Jump to content

to port or not to port


saym14

Recommended Posts

Absolutely, positively, a waste of money (for shotguns, anyway.)

 

The much ballyhooed sales propaganda of drastically reduced recoil are bogus. Well regarded ballistics calculations show porting can only reduce recoil by about 2 to 4 percent, at most. Well over 90% of shotgun recoil is due to the mass of the shot and wad, and only a little due to gas jetting out the barrel.

 

Ports work by redirecting some of the jetting gases laterally, instead of axially along the barrel centerline.

 

Rifles, on the other hand, have a much higher percentage of their recoil attributable to jetting gases, and this is why porting is effective for rifles. Especially large case magnum cartridges which require a lot of powder. Try shooting a .338 mag, with, and without a muzzle brake, and you'll understand.

 

Shotgun porting, as long as the ports are on the top of the barrel, DOES reduce muzzle rise. As far as I am concerned, this is the ONLY benefit of shotgun barrel porting, and even this is kind of dubious. How often do you fail to get a second shot off due to muzzle rise?

 

Since ported chokes have the ports all around them, they are not capable of reducing muzzle rise. Each jet cancels another jet out on the other side of the tube. And they're really not effective at recoil reduction, either.

 

Your mileage may vary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The recoil reduction is not the primary reason one ports a gun (a trap or sheet gun anyway). The primary reason is to limit muzzle rise for follow-up shots as well as less felt recoil (the gun comes straight back as opposed to "flipping" up on the shooter). That said I have not heard much about the screw in choke tubes that have porting. Most porting is back from the muzzle a bit so don't know if the ported chokes help much or are a gimic as they are ported radially and not just on top of the barrel as with standard porting.

 

Pat

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I own a Supersport(factory ported) and a Browning O/U (factory ported). To reduce recoil you either A) add weight to the firearm B) Shoot a lighter load in shell C) Change caliber/gauge.

 

I find the porting to actually be a pain for cleaning! It's cool at low-light to see the fire breathing dragon, but I find no benefit from the porting. As mentioned above, *MAYBE* for follow-up shots in skeet, doubles trap, etc.

 

If I could've gotten my O/U UN-ported, I would've, but it wasn't an option.

 

Pay extra for it? NO. take it if it comes on the gun I like and fits? Okay I suppose.

 

Only real downside is cleaning and side blast/concussion to those near you.

 

Best of luck!

 

2-wheel!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

saym14

 

If you shoot the gun at dusk (depending on the ammo you may use), you will sometimes see a flash out the muzzle and ports.

 

I have found ported barrels, be it shotgun or rifle, to be noticeably louder than un-ported.

 

And everyone I know who does a lot of sport shooting (skeet, trap, sporting clays) complains about cleaning the ports. Its a common complaint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...