500 Nitro: If you use either a Kick-EEZE or a Limbsaver of a about 1 inch thickness, then you will need no shoulder pad. Most people have really no idea what kind of difference those pads make. The are worlds apart from the old Pachmayrs. I can shoot my .470 with just a t-shirt (have done that) all day long and will have at no point any kind of pain in the shoulder (same for shooting seated). It is such a cheap and simple solution to recoil issues like shoulder pain and flinching that I do not understand that more people use those pads.