Henry Rifle Forums

I intend to purchase a Big Boy Steel rifle chambered in .357 Magnum and will be using it to ring steel and punch holes in paper targets. I don't care for the appearance of the rubber recoil pad and given the weight of the rifle, I am not concerned about recoil.

Has anyone replaced the rubber recoil pad on their Big Boy Steel model? Is there a direct replacement plastic or metal buttstock plate available? If so, where would I buy it?

Cannot directly answer your question, Flinch. But if you cannot locate any replacement, have you considered just covering up the rubber recoil pad with a leather butt stock cover? I've seen a lot of sharp-looking ones displayed on various hand-made leather accessories sites.
PT7

I don't want to increase the L.O.P. and would not mind shortening it. If I could find a buttplate that would fit like the one in your avatar, that would be great.

Replacing a butt pad or butt plate almost always requires some fitting even if it is minor to get the nice smooth fit. If not fitted to the stock right it will look like a Bubba job. Plastic is the easiest to fit but as far as I am concerned it is much less desirable but is easier to fit than say a brass or steel one. When fitting one take a piece of thin plastic like a plastic gallon milk jug and cut a straight edge to go right up to the edge of the butt plate screwed to the butt stock and large enough to cover a good portion of the side of the stock and work the butt plate down and the plastic allows it to be sanded down with out marring the wood. Tape it to the stock and keep moving it to a new position as you work your way around the plate to get it to fit. Thin sheet of brass shim stock works well also. Plastic or brass, thinner is better to get a close fit to the wood. I have had great results using this method on not having to touch up stocks that get sanded on the finish while trying to get a decent fit that looks good. Also a lot of replacement butt plates are not really perfectly flat and will require sanding on a flat surface to get the pad not to have a gap between the wood and the plate. Take your time and don't try to hurry it up or you may get in to more work than you want unless you want to refinish the wood and then fitting gets a lot easier. Good luck with your project.

I have some experience shortening shotgun buttstocks and modifying recoil pads, but I would like to find something that is a direct fit or requires very little fitting.

I sent an e-mail to Henry USA and asked if anything from their other rifles will fit. I wish I still had my Henry Frontier, so I could measure the buttstock plate and determine if it was a direct fit.

Flinch wrote:I have some experience shortening shotgun buttstocks and modifying recoil pads, but I would like to find something that is a direct fit or requires very little fitting.

I sent an e-mail to Henry USA and asked if anything from their other rifles will fit. I wish I still had my Henry Frontier, so I could measure the buttstock plate and determine if it was a direct fit.

If I could find a buttplate that would fit like the one in your avatar, that would be great.

Options.
~~You could check out any LGS near you and see if they have a Henry Frontier on their shelf, and measure it.
~~Put out a call for help to the Forum members. Someone surely has a Frontier, and you could work with them via our PM system, or even exchange phone numbers to get the measurements you need. (For instance, I've worked with Forum Folk on measuring picatinny rail mount holes for a Henry .357. Great to have knowledgeable folk around who are willing to help).

BTW, the buttstock plate in my avatar is on my H001TLP, Henry SGC. Yeah, it's a great looker and Henry fit it perfectly.
PT7

I received an e-mail from Henry USA. There are no buttstock pads or plates on other Henry USA rifles that will fit on the Big Boy Steel. I appreciate the fact that I received a timely and respectful response from Henry USA.

Looks like I'll have to manufacture something myself, but it's not that big of a deal. From the pictures, I gather that the back of the wood on the buttstock is flat.

I know that the gunsmith who works on our firearms has a bunch of hard butt plates he's taken off of various rifles/shotguns when installing recoil pads .... if I was looking for a hard plate I'd take my rifle and check with him