RE: Bowhunter57 post on ported barrels.

[jeager106]

Frankly I think porting is a waste of money and all it really does is make an already bad earsplitter an even worse earsplitter.
That can easily lead to wiffing your shot on a game animal due to unconscious flinching.
I bought a pair of Cabela's electronic muffs back in November.
I will NEVER hunt without them again.
They can be adjusted to amplify abient sound and instantly shut down when you fire a shot.
These things are an absolute god send.
If we had these when I was younger I would not suffer the hearing loss Ihave now.
I wore them on a cold, windy, Iowa pheasant hunt and they were fantastic.
I went for a woods walk this morning with my little .357 Trapper lever gun.
The electronic muffs amplify sound and you can hear a squirrel scratch his (censored).
I can shoot stumps, tin cans, dirt clods and have a ball without hurting my hearing.
In my opinion anyone shooting anything louder than a .22 r.f. should own a pair of these marvelous gadgits.
In cold weather they keep your ears warm and you never worry about the muzzle blast again.
The prices are comming down on these things and what did cost a couple hundred bucks I paid 83 bucks for.
Since then I've seen them for as low as 39 bucks.
These should be in the 'necessities' equipment list of any shooter and hunter.
Handguns are even more brutal and hard on the hearing than the largest big game rifles.
The little trapper was pure fun to shoot today. I really enjoyed getting out knowing I would not suffer ringing ears after evey shot.
Think about it.

[Redhawk1]

jeager106, I have to disagree with you. I have a BFR in 500 Mag that I was shooting without porting, I sent it to Mag-na-port and had 4 ports added to the gun, the recoil was less and the muzzle rise was less. I know from experience porting works. Yes it does make the gun louder, but I needed to wear ear plugs even when it was not ported.

[swampthing]

I like the porting on my Marlin Guide Gun in .444 . 330g bullets at 1600fps recoil feels like an unported 30-30. 300g'ers feel like popcorn.

[doncisler]

if you want to see the difference porting makes shoot a s&w x-frame (500 mag or 460 mag) with the comps in then again with them out.
quieter, yes, but a lot more percieved recoil.
any gun that has a lot of pressure remaining behind the bullet at the muzzel will benefit from a brake (just try lightweight 50-bmg's without their brakes!!).
gun weight, grip shape on handguns and butstock angles on long guns contribute as well, but the brakes do work.

[cheatermk3]

The title of this thread is about porting, but I'm reading Jeager's post as being about hearing protection, something I have ignored to my detriment in 30 years in the feild hunting.

I had no idea that the electronic muffs were that affordable--I'm ordering myself a pair today and when they get here I'll be using them in the feild(after I throw my plugs away).

Thank you, Jaeger.

[sawfish]

I use both muffs and custom fitted ear plugs (together) for practice, and it really knocks down the sound from ported handguns.  I use the electronic muffs for hunting, and have actually been able to hear a bear walking in to the bait, which is amazing.  You should never fire any gun, even a .22 without hearing protection.  Lost hearing can never be regained.

That being said, all of my big bore handguns have either a muzzle brake or porting.  They really help control the muzzle flip inherent in the big kickers.

[Lloyd Smale]

another post to give my unwanted stupid opinion on Im starting to like this forum better then the single action forum. I hate ported guns. Recoil isnt a problem for me and ive shot some hell benders. Recoil to me is more of a metal thing then a physical. If you treat a hard recoiling gun with respect it wont hurt you. Ive had my son and my girlfreind shooting heavy .475 and 500 linebaugh loads and believe it or not there still living and have all of there limbs. What bothers me more then anything and what induces flinching in me more then anything is muzzle blast. Even with double protection (which I hardly recomend at the range cause i have a steady ringing in my ears) a ported gun will wear on me faster then a non ported gun even if the recoil is substaintial worse. Then I dont care what you preach theres going to come a day that your in the field hunting and dont have protection and it isnt going to stop you from taking an opertunity. (just like when you were 21 on friday night at the bar) I once touched off my 7 waters ported contender in a deer blind without protection (ya i know im dumb ive been told that allready) and actually couldnt here a thing for almost a day and my ears are still ringing from it 4 years later so i did do damage. Ill take my holes in the end of the barrel not the top :wink:

[corbanzo]

I happen to like ports.  I have a ported .454 casull, and a non-ported .44mag, and even when shooting full house loads out of the .454, I still like it better than the .44mag.  My old man has a ported .500 smith, which he says is easier on the hands than his .44mag.  Those ports help a lot, even with a revolver with 2X+ the power.  And enjoyability, I take into account muzzle blast, recoil, muzzle rise, and noise.  I also take into account looks, cause dang those Taurus RB's are sexy :-D  :-D  :-D