AK Muzzlebreak?

[The Rabbi]

Anyone have experience with a muzzlebreak on an AK? Wondered how much good they did, what they pluses and minuses are.
Thanks. You guys deserve to get paid for all the info.

 

[NMshooter]

A good muzzle brake will eliminate muzzle climb.

You still have recoil, but it is a straight push back.

Followup shots are very easy.

And people to either side of you will keep their distance as the noise is loud.

 

[Kamicosmos]

Also depends on the type of brake. I have a slant brake on my WASR. It directs the muzzle blast up and 45 degrees to the right. Doesn't do much for reducing recoil, but keeps the muzzle from climbing too high when shooting fast, and keeps the rifle from twisting too.


And hey, if you're paying....I take paypal!

 

[Steve Smith]

Once it's broken it will be hard to fix!

 

[Kor]

Ditto what NMshooter said...the brake of choice is probably the Soviet-designed "AK-74 style" brake with the two BIG square holes in the side at 3:00 and 9:00. On my shooting buddy's Romanian 5.45 AK the sights will stay right on your target while you're slapping that trigger as fast as you can; on my bare-muzzle 5.45 AK there's noticeably more muzzle climb, but not enough to be an issue for me. It should help more on a 7.62 AK, not so much for reducing recoil as for reducing muzzle-flip for rapid follow-up shots as in 3-gun competition. Personally, I'm leaning toward having a Vortex flash-hider put on my AK instead of a muzzlebrake, since the recoil in 5.45X39 is so low that I don't feel I need the recoil reduction, especially at the price of louder muzzle-blast. Either a brake or a FH is a good idea on a "rough-duty" gun, since they will both protect the muzzle crown from damage.

If you're buying a new "post-post-ban" AK, check the front sight base for a plunger at 12:00 - it's there to lock the muzzlebrake in place so it doesn't unscrew itself. Ideally, you should be able to push it in with your fingernail or a punch - that way, you can unscrew the brake for cleaning. If the brake had been soldered on for AWB-compliance before the sunset last year, either pass on it for a newer gun or try to bargain down if you just can't live without that specific AK.