[gringolet]

anyone do much shooting with ported barrels on 357/44 mag?
I hear both sides..some say is painfully loud...has a "spray",
cleaning issues, etc. as negative..others say it really
does lighten recoil enough to be worth the trouble?

[MrBigStuff]

Barrel porting cosmeticaly looks cool ( my opinion) and reduces a little, felt-recoil. I have a ported S&W .41 magnum. However, I dont really think it's necessary on anything less than a 454 on handgun. To answer your question(s) when your firing a big-bore magnum with a port, there's still a good amount of recoil and noise and everything else that accompanies magnum power. Haven't experienced the spray being any more than non-ported ( though this my only ported gun). As for cleaning, just have a few more ""hard-to-reach" places ( ports).

[birddog]

I shoot a ported 6" Taurus .44 mag and an unported 7" Super Blackhawk. The reduction in recoil is noticeable. As for the noise-factor, I've only noticed the porting once. When shooting at a deer last year, I inadvertently had the muzzle next to a large tree. The porting reflected the sound back in my face and I was momentarily deafened and had a blast of heat in my face. This oversight on my part did not cause me to lose my desire to shoot that gun. If recoil is an issue, go with the porting. If not, go unported. Either way, you'll enjoy these calibers.

[Standing Wolf]

Virtually all my center fire revolvers have been ported by the good folks at http://www.magnaport.com over the years. They do good work, and the porting helps reduce perceived recoil, which I find improves accuracy. Cleaning the ports on a revolver takes about five extra minutes.

[HSMITH]

I think porting RUINS a good handgun. Won't own one and don't like shooting them. Just my opinion, YMMV.

[dakotasin]

i don't care for porting, but not for any good reason - i just don't like it.

as for noise and all that, bah, revolvers are especially are loud anyway...

[9mmepiphany]

i always thought porting was very cool too :cool: but shyed off due to concerns about vertical spray when fired too close to the body. i was looking at it to speedup followup shots from 125gr .357 mag loads.

i aquired a smith 696 is a trade that came mag-na-ported. now this is only a .44 spl and i'm only shooting the blaser 200gr gold dot loads in it, but it really does make a difference. it's felt recoil is on par with shooting .38 spl wadcutters out of a L-frame

if you really want to keep muzzle just to a minimun, you shot look into hybraporting the top of your barrel rib with jet nozzle shaped ports. they do wonders on a PC 627

[Glockman17366]

I'm a solid believer in compensated handguns...especially the Magnums.

I have fired both my .38 snubby and my .357 with a 4" barrel. The .38 isn't too bad, but the .357 is pretty loud. I really like the sound...it's like the Ba-Woom you hear in the movies. Both guns are Taurus and ported (compensated).

Now, my Glock 19C is a bit snappy in sound, but not as bad as the .357.

Of course, you do want to use sound prtection when either of these guns (or any gun) is fired!