Yes, recoil arrestor = muzzle brake, at least to me. I have a KDF recoil arrestor on my featherweight 7mm mag. It is LOUD. You would need to wear hearing protection even in the field to protect your hearing with this type of brake. Supposedly there are some newer genreation brakes that area quieter. I am not sure they can ever make one that is not somewhat louder.

All butt pads are not created equal!!! Some people have said they like the "decellerator" pad, but I tried and really like the Limbsaver pad with so called "SIMS" technology. It has some space age gel that does a good job of disseminating the recoil and vibration of the gun. Cabelas has them. I got the slip on model and slip it on to several of my guns. However, this does make your stock longer, so your gun may not fit as well. The main gun I use it on is my T/C Omega blackpowder rifle, which is too short for me anyway, so that works out. However, they sell ones that replace the pad that comes with the rifle. This pad makes a tremendous difference compared to the one that comes standard with rifles. They run about $30-35, so it is pretty inexpensive to try. You will not be sorry.