Blind Recoil Test | Stock Pad vs Falcon Strike Pad
May 23, 2024
As you may know, TFL uses, and fully supports the Falcon Strike recoil reduction system. They make some confident claims about how their product reduces recoil and we'll give it to them, they have the testimonies to back up their claims. But just to be sure, we wanted to thouroughly test these claims. We love the product and utilize it frequently (being that we shoot guns for a living) but we wanted to find out if average shooters and hunters could tell the difference. So at Reed's 2024 gun fair, we set out to do just that. After our Target Focused LIVE show, we asked the audience if they'd be willing to participate in a video shoot. We got an awesome response and some great footage. You should definitely check out the video to catch the live action. Heres how it went:
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But First, What the heck is a Falcon Strike?
First, let's clarify what we're talking about here. FalconStrike is a company that specializes in cutting-edge recoil reduction systems. When they first reached out to us, we were a bit hesitant because we figured "Recoil is just a part of shooting! There's no way this little thing can help" There are many folks that would still agree with this thinking. However, when it comes to doing live exhibitions, and weekly videos, our annual shell count is often in the tens of thousands. Long story short we were blown away at how a simple little pad could make shooting so much more enjoyable. Turns out, this little pad isn't all the simple behind the scenes.
Falcon Strikes' staple technology is found within the pad. Unlike most aftermarket recoil pads, this one is filled with an oil-like liquid that absorbs the energy of the recoil as the fluid is forced through a series of plates. This fluid also converts the recoil energy into heat as it expands. It's all very nerdy stuff which is no surprise being that the technology FalconStrike has built on originated from the aerospace engineering industry. FalconsStikes website does a great job at explaining all this in further detail. You can check that out (HERE) The image below is from their website explaining the 3 step process of how the Flacon Stike mitigates recoil.
The Set-up
The process of this experiment was simple: Get two identical shotguns (Mossberg 940's) and furnish one with a Falcon Strike. Great! One problem: Unless the shooters eyes are closed, the Falcon Strike pad is pretty obvious to see. The solution: Cover the stocks by duck-taping them with shower caps!
The Process:
We then filtered participants one by one to our filming set where we first asked their names, shotgun of choice, etc... We then directed them to shoot the shotguns one at a time at a moving clay. We gave different participants different directions to get a good mix of feedback. We told some to simply shoot one shot and then switch guns, and we told others to take the first shot and quickly fire a follow-up shot to get a better recoil read with two immediate shots.
The Results:
The folks that we told to take a quick follow-up shot seemed to notice significantly less recoil from the shotgun that had the Falcon Strike. This is because the first shot may totally affect the way your shotgun is mounted, where your head is on the stock, and how your stance is after the rock-back of taking the first shots recoil. This real-world type scenario made it even more obvious that the Falcon Strike was doing its job. In full transparency, the folks that only took one shot per gun had a harder time confidently identifying which shotgun had the Falcon Strike but nonetheless, everyone that shot still attested to the fact the Falcon Strike shotgun provided less recoil, and therefore a more enjoyable shooting experience.
Conclusion:
Long story short, Falcon Strike works. This little pad is jam-packed with years of research and technology. Of the many after-market recoil pads out there, we believe that Falcon Strike does it best. Be sure to check out their website, and visit our products page! FalconStrike
