Borrowing my Dad's 444S for a bit to see if I like it. Not necessarily for hunting, more for a little fun at the range and to have around the property for bear defense. Mostly black bears here, but the warden told me of a grizzly that took out some goats just down the hill from us a few years ago, and grizzly numbers are growing in the area, with a nuisance bear being trapped and euth'd after killing livestock not too far from us last year. We no longer have any large livestock, but will probably raise the occasional lamb or two. The odds of it happening are very low, but I hate gambling. And who doesn't want another lever gun in the safe?
Per my quick research, this model was the sporter version of the 444 and was made from '71 to '83. This rifle has a forearm "cap" (no barrel bands), so it was probably made '76 or later. The recoil pad is brown with triangular air gaps and there are a tan and a black spacer in front of the pad. The pad and spacers look like many other image search results for the gun, so it is probably a stock setup or a common aftermarket item from the late '70's/early '80's. There are no externally-visible fasteners on the pad. The pad itself is extremely hard, maybe from age. It is almost as hard as plastic.
It would be nice to replace the pad without adding another inch of LOP by putting a Limbsaver sleeve over it. Does anyone have any experience with removing the pad? It seems to me that it is either on there with adhesive or somehow screwed on from inside the wooden buttstock, which seems unlikely.
Per my quick research, this model was the sporter version of the 444 and was made from '71 to '83. This rifle has a forearm "cap" (no barrel bands), so it was probably made '76 or later. The recoil pad is brown with triangular air gaps and there are a tan and a black spacer in front of the pad. The pad and spacers look like many other image search results for the gun, so it is probably a stock setup or a common aftermarket item from the late '70's/early '80's. There are no externally-visible fasteners on the pad. The pad itself is extremely hard, maybe from age. It is almost as hard as plastic.
It would be nice to replace the pad without adding another inch of LOP by putting a Limbsaver sleeve over it. Does anyone have any experience with removing the pad? It seems to me that it is either on there with adhesive or somehow screwed on from inside the wooden buttstock, which seems unlikely.
