Magnaport?

[sigp220.45]

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.

 

[smithman]

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

 

[sandog]

The muzzle blast aspect is generally overstated by folks who confuse magnaporting with muzzle brakes that incorporate an expansion chamber near the muzzle.

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

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.

 

[CH4]

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

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?

 

[stansdds]

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?

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.

 

[jcelect]

As for Mag-na-porting, it was never a S&W factory option.

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

 

[crazyphil]

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

 

[CH4]

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

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.

 

[Murdock]

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.

 

[Rock185]

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

 

[S&W Fan]

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.

 

[mike56]

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.

 

[dakrat]

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

 

[orangehole]

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

 

[Neal]

329PD with dual Mag-Na-Ports:

 

[Birdhunter6]

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.

 

[6string]

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.

 

[SuperMan]

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

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

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.

 

[bgrafsr]

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.

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.