Disadvantages to porting.

Porting is going to redirect the gas away from the front of the barrel and instead up it, sort of like a muzzle brake. There will be an increase in flash as a result. During a day at the range you probably won't notice, but it will affect you at night.

I don't know enough about internal ballistics to know how it will affect the muzzle velocity, but it will probably have less effect than shortening the barrel by the amount you're porting it.

Ports are also going to be a pain to clean, from what I've heard.

I personally wouldn't, on a SD or CCW gun especially.
You may have to fire it up close & personal, even close to your face in a struggle.

I don't want white hot jets of powder gas in my eyes or my clothes on fire in the middle of a fight for my life.

I also really despise them on Magnum caliber range guns.
They are loud enough without any extra help!

rc

I wouldn't take a ported gun if it was free. Unless I planned on having the ported section cut off and a new front sight installed. In which case, I'll take all the ported 7½" FA's you want to give me. There's nothing porting accomplishes that cannot also be accomplished with properly fitting grips and practice. Without all the extra noise and blast.

I'm not for or against it, either way.

Had a Taurus M44, 6.5", ported & HATED it. Vicious recoil.

Shot a bud's Springfield V10 Ultra Compact. Alloy framed, ported, Officer's Model sized 1911 & loved it. Didn't notice any flash, recoil was mild & amazingly accurate.

I have a ported 44-mag with a 7.5" barrel. The ports a little of a pain to clean and I'm not sure what they give me, but that said, I don't have a strong opinion against them. I like the extra length on the barrel for accuracy's sake. I don't know what ballistics I'm gaining with the extra ported inch or losing vs. a 7.5" that isn't ported.

That said, my 44 is my favorite gun to shoot and hunt with. Except when I'm in a black powder mood....

I once installed a compensated barrel in my Glock 22. I got a BIG surprise when I fired it from the hip!

Disadvantages: Noise, Blast

Advantages:

MachIVshooter said:

Disadvantages: Noise, Blast

Advantages:

Click to expand...

Disadvantages: Noise, Blast, Reduced Velocity, Redirected detritus and hot gas

Advantages:


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Almost 20 years ago, I had one of the short run of Taurus 605 "carry packs" that they did when Jack Weigand ran the Taurus custom shop. With 125 gr Federal or Remington jhp, the thing was loud enough to scare Beethoven, and threw enough hot gas up to scare Satan.

It also recoiled *downward*. That was an odd sensation. My poor dad, who wore clip on, flip up plastic sunglass shades over his prescription bifocals, shot it with his flip ups in the up position, and the blast knocked the flip ups partially off. Hilarious, but not conducive to potential street use.

Retention position shooting? Fuggedaboudit.

Other opinions may vary on the Weigand/Gemini porting, but I sold the gun pretty quick. Don't get me wrong; the likelihood of myself eventually having Gemini do some work on a revolver is actually pretty high, but it won't be the porting, when the time comes.

The only hole needed on a handgun barrel is the one the bullet comes out of.

I personally don't have a love or hate of ported. I have a ported 4" Taurus .357 mag that is a pussycat to shoot. Porting reduces the recoil a lot. I also have a ported G23 .40. In both of these I haven't fired them at night, but even during the day I see no blinding muzzle flashes that everyone claims will blind you.

I see no huge advantage or disadvantage - so I'd pay no more for it or not for it.

I had a ported barrel on a handgun I used to have in .45 ACP. There was a nice reduction in recoil, but there was a bit more noise and muzzle flash.

Porting on magnums tends to create a nasty pressure slap as well as the problems listed above. I hate it very much.

I have a magnaported 586 with a 4 inch barrel. I use it for steel plate and bowling pin shooting. There is not much lost in bullet speed with porting and the gun is no louder. As it redirects the gas up it just seems louder.
As for speed it would be like shooting a 5 inch and then a 4 inch barrel. Not enough loss of speed to worry about.
I have fired mine and a unported gun of the same kind and the same barrel length over a chronograph.
It was just a small loss of speed, like less then 100 feet per second.
Yes it can have a bit more of a build up that has to be cleaned up but I do not find it worth caring over.
My ported 642 is a pussy cat to shoot now, even the biggest baby could fire it with +p ammo and not cry.
To me it seems just like the S&W lock- you love them or hate them.
Well my ported S&W 642 has a lock on it also and it works just fine.
I would port all my hand guns as porting works. And I really like my ported hand guns.

I've got 3 Tauri, magnums and ported. They remain my favorite guns to shoot at the range. None of them are used for urban SD, they do see time in the woods. Cleaning the ported area is no problem with spray CLR.

