I recall this being a big thing with revolvers way back. Wasn't cheap.
Supposed to reduce recoil, but added muzzle flash?

Good thing? Bad thing?

Found a nice 625 in 45colt with it but not sure if it's worth it?

I had my deer hunting SS Ruger Redhawk in 41 Mag with a 7 1/2in barrel Mag-Na-Ported and it did help with muzzle flip. I never noticed any flame jetting from the cuts at all. In my max handloads, I used H110 which was known for it's bark and flash but I didn't notice it being any worse after the treatment.

It does help if your recoil conscious, but does affect the collector's value.

This topic comes up frequently here.

Some folks like magnaported guns, some dislike them intensely, some don’t care.

Magnaported guns have a small market and generally don’t bring as much as guns without the extra holes.

They produce unpleasant blast and will make you unpopular on the firing line.



I’m in the ‘intensely dislike’ group.

I only have 1 with Mag-na-port and I really like it. A true collector would probably only be interested in guns that haven't been altered but they're also going to want the original box and it would need to be in 99 plus percent so if it's a gun that doesn't have a box or missing original grips etc. Mag-na-port can't hurt value too much.

Going to give up on finding a 4 inch 25. Getting crazy money for them these days.
Going to be a shooter for me so I may go for it. I reload for it, so my loads are not going to be max at all. Seems there were not that many 625's in 45colt?

Did a "one after the other" test with non ported S&W M329 4" (max 2400), and a 6" Magnaported Freedom Arms .475 Linebaugh (max H110). Did this several times with different people. Everyone said the non ported M329 had more blast/flash.

FWIW,

Paul

Collectibility and value are always subjective. There are also fashion and trend influences. But, quality of workmanship is more absolute. Mag-Na-Port is a good company that has always done high quality work. The muzzle blast aspect is generally overstated by folks who confuse magnaporting with muzzle brakes that incorporate an expansion chamber near the muzzle.
To put it into context, other examples of modified S&Ws have, with time, acquired niche followings such as those worked on by King's or John Jovino. Even "Fitz Specials", which many consider to be the height of gun butchery, have a market.

As a reloader, you'll have no trouble coming up with loads that get the most out of the advantages offered by magnaporting.

Yes, of course I know this thread is about revolvers but I think my remarks might be useful to someone who is considering Magnaporting.

The one gun I have that I'd never part with is a Ruger No.1 in 458 Win Mag. Very accurate, superb trigger and gorgeous wood.

I've had the gun for 44 yrs and early on had it Magnaported. I'm sorry I did that. Don't think it reduced recoil to any significant amount and I can't say that I ever found it had more muzzle blast either. All it did was detract from the pristine condition of the gun. Don

Depending on how you use the revolver or pistol it can be ok, or really bad.

The good is that it can reduce recoil and muzzle rise.

The bad is:

1) it’s not cast bullet friendly.

2) on a self defense handgun it makes shooting from a close in retention position a lot more interesting as it blows gas into your side and or up into your face.

3) muzzle flash is much more pronounced, which is again a major negative on a self defense pistol.

——-

Personally, I’d consider magnaporting something like a 10” or 14” Contender in .30-30 or similar center fire rifle cartridge used for handgun hunting. But then again I’ve owned Contenders in a number of center fire rifle cartridges and have never done it yet, so probably not.

I have a model 58 that was Mag-na-ported before I owned it. Also had a nice trigger job and a not so well done square to round butt work. I think the porting helps and I don't notice any flash coming out of the ports. Even though I only shoot jacketed bullets, it's still important to clean the ports on occasion to keep them clean. I bought it because I reload for 41 Mag and I wanted to shoot the 58! Also came with the original box and papers.

Porting works best with high pressure cartridges, which makes me wonder why someone would port a revolver in 45 Long Colt? Porting can reduce muzzle rise, but the ports can also accumulate lubricant and lead when using swaged or cast lead bullets.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I shoot my 629 Classic with mostly 240 JHP reloads with the classic magnum powders like H110 and 2400 and never thought the gun was too harsh just as is. It's a 6.5" model. I would not magnaport it even if it were free.

