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Shield Plus PC ported barrel does it help?

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fish hunter

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I am curious about ported barrels, any advantage? I know more cleaning involved. Thanks, as always I find great information from
you who have knowledge of this subject. Stay safe.
 
It is very subjective.
I personally do not see any difference. Especially in short barrel firearms.

Let's wait for other opinions.
 
I have a PC Shield ported plus, it depends on what Ammo U R shooting.
Target ball ammo no difference. Defensive +P or +P+ some difference but it will never compete with a comp.

In close shooting in a self defense situation plenty of carbon and blow
back coming up and at you. Probably not worth any up-charge for the option. Also PC guns don't compete with an apex-ed stock shield +
 
As much as I like Jerry Michulek and his advices are always good, I'm trying to not take into consideration his feelings about S&W firearms. ;)
First - he is way above regular shooter and his/her experience.
Second - so far I've never met any person talking bad about products he represents. :D

In spite of that - great video !
 
I don't have a Shield Plus but I had a Shield in 9mm and sold it to get the Shield PC 9mm because mainly I wanted the Fiber Optic Sights. I've shot both extensively and in my opinion I could not tell the difference in the Ported versus non-Ported.
 
I had a 1.0 Shield PC model, chosen for the sights and slightly different trigger. In minimal comparisons with a std Shield i did not notice much difference in flip or recoil. I would add in darker indoor ranges the flash was not a concern or issue.
The biggest pain was dealing with some ammo brands at least saying they were not for ported use (plating could flake off) so trying to only use brands that were ok.
Now that part was just something I followed, others may not care about it.
Adding I ended up moving on to an EZ model, non ported.
 
Porting is not an issue when the gun is held at arms length away from and in front of the shooter’s face.

It definitely can be an issue with escaping gases when the gun is held close to the body and down low in a retention or extremely rushed shooting position.

So, for personal defense, it’s a trade off. Ports must have some positive effect against muzzle rise just due to physics. Is that positive effect with factory porting (which is not the same as the much larger Miculek custom porting) worth the potential negatives of retention shooting problems, increased vertical flash in dark conditions, and increased cleaning complexity and perhaps frequency?

That’s a personal decision.

Suffice it to say, the vast majority of short barreled gun shooters do not have ported guns. Manufacturers do not make ported short barreled guns as standard offerings. If it were a really big advantage without much in the way of liabilities, it would be included in standard manufacturing as an advantage over competitors. That it is offered only as a non-standard extra expense is a clue as to its usefulness and popularity.

Not everything S&W does makes sense. They make money instead. If enough people will buy it, they will manufacture, market and sell it.

Witness: the PC Shield red dot version with green and yellow fiber optic sights. Three colors in one sight picture. How can that be a good thing?

And yet, I have a small comp with a vertical port at the end of my extended Shield barrel. For me, it’s a better but even more expensive compromise.
 

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jurek said:
It is very subjective.
I personally do not see any difference. Especially in short barrel firearms.

Let's wait for other opinions.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. The damn fiber optic sights get very dirty too.
 
jurek said:
As much as I like Jerry Michulek and his advices are always good, I'm trying to not take into consideration his feelings about S&W firearms. ;)
First - he is way above regular shooter and his/her experience.
Second - so far I've never met any person talking bad about products he represents. :D

In spite of that - great video !
Click to expand...

Funny thing about this and Jerry, discovered his YouTube channel during the Covid shutdown of 2020, and watched way too many videos while trapped at home.

There are a few videos where he and his daughter Lena, who is sponsored by Sig, are talking about shooting, and working around what they are shooting, where it seems like they are conscious about it and keeping the sponsors happy :)
 
I have a shield plus 3.1 inch slide does anybody know if it can interchange with the 4 inch?

Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
 
I have the 9mm Performance Center ported Shield and shot a regular Shield immediately afterward. I honestly couldn't tell much difference in recoil reduction with the ports
 
jurek said:
As much as I like Jerry Michulek and his advices are always good, I'm trying to not take into consideration his feelings about S&W firearms. ;)
First - he is way above regular shooter and his/her experience.
Second - so far I've never met any person talking bad about products he represents. :D

In spite of that - great video !
Click to expand...

Jerry hasn't gone up against me yet...lol
 
Slight reduction in muzzle flip

I've owned both a PC Shield and a PC Shield Plus, and I have noticed a slight reduction in muzzle flip with the ported barrels and slides. I also like the fiber optic sights. Yes, they will get dirty after shooting a box (or two) of ammo, but shooting an entire magazine is not usual for a gun fight. God forbid, but if I'm ever forced into a potentially lethal confrontation, I want to be able to see the sights and the FOs are great in many lighting conditions.
 
I have both ported an non ported in 9 and 45 and the recoil reduction is minimal but as stated earlier the main issue is if you have to fire the gun close to your body those very hot games will do some damage to your skin.
 
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