Muzzle climb

An AKM assault rifle's asymmetric slant cut muzzle fixture designed to counteract muzzle rise (and muzzle climb) during (automatic) firing.

Muzzle climb refers to the elevation of muzzle of automatic and rapid-fire semi-automatic firearms caused by combined recoil from multiple shots being fired in quick succession.

Muzzle climb has an adverse effect on accuracy, causing the target to be overshot, and for this reason number of methods are used to reduce or eliminate it, including:

• reducing the recoil itself with devices such as muzzle brakes
• compensating for recoil using a ported barrel or asymmetric muzzle fixture
• reducing the vertical distance between the barrel and the rear handle, front handle and stock
• fitting a handguard
• fitting a buttstock
• supplanting the fully automatic mode of fire with burst mode

See also

• Muzzle rise