Is your 625 a dash 6 Mountain Gun? I got my 625-6 MG in
.45 Colt new from the dealer already magnaported. I also always wondered why they ported a .45 Colt.

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213th FBINA

Had this mountain revolver done a few years back and really enjoy it

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Factory Magnaport 629 Mountain Gun. Fun gun to shoot.

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Bought an unfired 29-3 that had been ported because the price was great. However, I couldn't tell any real difference between the Magnaported gun and my other 29 (both were 4"). Cleaning the ports was a pain, especially when using lead bullets. Sold it.

Not a fan.

SAAMI spec .45 colt is pretty anemic (14,000 psi, 15,900 CUP) in recognition of some of the older original black powder era revolvers chambered in .45 Colt.

Some handloading manuals have “Blackhawk and T/C Contender only” loads that run around 25,000 CUP or 22,000 psi. But those loads should *ONLY* be used in those handguns, not in a S&W, even an N frame that has a .44 Magnum counterpart as the steel in them is heat treated differently.

I do shoot some .45 Colt loads in Winchester 1892 and Rossi 92 rifles, as that action is essentially a downsized Model 1886 and is incredibly strong (Rossi used to chamber their 92 in .454 Casull) that approach .44 Magnum *performance* - but at a lot less than .44 Magnum pressures. The data for those loads is around 32,000 CUP, roughly 30,000 psi and well below the 36,000 psi max pressure for the .44 magnum.

I bring that all up as magnaporting a 625 chambered for .45 Colt would seem to encourage the use of higher pressure loads, which is a really, really, bad idea.

I stated it before......."I don't want any extra holes drilled in my guns for any reason'"

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S&W Accumulator

My model 65 has been to Mag-Na-Port. I also had them to round the butt off.

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Let's be careful out there

My only Magna-Ported gun came that way

This no-dash 66 was a duty gun for an FBI buddy who was a member of the very first Hostage Rescue Team (HRT). Before they got their Hi-Powers they were given a large leeway with their guns. Somehow he got the Bu to look the other way and got his ported gun approved. It has a wide, smooth trigger and the very typical magnas/Pachmayr grip adapter set up seen on Bureau guns. The little PX at the Academy sold Pachmayr grips adapters and no other gun stuff.

He traded it to me for a Marlin Camp Carbine in .45 ACP.

The ports do make a difference shooting 158 grain Magnum loads.

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Rule of law, not a man.

Any of you shooting these ported guns in a dim environment? That’s probably where any enhanced flash would be evident.

Exactly. I had a Magnaported 8 3/8" 629 that I shot for 20 years, a couple of ported Shields, and currently I have a Marlin 1894P, which is a .44 Mag with 16.2" barrel and ports.

Ports are not Muzzle Brakes. I am always amused when someone claims that a few small ports will catch your clothes on fire, blind you, and require hours of extra cleaning.
That has not been my experience at all, as someone that owns and has used ported guns a bit.
I won't go out of my way to buy a ported gun, but I wouldn't shy away from it either.

I always inspect the ports when cleaning, expecting to find all the lead, lube and whatnot that others claim will catch on or clog the ports, but never find anything there.
I shot nothing but 265 grain Hardcast GC bullets in my 629, and my ported Marlin is getting the same diet.

My ported guns work just as well as my unported ones, with the added benefit of decreased muzzle climb.

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U. S. Army Veteran

Don’t really care one way or the other, but what if the factory had it done or it was a distributor exclusive, how does that effect collector value?

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213th FBINA

A factory porting would not affect collector value, but modifications made outside of the factory destroy the originality of the firearm. To a collector of firearms interested in un-modified examples, any modification diminishes value. As for Mag-na-porting, it was never a S&W factory option.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Not an option but standard on many guns order by S&W distributors after 1997. Product code #102715 was a 3" mod 66 made for RSR in 1996.
The box label was imprinted with "Magna Port"!
jcelect

Way back when the Glock Model 22 in .40 caliber came out I bought one
new. It was magnaported. No big deal.

