I have the Answer "System" on a couple of my rifles. The recoil on my Remington Sendero SF in .300 Win. Mag. is virtually nonexistent. I didn't know that they went out of business. If that's true, then that's too bad because their system, in terms of reduced recoil, truly is the best. Their recoil pad actually has springs inside and reduced recoil the best. In my experience, the Sims pad doesn't even come close to the Answer recoil pad. The other great thing about Answer is that their quality is AMAZING. When they installed my brakes, you really couldn't even see the seam between the brake and the barrel. As such, it looked like it was all one piece and that someone just drilled holes at the end of the barrel. The only bad thing about the Answer brake is that it is by far the loudest brake out there. You should NEVER shoot a gun so equipped without hearing protection. Yes, that's true for any gun but, come on, we never wear hearing protection out in the field in the real world because we need to HEAR the game. Still, I have other brakes, which I will recommend in a bit, that are not as loud as the Answer, although you should still wear hearing protection.
Okay, as for the other muzzle brake, although I have learned to hate them, I think that the Vais muzzle brake is an excellent brake that is also QUIET. Now, does that really mean quiet? No. It is louder than a rifle without a brake, but it is in my experience the quietest of all muzzle brakes. Please understand that as a brake becomes quieter, it is generally not as effective. Why? Because if the gases (and thus noise) is directed forward, then you don't hear it as much. If the gases shoot outwards - meaning throughout its sides, then the recoil is redirected of sorts. The Vais has holds around the barrel on its outside, and also in front - which means that a percentage of gases also pass through the front. Whereas the Answer brake may have an effective FELT recoil reduction of about, say, 50 to 60% depending on caliber, the Vais would have about 40 to 50%. Please keep in mind that these are very rough numbers based on my perceptions and should be used mostly for illustrative purposes.
Now, as for the recoil pad, the Sims probably is the best out there given that the Answer is apparently no longer available. Such a recoil pad will probably reduced felt recoil I would guess by about 15% to 20% or so.
If it were me, I would forgo the brake (any brake) and just get a Sims pad.
Zachary
