Shotgun Barrel Porting Help Or Not?

Does a ported barrel shotgun help or not.

  • Yes it does help.

    Votes: 14 29.2%

  • No it does not help.

    Votes: 10 20.8%

  • Just a marketing ploy.

    Votes: 13 27.1%

  • Not sure.

    Votes: 11 22.9%
  • Total voters
    48
The top tier sporting guns - Perazzi, Kreighoff, Blazer, Beretta, Fabbri and nauseum typically do not offer it as standard. There must be a reason........
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It costs more, just like any other embellishment. Regardless of how top tier these guns are, the manufacturers are still trying to save money so that they can under price one another in hopes to sell more guns.

It's not because it does or does not enhance performance. :rolleyes:
 
The more I read these post the more I realize how in over my head I am in here. You fellas sure know a ton of "smart people" info...psi's, physics diagrams and combustion ratios...I would just buy a box of shells and shoot till I learned how I liked it
 
Well well.....

Here we go again.

One thing I will say is that when I use to shoot trap with a 1100 rem using 1 1/8 oz loads. I had very little barrel jump/flip/ whatever, I would see clay being pulverized. Porting would have been useless, IMHO, since there was nothing to "correct". Shot skeet with 1 oz 16 ga double bbl. So really no need for porting.....except when both barrels started going off....well thats another story.

Secondly, some people confuse porting with muzzle brakes. As I understand it porting puts downward pressure on the barrel where muzzle brake releases pressure to reduce recoil which reduces muzzles flip.
 
It costs more, just like any other embellishment. Regardless of how top tier these guns are, the manufacturers are still trying to save money so that they can under price one another in hopes to sell more guns.

It's not because it does or does not enhance performance
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Those makers do not just do something to a gun unless it enhances the performance expectations.

While mental expectations of the shooter may make porting help one's game in the recoil department, recoil is a calculated equation with basic numbers to compare. Simply put, heavy gun with light load means less recoil, whether or not there are holes in the barrel.

Folks who compete at the top levels would only want something like porting if it truly worked to some verifiable and substantial degree. As I said, if a particular shooter BELIEVES it works, then it will work for him whether it really does or not.
 
crghss wrote
Secondly, some people confuse porting with muzzle brakes. As I understand it porting puts downward pressure on the barrel where muzzle brake releases pressure to reduce recoil which reduces muzzles flip.​
So we don't confuse ourselves, let's call an opening in the barrel other than the breech and muzzle a vent. Is what you call a "muzzle brake" general venting, typically horizontally opposed close to the muzzle (like on artillery barrels)? I have a gun with horizontally opposed vent slots, but they are set well back from the muzzle -- would you still call these a muzzle brake? I always thought they were referred as "ports," perhaps I'm mistaken.

There are other vent schemes, in the same general location (well behind the choke), that are a series of holes that are in the upper portion of the barrel. They usually are associated with proprietary names like Pro-Port or Mag-Na-Port. They claim to aid recoil reduction (by the same physics as other porting) and provide additional control of muzzle jump because of the "jet" effect from the size and distribution of the holes. I think these are generally called "Pro-port-type" porting. Again, I might be mistaken, in your area they might just be called "ports".

oneounceload,
Anecdotal evidence indicates that after a bushel of oysters, porting would be the last thing on your mind. :rolleyes:
Does porting help in muzzle jump? I'd say a little. Does it help in recoil? (This is where Zippy/Big Jim and I disagree - I say no.​
To reduce muzzle jump without reducing recoil, you probably subscribe to the theory that general porting doesn't reduce sufficient energy to alter recoil, but the jets can work to offset muzzle rise. My friend, this is were we've agreed to disagree. Perhaps you've had too many oysters or I've had too few. ;)
The top tier sporting guns - Perazzi, Kreighoff, Blazer, Beretta, Fabbri and nauseum typically do not offer it as standard. There must be a reason........​
See XD Gunner's comment. And, porting can always be added, but it's hard to remove. If your looking for a new top tier gun, and your sport prohibits porting, then you'll skip any guns that are pre-ported. If you're adamant about having ports, they can be added on a custom order.
 