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In Omnia Paratus

Yes, many Glock models were available with porting. Those models had numbers appended with “C” for compensated, e.g., G21C, G22C. I believe Glock performed this modification in house, not Magnaport.

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213th FBINA

I'm old now, but remember (while I still can) doing quite a bit of study on porting during the last century when porting was innovative and exciting. At the time I had an interesting job in my military career and being proficient in defensive handgunnery seemed prudent. Porting looked like a way to improve accurate rapid fire.

Studies done at the time strongly suggested that ports performed optimally in longer handgun barrels compared to snubbies, and in hotter loads compared to light ones. Longer barrels apparently demonstrate greater leverage (with the shooter's hand as the fulcrum of course) in dampening upward rotation of the muzzle. Hotter loads generated a stronger jet effect to push the muzzle down at the point of the port. Shorter barrels not so much. Seemed like a dead heat race in snubbies, going for the hottest loads to improve jet thrust at the port, thereby increasing recoil, to try and reduce muzzle climb for better accuracy in rapid fire.

Back in the day porting my 8-3/8 inch M29 might have made sense, as long firing strings during field pistol sillhouette matches tended to tax my concentration. If added blast rattled my competitors on the firing line that would have been all to the better.

I don't think ports hurt anything except some collector value. They look cool, l suppose. If you like 'em, fine by me.

Mike56, I'll share my limited experience with a couple guns actually ported by Magnaport. Years ago, I shot a Magnaported model 58 S&W. Muzzle flip/rise was definitely moderated. Same with a 12 Ga. shotgun shooting heavy factory loads.

With less muzzle rise though, recoil was much more straight back>>>>. Recoil from both these guns felt more harsh to me, than with my similar unported guns. I have never been tempted to have any of my guns Magnaported.....YMMV

Seeing ported guns in general being fired, the escaping gases remind me of a steam engine

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

A few years ago I traded into a 29-3 4" that had been to Mag-Na-Port. Only shot it a few times, a couple times at night just for giggles and man, what a show with the hot loads! The gun did recoil a bit less than my non-ported 629-1 but I don't shoot the hot loads in that very much.

I got it right, $600 trade value, sold off it shortly afterwards at a gun show for $850 + Colorado background check fee. Much prefer my revolvers without the ports.

Starting to cool to the idea with this info.
Not sure the 45colt would benefit and I do load more lead than anything else.
Do appreciate the input.

a hard pass on porting. I value velocity too much to waste precious gas.

I enjoy porting on many of my revolvers and semi autos. It definitely helps reduce recoil and gain quicker follow up shots. I have never been blinded by muzzle flash. If given the option I would go with ported every time

329PD with dual Mag-Na-Ports:

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The used 4" M58 I bought in the early eighties had been Magnaported. It was less expensive for that reason and I snatched it up. It was several years before I had the opportunity to shoot it side by side with another 4" 58. With full house factory or equivalent loads the reduction in muzzle flip is substantial. With 900-1000 fps target loads not so much. I still have that revolver. It's a life time keeper.

Cleaning was a problem until I started using plated bullets. In my honest opinion the only real down side to Magnaporting is that carbon quickly obscures any high visibility front sight unless the sight is mounted behind the ports.

Back when I shot International Rapid Fire pistol, the rules used to allow for .22 short. It was common to have our pistols equipped with both a muzzle brake and a ported barrel. In fact, the barrel ports were drilled and tapped (usually 4 or 5 of them) between the chamber and muzzle. You could add or remove little screws to open or close the ports. This affected not only recoil but also breech pressure, thus allowing you to tune slide cycle and function.
I can assure anyone that the ports and muzzle brake, even with the tiny .22 short cartridge, did indeed change perceived recoil, reliability, the jarring of the slide returning to battery, and muzzle rise.
With the fastest strings calling for 5 shots in 3 seconds, on five separate turning targets at 25 meters, it made a big difference.
From some of the posts written here, you'd think the ports would get plugged up with lead and lube, we'd be blinded by the muzzle flash, and/or they were just a gimmick with no effect.
None of those preconceptions would be accurate.