I would not go out of my way to port a non-ported gun though.

You know, Marc at Gemini has a very good reputation and the work he does, including hybra-porting, is excellent.

Folks' opinions vary on porting as do their experiences, good or bad, with different porting methods and different gunsmiths.

Marc from Gemini Customs was featured in American Handgunner, July/August 2009 edition, and they did an excellent write up on a ported J frame. Lots of pics too! Just scroll to page 42.

http://fmgpublications.ipaperus.com/FMGPublications/AmericanHandgunner/AHJA09/

I don't own a ported firearm, but if I ever had it done, it would be through Gemini, since they are strictly professional. Maybe you should call them up and talk to Marc about what you are looking for in a firearm and how he might be able to help you.

Porting doesn't seem to effect velocity but does increase blast and flash and has little effect on recoil or muzzle rise with shorter barrels. It also seriously degrades the value of your revolver. Lots of people seem to have to go down that road at least once. I did and was greatly sorry for my expensive mistake.

I had a 3" S&W 629 .44 Mag with round butt finger-groove grips (Lew Horton special edition) that I had Magnaported. After firing a cylinder-full of hot handloads at an indoor range, I noticed some whites flakes on the shooting bench and my shirt; knowing I did not have a bad case of dandruff, I was puzzled. Then the RM came to me, pointed at the acoustic tiles above my head which had been toasted by the flames exiting the Magnaports. He then instructed me to put the weapon away!

I own four revolvers which have been Magnaported:

• S&W Model 29-5, 5" barrel
• S&W Model 29-2, 4" barrel
• S&W Model 19-4, 4" barrel
• Ruger Super BH, 7.5" barrel

I bought each of these revolvers knowing they were Magnaported.

On the shorter-barreled S&W's, there is absolutely no difference in felt recoil, or perceived muzzle flip. The shorter barrels just don't have enough front weight to "tame" recoil over other 4" revolvers against which I tested. We took same-length barreled revolvers and tested them with like ammunition.

We did experience a lot of muzzle flash on a darkened range (on the firing line). The flash was really spectacular. However, it did concern us that the amount of flash would completely screw up any night vision.

The only revolver in which Magnaporting made a difference was the Ruger, wth its longer 7.5" barrel. There was definitely less flip, and the felt recoil was milder. We used my SBH, and compared it to a non-Magnaported SBH. We used the same grips on each revolver.

I wouldn't call my tests scientific, since there was literally no blind test. You would probably need some type of blind to keep you from telling which gun you had.

I used to own a T/C Contender, with a .44 Magnum Super 14 barrel. I used it before and after having it Magnaported. It wasn't fun, no matter what.

My SP101 is at Gemini now getting work done, but I opted out of the porting. Recoil isn't that bad on a 2.25" SP101 anyway, and the increase in noise / blast is a negative on a gun that could be used for personal protection without hearing protection (as if guns aren't loud enough already).

Revolvers have flash anyway - out the end of the barrel and cylinder gap. I think the biggest negative is noise, but you gain faster follow up shots too.

It makes sense to me that porting benefits rifles and long-barreled revolvers more than a snubby.

Recoil porting really should be restricted to hunting revolvers where you are using full-power loads with heavy bullets and the increased muzzle flash means nothing. If you can't handle the recoil of your defense or CCW revolver, don't port the weapon, switch to milder ammo or trade it for a different caliber.

I have been using Hybra-Ported revolvers since 1995 when I got my first "Tame the Beast" SP-101. I now have several, including samples from Marc Morganti. I love the porting and I have fired the revolvers from several retention positions, with and without safety glasses. I really have not experienced any change in muzzle blast due to the ports. The barrel/cylinder gap is still the biggest issue for me when shooting a revolver from retention.

The decrease in perceived muzzle twist and rise makes me noticeably faster getting back on target, and the gun does, strangely, recoil downward.

I like the Hybra-Porting.

I had two ported guns I no longer own either one. Porting is an answer to a non-existant problem. But then I hand load so I can control the muzzle blast and flash as well as the amount of recoil by choosing different bullets, powders, and charge weights. Porting really works best with high velocity full power loads.

I found the flash and blast annoying, the extra buzzle blast when shooting on an indoor range was more annoying than any recoil reduction for me. I would love to be standing there when one of the above folks shoots a full power load out of a 642 or another gun from the close retention position. I have a 642 I carry and I practice from close retention with it, porting would make that much less pleasant, to say the least.