Over the last 40 plus years, I’ve had two magnaported revolvers and one S&W PC Compensated 629 (44 Mag).
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The first was an 8 3/8” Model 29 .44 Mag that was sent to Magnaport Arms in the early ‘70s for some custom work – Barrel cut to 5”, action job, hard chrome finish and of course the “two port” magnaports. Had no prior experience with S&W .44 Mags and it was my sole .44 Mag, so I have no “ported vs non-ported” comparison to contribute. If Memory says it never seemed objectionably loud (always used hearing protection). Always regretted trading that one off.
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The second gun was a 6” Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh that I bought used (it had already been magnaported). I later acquired its twin that was unported. Always seemed that muzzle flip was less with the ported gun, however both were a handful with full on .475 ammo. Couldn’t tell any diff noise wise between the two .475s, but when shot one after the other, a non ported 4” S&W M329, was noticably louder than the ported .475. Verified on several different occasions with different observers.
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And lastly, the aforementioned S&W Performance center 7 ½” comped .44 Mag. This was a large gun to begin with and recoil/noise was never really an issue. It didn’t seem to recoil (muzzle flip) as much as a full lugged 6 ½” 629 Classic DX but the diff was negligible.
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Never shot any of the above close to the body, so ejecta was never a consideration.
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Actual field experience -- Here’s a quote from one of Paco Kelly’s articles http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/special_handguns.htm
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My main carry gun was of course, my famous and somewhat infamous, S&W mod.29 44 magnum...cut to three inch barrel, and Mag-N-Ported, with the grip cut to the Mod. 19 round butt. I carried it in an upside down shoulder holster...it was fast to get into action, extremely powerful...and for me put the stories I hear about muzzle flash blinding you at night, and recoil making the second shot take too long, and a lot of other stuff I read...just that for me B.S. and untried magazine material.
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I never had any of those problems....I fired it in several night time situations without the dreaded "blindness" from muzzle flash....it saved my life in a car one terrible night when I fired it twice...with no recoil slowness problems or blindness. The two individuals that could testify to that directly, unfortunately for them, are too busy reaping their reward for misspent lives in another world, to answer any questions.
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Not that the baby beast didn’t give off a horrible roar and a good deal of muzzle flash. It did! But the flash was always too short in time, to blind. And the muzzle blast I found, was great because it scared the hell out of my adversaries. My ammo was Winchester’s famous commercial loading that had a gilded lead Keith type 240 grain bullet doing about 1100 fps from the short barrel. Like a big fist with a 640 lb punch!
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FWIW,
Paul
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The first was an 8 3/8” Model 29 .44 Mag that was sent to Magnaport Arms in the early ‘70s for some custom work – Barrel cut to 5”, action job, hard chrome finish and of course the “two port” magnaports. Had no prior experience with S&W .44 Mags and it was my sole .44 Mag, so I have no “ported vs non-ported” comparison to contribute. If Memory says it never seemed objectionably loud (always used hearing protection). Always regretted trading that one off.
.
The second gun was a 6” Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh that I bought used (it had already been magnaported). I later acquired its twin that was unported. Always seemed that muzzle flip was less with the ported gun, however both were a handful with full on .475 ammo. Couldn’t tell any diff noise wise between the two .475s, but when shot one after the other, a non ported 4” S&W M329, was noticably louder than the ported .475. Verified on several different occasions with different observers.
.
And lastly, the aforementioned S&W Performance center 7 ½” comped .44 Mag. This was a large gun to begin with and recoil/noise was never really an issue. It didn’t seem to recoil (muzzle flip) as much as a full lugged 6 ½” 629 Classic DX but the diff was negligible.
.
Never shot any of the above close to the body, so ejecta was never a consideration.
.
Actual field experience -- Here’s a quote from one of Paco Kelly’s articles http://leverguns.com/articles/paco/special_handguns.htm
.
My main carry gun was of course, my famous and somewhat infamous, S&W mod.29 44 magnum...cut to three inch barrel, and Mag-N-Ported, with the grip cut to the Mod. 19 round butt. I carried it in an upside down shoulder holster...it was fast to get into action, extremely powerful...and for me put the stories I hear about muzzle flash blinding you at night, and recoil making the second shot take too long, and a lot of other stuff I read...just that for me B.S. and untried magazine material.
.
I never had any of those problems....I fired it in several night time situations without the dreaded "blindness" from muzzle flash....it saved my life in a car one terrible night when I fired it twice...with no recoil slowness problems or blindness. The two individuals that could testify to that directly, unfortunately for them, are too busy reaping their reward for misspent lives in another world, to answer any questions.
.
Not that the baby beast didn’t give off a horrible roar and a good deal of muzzle flash. It did! But the flash was always too short in time, to blind. And the muzzle blast I found, was great because it scared the hell out of my adversaries. My ammo was Winchester’s famous commercial loading that had a gilded lead Keith type 240 grain bullet doing about 1100 fps from the short barrel. Like a big fist with a 640 lb punch!
.
FWIW,
Paul
