A pardon does not remove anything from your record. It is about forgiving, not expunging. As for civil rights (e.g. the rights to vote or the right to bear arms), they often are state matters and a federal pardon does not grant them back.

It is an empty gesture.

“They always tack on other charges.”

Yet it has less impact when there are other charges anyway. “But I was convicted of just 2 felonies not 3!”