As you can see from the photo from a tactical shotgun course I took the gas coming out of the ports is considerable, and I am quite sure it would indeed blow off masking tape. This is a Remington 870 with a Vang Comp barrel. The round was a reduced recoil 00 buck shot round. I believe it was Hornady.
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Here's an article by Randy Wakeman, a fairly knowledgeable person:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/shotgun_recoil.htm


III. Porting reduces recoil

This one has little basis, as there is so little gas pressure left in 12,000 PSI MAP (SAAMI maximum pressure) loads by the time the gas hits the ports that it can't do much of anything. The recoil reduction is minimal. Perhaps even sillier are ported choke tubes, which have even less pressure to work with. Drill enough holes in a perfectly good barrel, you will actually increase free recoil by a tiny amount, as you gun weighs a bit less.

Super-large extended choke tubes can also weigh a lot more than factory flush-mount tubes, and if they weigh enough they will reduce free recoil by our "one-to-one" ratio. Is it time to bring back the Cutts Compensator so we can all go deaf together? Porting as a significant recoil reduction method is just full of holes.
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FWIW
 
Oneounceload,
Extracted from Randy Wakeman's conclusion:
....Porting as a significant recoil reduction method is just full of holes. [SIZE=-2](emphasis added)[/SIZE]
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You get an Four-Oh for effort, my friend; but, didn't we stipulate some time ago that porting doesn't provide a significant recoil reduction? On the contrary, any results are subtle. If you want significant, get an air cushion stock. ;)
 
I still think it works OneOunce ....although I think the reduction in recoil is minimal ....I still say it reduces muzzle jump ...(but I'll defer the physics equations to Zippy )...

I like ported barrels so much / I was delighted to see the barrel on my Browning BT-100 Pigeon grade ( single barrel Trap gun ) was ported as well :cool:
( of course the muzzle jump isn't really a big factor on a single barrel Trap gun / but it helps irritate the Trap shooters next to me / so that's a plus as well ...). Like eating a gallon of oysters, a guy can't have too many ported shotguns ... :D
 
You and I did....but I guess all them oysters made my eyes fuzzy - I thought some folks were still thinking that.........

Besides, a limbsaver or similar only reduces recoil by adding weight.....now if you're talking perceived, we have a whole 'nother can of worms
 
Suppose the ports were drilled into the barrel about 8" instead of 18" or 20".

Would the increase pressure decrease recoil and decrease muzzle rise even more than if it is drilled at 18" or 20"?
 
BigJim - porting may do some muzzle rise lessening, (and I'll imagine if you're talking about some 3 or 3-1/2 inch uber-mags, there'll be more to it), but with target loads, a heavy gun will work better than a lighter gun with porting
 
Super-Dave said:
Suppose the ports were drilled into the barrel about 8" instead of 18" or 20".
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Beyond the detrimental effects to the internal ballistics, I don't think I want my forehand (nor my face) that close to a high pressure jet. Look at RoscoeC's pic and envision those plumes significantly increased and close to your face -- no thanks.

Also, by having the vents so close to the centroid of the gun, the result form any jet action would be to push the whole gun down, not just the muzzle. As previously indicated, you'd be better off with lighter loads. Humm... with the early vent, your loads will be self-lightening. ;)
 
I think we pretty much agree OneOunce ..... I was just picking on you a little :D

I do have a GraCoil system on my primary Trap gun ( Browning XT ) and its a 10 lb gun anyway .... and ported ... I was doing some Spring maintenance today / too wet to go shooting .... and I was polishing my BT-100 -- and I'd forgotten it was ported as well ... ( thought you'd appreciate the irony ...) in a single barrel Trap gun .....;)

It was a used gun to me / but it came that way out of Browning ....which I think is interesting ....
 
Jim - I think that once Browning jumped into the morass of porting - it just became easier to make all target barrels the same way. Funny that they don't seem to do it on their field guns, where a second shot at a fleeing grouse would seem to "benefit" from porting.

(And I know you and Zippy are kidding around - a little friendly discussion is always good)...... :D
 
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