My Mag-Na-Port experience goes back right at 20 years...

The first one was a Freedom Arms 83 6" in .41 Magnum. Nothing but lead bullets have been fired out of the gun and have had zero issues with leading. The gun is astoundingly accurate and doesn't have a lot of muzzle flip even with 300 grain loads... Every round through the gun so far has been a full charge of H110. Had the identical gun with ports in .475 Linebaugh and zero issues with leading with that one either. Ports cleaned right up.

Second was a 657 3" Combat Special. I ran across three of these guns in a short period of time and since all were priced right I had them all under the roof at the same time...and I ended up keeping the one that was Mag-Na-Ported... The only loads that ever have gone through those guns was 8.0 grains of Unique with a plated bullet... Even with a low pressure load one could tell the difference in muzzle rise...

Next were a pair of Model 58s purchased a week apart. One was bone stock except it had been parkerized. The other was a full custom that had a GREAT smooth action and Mag-Na-Port Quad-Port. In shooting a four stage IDPA shoot, alternating guns each stage, one can then really feel the difference in muzzle rise and recovery time when trying to shoot fast and accurately. Again these were with low pressure 950 fps loads with plated bullets. Cleaning is never an issue. One can tell a slight difference in muzzleblast but it isn't enough to offset the increase in speed between shots.

Somewhere during this time I acquired two 60-10 3" .357 Magnums...one box stock and the second one was ported. It turned out this was one of 133 Lew Horton Special Small Hunters. Have only shot the guns side by side a couple of times and do notice a small difference.

A friend had a poorly shortened 6" 629 barrel replaced at the factory with a 5" Classic Mag-Na-Ported barrel that was a leftover from a limited edition. I ended up with the gun and it was the softest shooting S&W .44 Magnum I have ever fired...

Also have four Taurus Trackers that all have their version of porting...and it works nicely. Have a .41 stainless 4", .41 titanium 4" and 6" and a .45 ACP stainless 4". The .41s are a pleasure to shoot compared to the two 357s .41s I "had"...


...and I also forgot about a 4" 500... Bought one of the solid no-port muzzle inserts and quickly went back to the factory Comp... That one has BLAST with or without a Comp...

...so no it doesn't blind you or kill the shooter in the next lane. So far there have been no issues with cleaning the ports but I can bet using soft swaged lead bullets would be a big problem... Hardcast or a gas checked bullet is no extra work to clean. It will darken a colored ramp insert with lead bullets but just wiping it off with ones thumb when you reload negates the issue. It doesn't disappear in one round.

YMMV....Bob

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I have a 3" 629-4 which the Performance Center chose to have double Magnaported. It came with some pretty good Badger grips. I got some better grips from Roy Fishpaw (I actually got them for my RB 520, but that's another story).

I eventually got around to comparing the 629 to my 29-2 (also furnished with the best grips I could buy) side by side with the same .44 Mag ammo, several types. Despite the shorter barrel, the Magnaported 629 was the winner, hands down. Big improvement.

No cleaning problems, but I stick with jacketed bullets.

Haven't been even temporarily blinded yet, but our outdoor range is closed at night. I wear spectacles almost every waking hour, but my cheeks and forehead are still unscarred, and my beard has not been set afire.

You should probably put me down as pro-Magnaport, at least for .44 Mags with jacketed bullets.

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Formerly Model520Fan

Me too, but for another reason. I sent a Colt SAA to them to have another barrel installed, and when I got it back, there was a ring inside the bore and you could feel an indentation on the circumference of the barrel. It was clamped too tight in the barrel vise. I called them to complain, and their remark was " the barrel was that way when you sent it to us". BS. They will never touch another one of my guns.

I have 4 Mag-Na-Ported guns, 2 handguns and 2 rifles.

The first handgun is a 28-2 4" I bought used in 1982, It is a dream to shoot. The second is a T/C Contender Super 14 in 44 Mag. I had it mag-na-ported to reduce the brutal recoil of my 300 grain loads. With factory 240's it is a purring kitten, with my 300's it is still pretty nasty!

