Vlad,

Like vapodog and 4seventy I strongly insist on BALANCE,
Last Year my cousin had the great idea to install a 416 Rem barrel onto his Blaser 95.
My !!!what a nuisance. This too heavy a barrel made his rifle ploughing the ground no end. No good when tackling buff and in the same time risking to bump in lion (on the license) and running away from cantankerous (protected) ele 3 or 4 times every day. I wonder why elephants were not a plague of Egypt?

In fact he got his whole bag with my perfectly balanced 10 pounds Sauer 202 375HH. Back in France he traded his damn barrel for a nice CZ 416 Rigby along with a Zeiss 1.5-6*42-. Yesterday we regulated it, with GPA bullets (solid and banana split) ,perfect.
I don’t trust recoil pads. Their role is minor.
The best thing you can do is your sticking (with scotch tape)lead pads on your stock and your fore end so that the rifle stay balanced and you feel an acceptable recoil. Then, you can either araldite lead or fix 2 mercury tubes or do nothing. Don’t dive head up in an irreversible option.
Anyway, don’t worry, I was told the best cartridges makers provide a new clavicle in every 20 rounds box. Just specify Left or Right.