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Do recoil pads really reduce recoil?
I’m not talking about the red brick-hard ones but the modern synthetic rubber ones either leather covered or not.
Clearly they are effective in lengthening the LoP of a particular gun. They also function as a way to finish off a butt stock and cover the end grain or holes if there any.
But is there any measurable data that shows that a “recoil pad” truly reduces recoil?
Just curious.

I thought, since Mike mention my name, that I would add my two cents to the conversation.

I use Cervellati recoil pads for all of my pads now. They are very soft but grind easy and are a perfect base for leather covered pads. These pads are also very light, as I remember they are half the weight of pads of a similar size and don't in my opinion require wood removal to balance a gun. I just love them. I get these pads from Hastings Distribution, they are also inexpensive FWIW.

All I can offer is, they're softer on the shoulder than a a wood or plastic buttplate. I'm talking Kickeez or Pachmayr Decelerator. Gather from that what you may.
JR

This is ridiculous, of course recoil pads dampen recoil...Geo

They reduce FELT recoil, or the perception of it. They also protect the butt in bad conditions like duck blinds, and anywhere the butt maybe set down in water, ice, etc. And, IMO, they look good on big duck guns. They're also an easy way to add length to a to short butt.

Physics tells you recoil is the same with a pad and without but felt recoil is less with a pad. I never liked the super soft Gooey pads but do like the Kick-Ezz pads. They even look nicer that any white line pads. I learned that soft pads grind better when cold. So I put them in the freezer to stiffen them up before grinding. First I do a gross grind to get them down to within 1/16-1/8”. Drop them into the freezer and come back to do a fine grind down to proper size. Sometimes they expand 1/32” afterwards but nothing greater. I just smooth them off as needed. Funny thing is I rarely add a pad to any gun that does not already have one these days. I use a slip on pad and leave the gun as is.

I think they change recoil over time, but your shoulder is still receiving the same amount of energy but perceived recoil may be less with a pad compared to a hard butt. How do I know, I just had shoulder rotator cuff surgery and I’ve tried EVERYTHING to reduce recoil. It’s hard to beat physics, Force = Mass x Acceleration, period. But, if the pad weighs more than a hard butt, it would reduce actual recoil slightly.

There are published force - time graphs; most unfortunately from the sellers of the pads
This is from the Remington Super Cell
https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/01/04/remington-supercell/

The curves do suggest that good pads dampen some of the recoil, and spread the duration of the recoil impulse

Sharp kids
https://www.flintsciencefair.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/95_Display.pdf

I put a Remington Super Cell on a 3.5" Turkey pump gun that had no pad at the time. It truly was like night and day. Answer absolutely. Now, I hate putting a pad on bird gun, but a gun that is used for Clays and shot a lot is a resounding yes. Why beat yourself up.

Kick-Eez, Pachmyer and Cervilatti work well and look good. As stated above the Cervilattis are light weight and I use them when I don’t want to alter the balance of a gun.
I do not know know of a single NSCA shooter who does not have a pad on their gun.