I had (and still have ) A 300 Win Mag Weatherby Vanguard VGX sent to Mag-Na-Port, while still on lay away in early 1985, I had it ported and had them install iron sights. When I was younger and had better eyes I could rapid shoot 3 rounds of 200 grain Federal Premium in a offhand group of 5/8" group at 100 yards! Great gun and system.

Around 1988 I had a 264 Win Mag ported too. From the prone position the bipod would jump 8 to 10" depending on the load. After porting the gun stayed flat on target but you did feel a small amount of additional recoil, being able to get second shots was well worth the price (both prices!)

The model 28 has 2 ports. The Contender, 300 and 264 Win Mags all have 4 ports. There is powder fouling but never had any jacket material in the ports.

I have a 12" Hunter Contender in 375 Winchester. I think they called their break a "Muzzle Tamer"! It was a system with a chamber and round holes on the top half. Factory 200 and reload 220 grain ammo had the mildest recoil, on par with 38 wadcutters in a ported 357 N-Frame! But I like to shoot it at dusk (when I can still see the backstop), The fireball looks to be 36 to 40 inches across. It also makes a big noise, the neighbors told me about it!

Ivan

I have a 642-1 that was factory Magna-Ported when I bought it in the late 90s. The plastic blue box has the "Magna Port" sticker on the top and the label says "ported" on it. If I remember correctly it cost $20 more than a regular one back then.

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The words resale and Smith & Wesson don't belong in the same sentence.

I've had a couple. I had a 29-2 8 3/8 I got new, ported it & had it for a long time. I had other 29s without & didn't find it made much difference in recoil in long barreled 29s. Around 90s I got a 3" 629-5 Trail Boss that was ported. It did have lots of flash & I ultimately bought a replacement barrel without port & put it on. I don't have recoil problems & can shoot the titanium guns rapid fire, so the lack of a port didn't matter & it was bad with flash. FWIW

I once had identical 657-2s, unfluted cylinders, 6.5" barrels, one ported, one not. I tried firing them simultaneously single-action. The only way I could detect a difference was with the ported one in the left hand (I'm right-handed). My conclusion was "not very much difference".

This RSR Special run of 629’s came this way

Thinking about it, I found a friend a 649-3 (pre-lock) .357 Magnum that was Mag-Na-Ported. It's listed as a 1997 Lew Horton Special...

We shot the gun right after it arrived and it shot great. Has been in a lock box in his car since....

I won't port my 38/44 Heavy Duty, Hand Ejectors, my father's Navy Victory model, my Model 3s or my grandfather's H&R Sportsman but they are not guns that I carry but love to shoot them once in a while.

I have 4 Mountain Guns, a 4013, a 642, a 342 and a Glock 23C with 9mm and 357 Sig conversion barrels that are ported. At the time I bought them, they were to carry and they all saw a lot of holster wear in their day. The reduction in muzzle flip is why I like porting. The ports are harder to scrub the carbon out of but I have never found bullet casing or lead in any of them. In rapid fire qualification, I get better scores. Magnaport has done other work for me. Their revolver trigger jobs are nice. I also like the recessed barrel crowns they do. To each their own, personally, I have always found their work was money well spent.

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SWCA 3417 HF 642 NRA-TC

I had a 686PP no lock 6" barrel that I really loved! I gave it to my son to make sure it stayed in the family. The PP stands for Power Ported.
There was some muzzle blast/flash out the top where the port is but I thought it was kind of cool. In the dark it is a very bright flash. The gun was easy to shoot with very little recoil since it was a pretty heavy ported gun.
I hope my son enjoys it for many years.

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NRA & TSRA
Texas CHL Holder

We have pre locks and if S&W ever does away with the locks, do you all really think the current dime a dozen S&Ws with a lock will be a collectible? Would I port a pre lock, hell no, but I do not see porting by a well known and reapected company hurting resale value AT ALL! You aren't going to recoup the money you spent for porting, and the number of interested buyers might decrease because they are anti porting, but you'll get used price market value still.