Ported Shield banned from Craig "Southnarc" Douglas' ECQC classes.

M

Mister X

Member
Joined
Apr 29, 2010
Messages
1,908
Reaction score
2,248
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
This comes as no surprise. I can see the benefit of a ported barrel for competition shooting, but not for SD. The benefits it offers are offset by the potential for bad things to happen.
Besides...the recoil of a Shield 9mm is mild enough that no "help" should be needed.
 
I've never really understood the logic behind a ported pistol, especially for SD. I have practiced a lot in low light and complete darkness and I think using a ported pistol in the dark would be distracting, to say the least. Ever shot a revolver in the dark?? Flash and fire comes out of everywhere! Most likely in a SD situation the gun would be fired without eye protection and then the possibility of eye injury is greatly increased with a ported pistol....just my $0.02.
 
Lee in Quartzsite said:
I've never really understood the logic behind a ported pistol, especially for SD. I have practiced a lot in low light and complete darkness and I think using a ported pistol in the dark would be distracting, to say the least. Ever shot a revolver in the dark?? Flash and fire comes out of everywhere! Most likely in a SD situation the gun would be fired without eye protection and then the possibility of eye injury is greatly increased with a ported pistol....just my $0.02.
Click to expand...

yeah, I agree when it comes to pistols........but like you mention, all revolvers are "ported" via the cylinder gap and no one bans them from classes.
 
The only benefit I can imagine from porting a Shield is that it looks very cool: sort of Star Wars like.

It’s conceivable that porting a high end competition 9mm pistol, operated by a top notch competitor, would shave a fraction of a second off total time.

A Shield isn’t that sort of competition pistol: far from it.
 
Protected One said:
This comes as no surprise. I can see the benefit of a ported barrel for competition shooting, but not for SD. The benefits it offers are offset by the potential for bad things to happen.
Besides...the recoil of a Shield 9mm is mild enough that no "help" should be needed.
Click to expand...
What about a 357 snub? Seems to me that the benefits might outweigh the negatives in that case. Of course the recoil on a 357 snub is going to be worse than a 9mm by almost an order of magnitude...
 
petemacmahon said:
yeah, I agree when it comes to pistols........but like you mention, all revolvers are "ported" via the cylinder gap and no one bans them from classes.
Click to expand...

Unless the revolver is an open top, the gasses are ported to the side. Barrel side porting does have some recoil reduction benefits but not as much top porting. Unfortunately almost all production handguns are top ported.
 
BC38 said:
What about a 357 snub? Seems to me that the benefits might outweigh the negatives in that case. Of course the recoil on a 357 snub is going to be worse than a 9mm by almost an order of magnitude...
Click to expand...

Now, X-frames aside, THE WORST report I've ever stood next to on a firing line was a ported 4 inch 686. Not even my own ported 44 mag rivaled it!!
 
Winchester 296...let your eardrums get acquainted!

Porting is silly on a 9mm that doesn't make enough gas to utilize he benefit... oh well...let them enjoy their silliness.
 
Well, porting makes some folks happy, like they have something "cool." If that's all it takes to give them a thrill, then why not?
By the way - anyone here know if porting affects muzzle velocity?
 
I think it was 1985 or 1986 when the Corps decided to have its armorers rebuild M1911 pistols for Force Recon. They literally stripped the gun to the frame deburred it, polished any place metal moved on metal, replaced milspec parts with civilian substitutes and made the gun more accurate and manageable.

There was some discussion about porting the gun to reduce muzzle rise, but that got scarappped when some Master Gunnery Sergeant (not me) in the Armorer unit pointed out that while porting might reduce muzzle rise it was going to be like opening your door in sand storm. Reduced muzzle rise at the the cost of clogged and corroded barrels was a death sentence for Marines. The porting idea was scrapped within a few minutes of someone suggesting it ought to be considered.

