Firrst...I must say, "Search" is your friend. There have been many "informative" accounts from the past on this board.
Justify extra cleaning? Rediculous.
Takes two Q-tips and one minute to clean this compensated barrel.
Pitch of muzzle blast? Rediculous. The report has the exact same deciblel with ported or non-ported weapon. Since it the sound wave is omni-directional with the compensated barrel...it just sounds louder.
No...no crap flies into your face.
76shuvlinoff...are you sure you had a compensated barrel weapon? If so...your impressions are highly inaccurate and irregular.
Although this below quote concerns revovler barrels...it also applies to auto barrels:
"As you may know we are the originators of Hybra-Port and own the Trademark. We have been porting revolvers since 1990 with that porting system. The flash issue is an ammo thing. Think for a moment, a ball of flame is going to come out of the muzzle or the ports. In the dark your eyes are not sure where it came from just that there is a flash. I have done testing and found no real difference in low or no light flash. I will tell you the two problems with porting of any type.
1)Noise, ported guns are loud, period. If you port your gun is will be more uncomfortable to shoot without ear protection.
2) Escaping gasses at high pressure. You can not fire the gun anywhere close to your body. If you come in to contact with the high-pressure escaping gasses it will do damage.
I have Hybra-Ported in excess of 20,000 revolvers with few complaints about muzzle flash but quite a few complaints on the other two issues. Our porting will reduce muzzle flip up to 70% but you must be willing to suffer with the two drawbacks I have described.
The issue of porting a carry gun has always been a sticky topic; I can see both sides. More than one gunwriter has refused to write about our Hybra-Ported guns for carry. What I tell customers is this. If you can deal with the muzzle flip do not port your gun. If you just don't like or can't deal with muzzle flip, port it. I will build a gun either way.
I hope this clears up a little about the muzzle flash issue. I suggest if you don't have a ported gun get a friend that has one and do some testing, I believe you will find what I am saying to be true. As one of the other posters has said, find ammo that has reduced flash and I think the problem will be solved. Jeez, this is my longest post yet, LOL!"
God Bless
Jack Weigand