To port or not to port???

T

Tankist

New member
I have a Performance Center 629 2 -5/8 BBL that I'm very happy with. It is a great gun, but not as fun to shoot for extended periods as I would like. Anyone who owns one knows what I'm taking about. Heavy recoil, never shot more then 100 rounds in one session.

Lately, I've been thinking of getting one of those magna - port jobs for it. Here's my dilemma, the 629 is also my nightstand gun. In the past I have read that porting a HD gun could have some negative results if you had to fire it in the dark or close to your person. On the other hand porting would make it more controllable and easier to shoot with full power loads.

My question is, has anyone gotten one of these ported and what was the result? Also, do the benefits of porting outweigh the drawbacks in the HD gun?

Thanks in advance.
 
Flash/blast in low light conditions is a bad idea. Stats show that most defensive gunplay happens in subdued light. Porting is not a good idea for defensive arms. My opinion, of course.

Callahan
 
I concur. My .357 is ported and it flash blinds me for a moment when I shoot it in the dark. My sight is momentarily blinded till I get my night vision back. That momentarily blindness can cost you your life. Even though a .357 puts out quite a flame anyway it is definitely a difference with the flame going up as well as out. Its not worth the minimal amount of reduced muzzle flip.
 
I have been using an .357 SP101 with HybraPorting off and on for many years. Test until you find a load with the lowest flash. I have never fired it in an actual defensive situation at night but I have trained inddors with it in a reduced light lane and shot it outside at dusk. Trust me on this, if you pop off a few rounds of high flash .357 in the dark you WILL be temporally blind. Porting is not gonna change that much. Kinda like degrees of being pregnant or dead.
 
I agree with WESHOOT2. Why port a beautiful gun that you are "very happy with"? When it is in your night stand use different ammo than when you have it on the range. For example, .44 Specials make excellent defensive loads. Find several brands (or better - reload) and see which have the lowest flash.
 
Like you'll even notice the difference in muzzle flash in a .44 Mag out of a 2 5/8" barrel if you mag-na-port it.

Anyone who claims that mag-na-porting a 2" or 3" magnum revolver is going to somehow increase its muzzle flash has never fired a short-barreled magnum in the dark, with or without ports. :rolleyes:
 
Hybra-Port

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
 
Tamara, there is a heck of a difference between the flash going forward and the flash going up. Sure, the outward blast is gonna be bright with a .44 snubbie. Nobody is saying it won't be.

However, getting that same flash directed upward is going to pipe that brilliant flash right smack into the shooter's line of sight. Tactically speaking, that's not a very good feature to have on a defensive weapon. Which is why I refuse to purchase a Tracker (or any Taurus Total Titanium revolver), they are not available without porting. I've fired snubbies in subdued light and know what you're saying. Non-ported guns can really throw a fireball, especially the magnum calibers. The difference is, ported guns throw that same fireball straight up into the shooter's line of sight. And for what? Reduced felt recoil? Big deal.

Besides, ported guns are louder for the same reason. A buddy of mine really liked his shiny new .32 mag snubbie until he fired it, that is. His ears rang for the rest of the day. It was obnoxiously loud. The original Browning BOSS system was loud too. So loud, in fact, that they started offering it non-ported. Non-ported is now standard, I'm not even sure if they make the ported BOSS anymore.
 
Tamara is right, the muzzle blast out if a 2 5/8 to 3 inch.44mag is impressive at best - incendiary at worst. Depending on the ammo used the muzzle blast can be measured in feet not inches. Unless I'm mistaken doesn't Hybra-Porting or Magna Porting involve venting gases through the sides of the barren not the top?

Jack, thanks very much for the info. Noise is not really a problem since the 629 is already the loudest handgun I own (by far). The proximity to shooter might be an issue in a HD scenario. I guess I should try to find a short barreled ported magnum and see if I can try different types of low flash ammo to help me decide.