In a SC encounter you wanr. Lean gun whenever possible. Unlike some who say they only clean their guns after shooting hundreds of rounds I clean mine after shooting any number of rounds. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 
I feel compelled to speak up after reading this thread for a second time. Not intending to brag, I must say that I have had to shoot it out with bad guys called VC and NVA. Do not be fooled by an imaginary difference between a military and civilian gunfight. The basicas are the same while th weapons and attire might be different. Here is what is the same.

Mindset is not situational. It is ingrained to the point of being almost instinctive. Whe the SHTF you do not have time to adjust frame of mind. You have to act instantaneosly and violently.

I know that civilians are taught that the objective in a SD encounter is to stop the attack not to kill the opponent. I understand that concept, but I will not make stopping the attack my objective. My objective is to kill anyone attacking me with lethal force. I mIght not kill perp and instead drive him off. That is OK with me, but I will never adapt my mindset from killing the enemy before he kills me.

Situational awareness does not begin when you leave the house. It should be turned on all the time. Two nights ago Max, my 16 pound 4 year old tomcat, knocked over a lamp while I was in bed reading. I did not assume the most likely scenario that the cat had done it. I grabbed my bedside pistol and flashlight and maneuvered from bedroom to family room to find Max sitting there looking at what he had done. I might have thought the cat had made the noise, but my situational awareness would not let me assume that. I generally assume the worst case scenario and I am very relieved to find otherwise.

Ok I will stop there, hoping all getnthe idea.
 
GerSan69 said:
By the way - anyone here know if porting affects muzzle velocity?
Click to expand...

Yes-slash-sort've. You're bleeding off pressure earlier than you otherwise would, but on most barrels with most powders, any meaningful combustion is finished.

It's not severe enough to really matter in a defensive pistol. But if you've got a gamer gun, it could be enough to bump you from Major to maybe-not-so-confidently-Major-all-the-time.
 
Wise_A said:
Yes-slash-sort've. You're bleeding off pressure earlier than you otherwise would, but on most barrels with most powders, any meaningful combustion is finished.

It's not severe enough to really matter in a defensive pistol. But if you've got a gamer gun, it could be enough to bump you from Major to maybe-not-so-confidently-Major-all-the-time.
Click to expand...

Agreed. If the porting is done correctly, and that might be a big if, the difference in timing between the bullet exiting and the gas escaping is milliseconds, and not enough to affect velocity.
 
petemacmahon said:
yeah, I agree when it comes to pistols........but like you mention, all revolvers are "ported" via the cylinder gap and no one bans them from classes.
Click to expand...
Porting is much different then the cylinder gap.Not a good analogy.
 
Lee in Quartzsite said:
I've never really understood the logic behind a ported pistol, especially for SD. I have practiced a lot in low light and complete darkness and I think using a ported pistol in the dark would be distracting, to say the least. Ever shot a revolver in the dark?? Flash and fire comes out of everywhere! Most likely in a SD situation the gun would be fired without eye protection and then the possibility of eye injury is greatly increased with a ported pistol....just my $0.02.
Click to expand...

Agreed, i have avoided all top ports for years. If you shoot a Pistol top port at night, you will loose your night vision. I think recoil is not as noticeable in a life or death situation.
I do have porting on my Perazzi and like it. A totally different situation.

What is that Pelican doing, holding a submarine?? Hmmmm, lol
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Bear8
Shield .40 cal conversion for CCW use..
Replies
4
Views
547
M1A4ME
M1A4ME
Doug M.
A hard lesson from John Farnam
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
Doug M.
Doug M.
biku324
Some Lessons from Life
2 3
Replies
47
Views
2K
BabaBlueJay
BabaBlueJay
Doug M.
Profundity from the Sheriff of Baghdad.
Replies
1
Views
808
WR Moore
W
S
Class review from Caleb Giddings' Contextual Revolver class
Replies
3
Views
821
JJackson
J

Latest posts

Back
Top