Posted: 12/1/2010 6:19:21 PM EDT
| I am looking for a new carry wheel gun and came across a sweet 3" .357 smith PC with magna ports. I have never owned anything with ports and was wondering what the consensus was. Good to go or complete waste? Remember this will be a carry gun. |
you get smoke and fire all over the place with hot loads. Like I said fun but not too practical in self defence
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I disagree. I have a S&W Model 36 that I bought almost 30 years ago that is magnaported. I love it. It is my wife's bedside gun. I've shot it with a lot of loads and can't say as it was any different than my other J Frames.
I just snagged a Ruger SP101, This one was ported by Jack Weigand. It is a pretty heavy gun but 38 +P 158 Gr LSWHP are nothing. I will be picking up a box of .357s for it from Wally World tomorrow. What model Smith are you looking at, 3" barrel...wouldn't be a 65 or a 13 would it. That would be a sweet gun. |
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To a degree the issue of porting is personal preference. I got a 4" .357 Magnum with porting and was also concerned. I shot it a LOT, including in low light conditions and from retention, and found that it was not a problem for me. Your perception might be different.
As to the "muzzle flash" issue - yes and no. With practice loads, you are VERY likely to see lots of muzzle flash, especially with a .357 Maggie. But most premium self-defense (SD) factory loads use low-flash powders anyway. That doesn't eliminate the issue, but it does mitigate it. As I said, I have shot my ported gun in low-light conditions with my actual carry (SD) load; and you should do the same before trusting your life to it. |