On my axis rifles I take the buttpad off--usually breaking the tab because it's a POS anyway and don't intend on "reopening" the stock. I do a similar treatment to the stock as the fore-end--I put a stiffening rod as far up to the wrist area as I can get it and then epoxy the rod at either end and fill the stock with a dense fire-retardant foam. My aim, so to speak, is not so much to reduce recoil as it is to reduce up and down flex in the stock when doing a cheekweld in aiming since the wrist area is really the worst offender in the overall stock flex zones.