It looks like I'm trying to have my cake and eat it too. The reason I bought the 629 was for HD purposes and possibly carry. I never thought that I would actually like shooting it. So what I'm trying to do now is figure out how to make a HD gun easier to shoot for extended sessions without decreasing it's effectiveness as a HD gun. Maybe the answer is to buy another 629 just to shoot and leave this one alone the way it is. Switching to.44special ammo for target shooting would also work.
 
Magnaporting;

I think it may be worth mentioning here that Magnaporting is quite a bit different from the other types "holes" that some companies put in gun barrels. Over the years I have owned a good variety of various "porting" types. Many of them are just holes drilled in the barrel. The ports cut by Magnaport are on the sides of the barrel and on the top but at 30 to 45 degree angles. They also are cut in a unique shape much like the nozzle of a rocket engine. In fact Magnaport's owner worked for NASA designing rocket engines during the Mercury program.
Magnaported guns are as much different from other types of porting as night and day. Someone mentioned a Boss system with muzzlebrake. This system simply SHOULD NOT be fired without ear protection. Its that loud!! However, I have owned Magnaported rifles in 30 06 and 7mm Mag and neither one was any louder to the shooter than the non Magnaported version. I have also fired 6" .44 Magnums and 8" .357 Magnums that had been Magnaported and I found muzzle flip and felt recoil reduced quite a bit and with no noticable increase in noise level or flash. Muzzle flash from the ports was still dependant on type of powder used but it is vented either 30 to 45 degrees to the side so this helps some.
mg003.jpg


My experience with Hybraporting:
I have Weigland "Tame the Beast" conversion of the SP101. It was part of the group of guns Weigland did for Davidsons some years ago. Other than the fact it shoots to the left I really like it. However, while the hybraporting DOES decrease felt recoil by up to 70 percent the ports are on the top of the barrel and it also spits unburned powder and other particle on the shooter. At least my SP 101 does this. Since I wear glasses this is not a problem but for someone that does not routinely wear eye protection it could be a problem. After some experimentation I have found that as long as I use a low flash powder for reloads or a flash restricted factory load the hybraporting performs quite well and does not blind me in low light anymore than my nonported snubbie.
ports.JPG


Now the real issue. I can shoot my hybraported SP 101 significantly faster than any of my non ported snubbies. Recovery times with full house loads are faster and my scores on rapid fire drills are much better. To wit, I can shoot my hybraported SP101 faster and more accurately than my nonported snubbies with more powerful ammo. Your mileage may vary.
 
I have a ported SP101, and a 3" 686.

Firing the same round out of each (full power 125 grain 357 magnum) showed no appreciable/noticable difference in flash.

In both cases, there was a 3-4" or so diameter flash ball at the end of the barrel. I can't see how the impact on my night vision would be any different.

My experience indicates that the powder composition (ie. presence of flash retardent) will have a much larger impact (like, 100x) on the amount of flash, than the porting of the barrel.
 
Instead of cutting the barrel reload instead.

Throttle down your .44 Mag loads to a more manageable power level for the gun.

A 180 Grain Hollowpoint at 1000-1200 Fps would be the ticket.
 
FWIW.........

I've got a 629 snubby that has been magnaported. I would echo the sentiment about the flash. Any short barreled, ported magnum is going to flash. Not many mentioned the sound of a short barreled, ported magnum. It is fierce!!!!! IMHO ear protection is a must. For me, the advantages of porting are not worth the disadvantages. I would never do it again. Just my $.02 worth.
 
Porting...

G23C .40 cal
Springfield V-10 .45 ACP
Taurus 731UL .32 H&R Mag
*&* PC-13 .357 Mag
*&* 629 3" .44 Mag

I know porting. I like porting. I've shot my ported guns in the dark. I've double- and triple-tapped a pair of pickled pepper poppers in the pouring rain at night with a Mag-Na-Ported 3" .44 Mag. I know that if the gun wasn't ported, I couldn't have gotten two clangs, much less three, off the falling steel. I'm pretty sold on the concept. ;)
 
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