Ported .357 Magnum snubs

[sgt127]

I was at the range yesterday and a fellow shooter let me try his 640 that had been ported by Weigand. The lack of muzzle flip was incredible. I swear, the gun recoiled less that the K frame 65 I was shooting. I come home to look up Weigand on the internet only to find that they no longer do gunsmithing. But, I see Magnaport is still alive and well and still fairly reasonable. The gun I'm thinking about porting is a 2 1/8 Ruger SP-101. Anybody had one ported, either regular Magnaported (two hole) of Quad Ported (four hole)? Happy with the results? Was the recoil significantly tamed?

Is there anybody out there doing the Weigand style porting down the length of the barrel? My only concern would be loss of velocity with all those big holes down the whole barrel. Maybe thats why its so effective, I don't know. Didn't have a chrono handy.

Please let me know what kind of porting you have/had on a snub .357 and what your immpressions are.

 

[bountyhunter]

If the recoil was mild, I wonder if the ammo you were shooting was not full bore magnum... or maybe the gun had better grips that absorb recoil like Pachmayr decelerator types. In reality, porting does virtually nothing to reduce recoil, assuming we agree that recoil is defined as the rear-directed force against your hand as a result of firing. Ports can reduce muzzle flip, because the upward gas vent creates a force that counters the muzzle rise. Although in the ones I have shot, the reduction in flip is only significant in very short barreled guns shooting very hot ammo. I have ported barrels in two different 9mm guns and they do nothing to reduce muzzle rise: the gas pressure of standard 9mm ammo isn't enough to make a significant difference.

Compensators are the gadgets that reduce recoil but not because of the upward pointed vents. They have an expansion chamber at the end of the barrel that escaping gas expands into and essentially "runs into a wall" which causes a force pointed directly forward in the path of the bullet, which is opposite to the recoil force (cancelling some of it out). That can be very effective at reducing recoil, and the upward vents reduce muzzle flip.

 

[sgt127]

The gun had wood "combat" style grips. It was my ammo, 110 gr Winchester .357 H/P. It seems that to me, the reduction in muzzle flip greatly reduced the felt recoil. I can take the pushing back of the recoil, what tears up my hand is the muzzle rising causing the top of the backstrap to slam into the web of my hand. In that respect, the porting seems to have worked very, very well.

 

[bountyhunter]

I can take the pushing back of the recoil, what tears up my hand is the muzzle rising causing the top of the backstrap to slam into the web of my hand.

That's true. The "twisting" force applied to the wrist caused by muzzle flip probably feels a lot more objectionable than true recoil. That's why gun makers always try to design the gun so you can grip it higer up toward the bore axis: the higher you grip, the shorter the "lever" distance that the recoil force has to rotate around the wrist. That makes it feel like it's kicking less.

 

[farscott]

My experience with the Weigand Hybra-Port is identical to sgt127's experience. The ported barrel really reduces muzzle flip and felt recoil.

According to data that used to be on Weigand's site, the Hybra-Porting reduces velocity by approximately five percent versus an unported barrel of the same length. I do not remember what cartridge or barrel length was used to gather this data.

 

[45+]

I have shot ported Taurus revolvers in 45 Colt, 45 ACP, 41 Magnum, and 357 Magnum. Some in 2" and some in 4". All seemed easy handlin' to me except the 41 Magnum in Ti. I know porting does not reduce recoil, but it does reduce shooting discomfort for me. And it seems the hotter the load, the more it "helps". The only drawback I am aware of is the loss of night vision in low light situations after the first or second shot, but that can me minimized with low-flash ammo.

 

[Standing Wolf]

I sent my pre-agreement model 60 to the good folks at http://www.magnaport.com for paired ports, a muzzle crown, jewelling the hammer and trigger, and bead-blasting the firearm. I virtually never leave home without it.

 

[magsnubby]

I have a Taurus 606 2 1/2 " 357 that'a ported. It's amazing the way it reduces muzzle flip. It dosen't really reduce recoil it just redirects it. It seems lke it spreads it more evenally through out my hand .

 

[fastbolt]

I've had a SP-101 2.25" DAO .357 for several years, and the folks at MagNaPort Quad-Ported it for me when it was something new they were doing. Since a few of the guys at the office also had short barreled 101's, it was interesting to watch their reactions when they fired their stock guns, and then fired my ported gun.

To a man, they were always amazed ... and rightfully so. The Quad-Porting reduces the overall felt recoil to some degree, and virtually eliminates muzzle rise. For me, the increased muzzle blast is a worthwhile compromise, since I've been shooting magnum revolvers since I was a teenager and don't feel unnecessarily distracted by a bit more muzzle blast & noise.

The porting does require that I adjust my close-combat handling, though, but again, that's not a difficult compromise for MY concerns.

