Western Field pad mystery is complicated, but we gotta start with the Red Head pads.

Found this about the Red Head brand
E.C. Cook & Bro. was founded in Chicago c.1867 by E.C. Cook (b.1845) and his brother F.W. Cook. They were manufacturers of awnings, tents, waterproof wagon, horse and truck covers, flags, banners and canvas signs. Later they expanded range to include hunters' and tourists' outfits, including jackets, cartridge vests, hats, gun and rifle covers, holsters, belts, cartridge belts, rod cases, and boots.
The Red Head brand name first used 1908. In 1915, a half million dollar contract for boots for the British Army was rejected and the company was forced into bankruptcy. Former employee S. Theodore Anderson, who had been with Cook since 1885 became president of the new Alward Anderson Southard Co, formed along with Charles H. Southard and Edward Hendrickson (with Cook since 1897). The new company took over the closed factory, located at 925 W. Chicago Ave, hired 100 new workers, and resumed production of the defunct Cook's lines.
In 1931, Theodore Anderson died and the company was taken over by his widow, Alma Anderson. The company grew and flourished under her ownership and management, opening a new factory in 1940 at 4300 Belmont Ave. and expanding employment to over 500. Anderson died in 1956 and the company was taken over by Clarke F. Hine. Red Head was purchased by the Brunswick Blake Collender Co, of bowling ball fame, in December 1959. Brunswick purchased the DryBak company several years later, selling both company's similar hunting lines for a time in the 1960s.

So here is Alma's 1937 patent for the Red Head pad



We know many tradename pads were made by Red Head including 'Trustworthy', 'TruSport' (for E.K. Tryon), and 'Whippet' (for Hibbard, Spencer, Bartlett & Co., Chicago) and the Marlin Model 90 introduced in 1939

'Whippet' for Hibbard, Bartlett, Spencer & Co., Chicago with same patent date



Western Field but no patents date and different cut-outs. I'll bet it was also made by the Anderson Southard Co., also of Chicago







And a very similar J.C. Higgins for Sears

Red Head on the Sears "Ranger" DeLuxe Stevens 520 in the Fall 1935 catalog

Then there are the various Stevens pads

'T'pad found on the 5100 and others



Jostam "Anti-Flinch" but with 6 cut outs; on a 620 Deluxe.



And this pad

Thank you lots, Drew.

One more question .......... wouldn't one of those Montgomery Ward WesternField pads be appropriate on my MW "WesternField New Model 32" 12 ga."? It came to me with a cheap Japanese/Chinese pad with little duck and phez all over it. Butt ugly.

SRH

Interesting. There was a patent suit settled in 1926 between W.R. Jorgenson (of Jostam) and F.D. Hawkins over the J.S. Day patent #1,123,180 granted Dec. 29, 1914
https://books.google.com/books?id=JvrCPCCBSE8C&pg=PA471&lpg

This may be the first rubber pad in the U.S. - Charles Ritzmann "Red Rubber Recoil Pad" in Forest & Stream 9-2-1880
https://books.google.com/books?id=S0khAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA100&lpg



S.W. Silver's Indiarubber Works was established in 1864. "The Anti-Recoil Heel Plate-The Silver's Safety Pad" was introduced in the 1870s.
The first Parker fitted with a "Silvers Recoil Butt" was DH #56553 in 1891.

More interesting stuff with a Chicago connection. Turns out that Albert H. Ammann was a well known trapshooter.

December 27, 1913 "Sporting Life"
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/57351/rec/37

He competed at the 1909 GAH in Chicago
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/31476/rec/1
and shot at the Chicago Gun Club with W.D. Stannard who was the 'st' of Jostam.



He was a Professional Trade Representative for Winchester, using a Winchester Repeating Shotgun.

In 1914 he was High Professional average for Illinois at .9510 beating W.R. Crosby, Fred Bills, Jay Graham & Homer Clark
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/25026/rec/47

August 19, 1916 "Sporting Life"
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/23377/rec/17



September 2, 1916
https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll17/id/22505/rec/18



In 1917 he had the 7th Professional Average at .9667
https://books.google.com/books?id=U_I-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA222&lpg

The Jostam Anti-Flinch was made in 5-, 6- and 7-slot sizes.

From 1929 through 1935, the J. Stevens Arms Co. catalogs show their No. 330 double as coming with a Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pad --



This continued with the No. 530 from 1936 through 1941. Beginning in the 1942 catalog the text says "Stevens Recoil Pad."

Likewise, the first variation Savage Arms Coro. added to their newly acquired Ansley H. Fox shotgun line was their Fox-Sterlingworth Deluxe which featured a Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pad and twin ivory sights --



All this to show Savage Arms Corp./J. Stevens Arms Co. had large supplies of Jostam Anti-Flinch recoil pads on hand.

Similarly, Ithaca Gun Co. for 1931, offered a spiffy version of their Field Grade with a Hawkins Recoil pad and twin ivory sights --



They did the same with their Lefever Nitro Special and Western Arms Long Range doubles. In 1932 these guns got the Ithaca recoil pad.