Shares of firearm makers rose on Thursday ahead of Smith & Wesson Holding's quarterly report, following volatility this week after a shooting attack that killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando.

In a familiar stock market reaction, Smith & Wesson and rival Sturm Ruger & Co. spiked as much as 11 percent on Monday after the massacre on Sunday, the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Shares have since given back most of those gains.

Ahead of Smith & Wesson's quarterly report after the market close, its shares gained as much as 2 percent while Sturm Ruger rose 1 percent.