Being able to keep the front sight (which I painted bright orange with sight paint) level on the target during magnum recoil (125gr & 140gr standard Magnum loads), while properly cycling the trigger as fast as possible and being able to properly control the little gun, seems to be a worthwhile benefit ... to me. Although I'm sure there are many folks that would find the increased muzzle blast, which is also directed upward to a greater degree than with a non-ported gun, too distracting ... and probably less beneficial.

One of the usual comments I used to hear that was that some of the owners of regular 101's said that they could actually shoot my ported gun faster & easier with Magnum ammunition than they could shoot theirs using .38 +P ammunition. Well, sure, part of that probably has to do with the effectiveness of the porting when using higher pressure Magnum ammunition, compared to standard .38 and +P .38 ammunition. But, at least a couple of those folks also preferred to carry .38 ammunition in their own guns because they either didn't like the perceived recoil of Magnum ammunition in their unported guns, or felt they couldn't adequately manage the gun under the increased recoil.

All I can say is that there is a very noticeable improvement in my ability to accurately hit my intended target , and do it faster, after it was Quad-Ported. One thing I've noticed, however, is that the rearward "push" (into the palm of my hand) was still more pronounced as the bullet weight increased. The muzzle rise, or whip, was still remarkably reduced ... but the perceived recoil impulse delivered straight back into my palm remained more or less the same ... and heavier bullets have always offered more noticeable recoil effect in this regard ... to me. The "overall" effect felt "better".

This isn't really an issue for me, however, as I've always favored using either the full strength 125gr & 140gr JHP's, or the "milder" 145gr Silvertip ammunition. I don't often have reason to use 158gr or 180gr JHP's in my 101.

I'd had some experience with several MagNaPorted revolvers & pistols beforehand, and I thought I knew what I could expect before I sent my 101 off to MagNaPort. I'd even briefly owned a Safari Arms Matchmaster with the Hybrid Compensator barrel & modified slide. I was satisfied that I wasn't going to be losing any significant velocity out of my ported 2.25" barrel ... and the Quad Porting was even better than I'd hoped for ...

My Quad-Ported SP-101 appears ... to ME ... to offer more of the benefit you would expect from porting, compared to my Ruger 4" Heavy Barrel Service Six, which I had MagNaPorted with the standard porting ... but that's a totally subjective perspective.

Comparing my non-ported Ruger Redhawk 5.5" .44 (which lists weighing 49 oz.) to my standard MagNaPorted S&W 629 Classic .44 (which lists weighing 49.5 oz.), I personally notice little difference in perceived recoil between the two guns. That's using ammunition which ranges from 180gr to 300gr. You'd think the half ounce heavier MagNaPorted gun would offer a significant advantage, but again, that's a subjective issue ... And, while the 629 generally has rubber grips on it, the Redhawk is fitted with either wood or plastic, and the grip frame has been rounded to sort of a reduced round-butt, or Bird's Head profile (which might've reduced the overall weight from "stock" by a slight amount, giving the 629 an even "better" weight advantage, I suppose).

It's all subjective ...

But given the choice between a ported 101 and a stock 101, and Magnum ammunition, I'd always choose the ported option.

Just me ...

 

[sgt127]

Thanks Fastbolt. I pretty much assumed that the shorter the barrel and the hotter the ammo, the more effective the porting would be...it appears you have confirmed that. The ported 640 I shot with magnum ammo had less felt recoil than my SP-101 with hot .38's, much as you described. The difference was really stunning to me. Think I may need to call the folks at Magnaport.

 

[Bullet]

Porting

I think you might give this web sight a try.
http://www.pinnacle-guns.com/
They do really great work.

 

[fastbolt]

sgt127,

You're welcome.

The funny thing is that when I originally sent my SP-101 back to MagNaPort, I'd sent it back requesting the regular dual porting ... which was all that I thought was available. Since my brother & I had sent back many guns for porting over the years, though, the kind folks at MagNaPort decided to do the Quad Porting, instead of the usual "standard" dual porting, and as they thought I'd like it ... They explained in their letter when they returned the gun that it was something new they'd been doing for one of the major vendors who ordered special limited production "runs" of different guns from various manufacturers.

Boy, were they right. The difference was, as you described, "stunning".

Being able to make rapidly DA cycled & accurate shots in "defensive" range (2-10yds) scenarios, using magnum ammunition, gives new meaning to the term "rolling thunder" ...

One funny thing, though ...

Just after I had the gun ported, and was shooting it on our range, another fellow that had owned and sold a SP-101 .357 ... (due to perceived recoil issues using magnum ammunition) ... watched me shooting several cylinder loads of magnum ammunition, and then asked my why on Earth I thought I needed "that much power" in an off-duty weapon ...

It's all relative ...

 

[DBR]

Standing Wolf
Where did you get those grips?

 

[Karate]

The porting does require that I adjust my close-combat handling, though, but again, that's not a difficult compromise for MY concerns.

Fastbolt How did you modify...I have been considering porting my 66 2-1/2 Smith but this was one of my concerns...I considered shooting it with the ports pointing away from my body (holding the weapon sideways)...how far in front of your own body does the weapon have to be to avoid getting burned...