No, I have not.
When a company makes claims like "
80% less recoil energy", "
converts recoil energy (up to 80%) into heat", "
35% less muzzle lift", "
25% less peak force", and "
35% less rock back", they lost me as a customer. I have a degree in Physics and years of practical experience in mechanical engineering.
Their agreement says "Satisfaction Garauntee- less recoil or your money back." Sure, it will have less perceived recoil than a steel or india rubnber plate, but
less recoil than what? Double your IQ, or no money back!
The pad costs $200 instead of $40, makes outlandish claims, only available 1 3/16" thick means I have to cut my stock, is ugly as sin, weighs 5.5-6 ounces (vs 4 or less for a Pachmayer) and I am not terrifically recoil sensitive anyhow.
That's at least 307% pure misleading baloney. Let me point some things out:
A butt pad doesn't reduce recoil. That would violate Newton's Laws. It spreads the transfer of momentum from the shotgun out over time. You'd rather have Bruce Lee push your chest than punch it, both actions making you take a few steps back.
Beretta has an interesting youtube video showing how their nearly-as-ugly-as-FS mechanical system spreads momentum transfer out over time. "Real" physics classes require the students to have a couple semesters of Calculus, because all this stuff inovolves functions over time. Forces cause things to move over time. The details of how they move over time is very important and described perfectly by Calculus. Example... Your chauffeur Jeeves accelerates the Rolls smoothly up to 55 miles per hour as you enjoy a cup of tea in the back. The next day, your teenage daughter Elona accelerates the Tesla up to 55 miles per hour using Insanity mode, snapping your head back and slopping tea all over your morning coat and tie. Both cars end up at 55 miles per hour. A recoil pad slows down the transfer of forces, like Jeeves's judicious use of the accelerator pedal.
View attachment 110464
Note that the area under each curve must be the same. That's the total "recoil"... but it's much more pleasant to have that sharp white peak spread out over time.
Springs and shock absorbers or a hydraulic fluid... these are used in many places in industry. I just like less crap bolted to my simple shotgun. Crap fails over time (and I expect a shotgun to work for at least 70 years) or when least convenient.
"
35% less muzzle lift" ... the butt pad doesn't reduce recoil. That would violate Newton's Laws. Muzzle lift comes from the force from the bore axis above or below the mount to the shoulder. Change the pitch angle of the buttstock and you can make the muzzle drop instead of rise. Just using no butt pad or plate at all.
"80% less recoil energy"... what is "recoil energy"??? Are telling me that if I put their pad on my 686, my 1.25 ounce target loads will suddenly feel ilke (1.00-0.8) x 1.25 = 0.25 ounce loads?
Really? Like shooting half a .410 shell?
Really??? If that were true, we would have heard about it from anyone that bought one. 10 gauge goose loads are now powderpuffs?
"converts recoil energy (up to 80%) into heat". Double your IQ, or no money back! Copper is really good at converting mechanical energy into heat. Strike a penny on an anvil with a hammer 25 times, it will get very hot. Do not put your finger between the penny and anvil and hit with a hammer. Your neighbors will hear your scream of pain. Don't try padding your finger with a hockey puck, either. 4 inches of Styrofoam will protect your finger because the pressure curve is spread out. Yeah, heat... but it's how steep (d/dt and second derivative) that pressure is delivered that counts.
"25 % less peak force"... sure. Look at the Beretta graphs. The Kickoff peak is 40% less. That's good. I believe that. Smushing the peak down and spreading it out is how this recoil reduction stuff works. It's how a tube of mercury works, too, creating sloshes.
"
35% less rock back" .. uh... They said there was 80% less recoil energy. Why don't you have 80% less rock back? Oh... they mean... recoil energy is the change in momentum over time, spreading out the time.. but that has to be constant because unless it's a nuclear reaction, energy is neither created or destroyed.. uh.. if your REALLY want to feel recoil, put your back to a brick wall, THEN shoot your shotgun! Ow! See what I did there, talking about smacking your finger with hammer on an anvil? Rock back of your body reduces perceived recoil!
So no, I have not shot with a Falcon Strike recoil pad. I expect they work about as well as the Beretta kick-off butt pad system, maybe a bit better because the hydraulics are nifty. But.. do they feel squshy? How long before that rubber dries out and mechanical flexing causes a leak? What about when it's really cold or really hot? I don't know. But I can post a picture of a Pachmayer pad that is 40 years old and still works well enough to shoot a round of clays.
I don't like the Beretta systems that put polymer plastics in my wood butt stock. Those will dry out over time. I have really nice 70 year old shotguns. I expect a chunk of wood to be working in 150 years. Replace a butt pad? No big deal.
But I am not cutting my beautiful walnut buttstock so I can install a 1 3/16" buttpad that looks like a chunk of motorcycle innertube.
If you want recoil like a .410... ain't nothing wrong with... a .410!
I am a liberal communist hippy, but I like conservative things like fine hardwoods, blued metal, scotch whiskey, home made beer. I don't need someone to mix fizzy water and vodka in a can for me, I know the recipe! Epoxy and acrylic resins are better than pine pitch, most of the time. I don't mind progress, I have a titanium hip I would reccomend to anyone as better than arthritis. But sometiems there are inventions looking for a problem to solve....
Rant off. Thanks for your attention. If you bought a Falcon Strike and think it's the best thing ever, cool. Tell us about it, but compare it to the Beretta Kickoff system... because the mechanical complexity matters to me. Remember.. my nice pads cost $40 and I have a belt sander and grind my own pads.