I understand how the ported barrel fits into play here with recoil control but what makes the Pro Series better than the standard line of J-Frames?

Well, in my opinion any gun that has a ported barrel is a gun I stay away from. Here is why I hate ported barrels:

1. They are louder
2. They dirty up your sights
3. They impair your night vision
4. They can be more difficult to clean
5. Typically they don't hold their value as well
6. In my opionion it takes away from the classic look a revolver should have, however this is just my opinion

You could say that porting a barrel does help with recoil which might give you better times on your follow up shots but at night I doubt this would come into play because of the time it would take to re-aquire your sight picture after the bright flash.

To answer your original question, I have heard the pro series usually have a better trigger, and a lot of models come from the factory dished out for moon clips. I think the pro series are great guns and may not be too far off from an actual performance center gun. Some of the pro series have the "bossed mainspring" which is a good feature, but nothing you can't replace on any S&W for a few bucks. Some of the Pro series guns have the "old school" pinned sear.....I prefer this just because I like the design but I can't speak of it actually making the gun function better. Someone else might be able to chime in with some more info, I do not own one, but have read a little about them.

There's no comparison.

Power Port Pro has a much better trigger, much better front sight, and less felt recoil than my 642 or M42. Its just an all around much more shootable gun. Lots of people don't like the port for some reason, but if you could shoot it back to back with a non ported J frame like I do you can really tell the difference.

In case you can't tell I really like my 642 Power Port Pro. If it didn't have the lock it would be perfect.

+1 on what Lumpy Pockets said I totally agree.

Great little gun! Cleaning the port with a pipe cleaner makes it easy. Shooting at night makes your night vision impaired with any gun, so don't let that deter you. They may be a little louder, but you're using ear protection when you shoot, right? The Pro Series are great. I say buy one!