I've got an S&W Model 69 that I'm in the process of slowly tricking out, and have been kicking around sending it to get ported.  Thoughts?  Experiences?

Picture?

Tell me about those grips...

VZ Tactical Diamonds.

it works really well and the workmanship/process is just ungodly pure and precise like there ads say.

I have a 629PD 44 mag (titanium frame-23oz) that had terrible
muzzle flip until I had Magnaport put 4 ports in it.  The recoil is
still considerable but controllable now.  It comes straight back now.

Works well, LOUD AS HELL!

I've a FA .454 with a Magnaport 4 port job done on it.  



It reduced the muzzle flip down to -44 magnum levels and lets me get back on target a lot quicker.



Other than the increased muzzle blast and associated noise I'm very happy with it.

How significant is the blast increase?  Mostly visible blast and noise, or does it increase the felt blast like a rifle brake?

Always wanted to send them my 3" 629. Bunch of the competitive shooters port their revolvers so it obviously does something.

It's not similar to a rifle muzzle break which generally pushes force toward the rear, it's just enough to get people shooting next to you less than elated.



 

Picked up a 4" Colt Anaconda a couple of years ago which had it already, feels like a .357.

I have a 3 inch 629 "trail boss" with I believe factory magna-port job.....it kicks substantially less than the 4 inch 629 I had before.  It IS louder but the flames are kinda cool.

IIMO, they increase felt reoil- the muzzle lift goes down, but the recoil straight back becomes more harsh. Maybe on the shorter barrels, where you are reducing the effective barrel length?

What do you mean by reducing effective length? Magnaport says it doesn't decrease velocity and I thought that had shown to be pretty true on most normal barrel lengths.

That would be the only porting in the world that didn't decrease velocity, if that was the case.

Pistol barrels with ports tend to show similar velocity as a shorter barrel.  Maybe if you were shooting small loads of a fast powder, the difference would be negligible- but then there would be no gas to make the ports work...

The uspsa? guys deal with this a lot, as they do lots of porting in the unlimited guns, and have to compensate (ha!) for every hole they drill.

The only way not to reduce velocity would be to add a compensator to the end, as it works with gasses that have already exited the barrel.

Eh, I guess if it was a long barrel, the velocity difference might be less with the right loads. a 6 1/2"+ .357 might only lose 15-30, especially with faster powders.

Double Tap...

Nice revo OP.

Works, but makes a loud gun very, very loud.

If I ever intended to carry a revolver,
I would never consider having it ported.

Why is that? Most of the negatives associated with porting are already present in a revolver.

I have a S&W 629 that came ported from the factory. It is much louder and it has more muzzle blast than my other 629's. I would not port any of my other handguns.

I considered having my 5.5" .44 Redhawk done.  


BUT,  folks tell me that it will erode and destroy my front fiberoptic sight pretty quick, and will even knock the plastic out of a standard one in time with a .44's blast.    

Also, that porting will hurt your ears, night vision, and in a defensive situation, burn you if you are in certain positions.  Not sure how much of a worry that it.. but it gave me pause.

Can anyone validate any of that?

The above post captures it pretty well.

You'll see velocities equivalent to the barrel length to the point the porting starts.

You'll find yourself being asked to move to the far end of the range by the less than happy shooters next to you.

If you thought firing a .357 mag indoors was loud, you'll realize it's nothing compared to a ported .44 Mag.

Ported barrels and firing from a close in retention position are not compatible.

The slower burning powders that give more velocity in a longer barreled magnum pistol are the same powders that given maximum effect in a ported barrel - and those same powders have enough flash that a ported barrel in low light conditions is not a great choice.

I can't speak to ported .44 Mag pistols losing front sights, but I got a great deal on a bubba's Model 94 trapper in .44 Mag that the previous owner had ported. In addition to being obnoxiously loud, it had a habit of blowing it's own front sight off now and then.  I re-barreled it shortly after I got, partly to increase it's value and partly because the porting was not worth the almost non existent benefits.  


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If you plan to shoot it in tactical matches, porting will increase controllability, but a ported .44 Mag won't do anything in a tactical match that a .357 can't do better.

If you plan to hunt with it, you'll need to use electronic ear muffs on top of your ear plugs so you can still hear sounds in the environment, yet not deafen yourself when you shoot, and again anyone else hunting near you will not take kindly to you.

In general, I think many of the guys who like ported barrels are the same guys who like putting pipes on their trucks to make them several times louder than they need to be. They pretty much annoy the hell out of the rest of us.

Awesome post, thank you for the detailed info.

I'm with the not liking it crowd. Had a ported 629 as well. It felt like it was trying to go two directions at once when fired. The muzzle stayed down a little better but I found it rather unpleasant.

Had an SSK  Contender in .375 JDJ (444 Marlin case necked down to .375) .  A 12.5" barrel with 4 ports and it worked well.  I would shoot 75 100 rounds on paper.  

JDJ Jones the inventor of the cartridge shot elephants in Africa with the same set up and got 6 feet of frontal penetration.

Without  Magn-a-Porting I don't believe you could have an elephant gun (handgun) that you could practice with to be proficient.

Magna-Port also does other fabulous custom work.  I sent a Ruger single six and for $150 bucks at the time 10+ years ago got an amazing amount of high quality work done. (trigger action job, polish and jewel hammer trigger, machinhed front of both cylinders, numbered the cylinders )

GREAT Company!