Mossberg ported barrels

[brasschaser]

Anyone have a Mossberg with a ported barrel?  I see they sell most of their 12ga shotguns with ported barrels.  Does this offer much of a benefit, or is it just a pain to clean?

[mountainview]

I'd like to get a 500 but not with a ported barrel. Since I was once on the losing end of an encounter with a muzzle brake, which is for all intents and purposes the same as porting, my concern is with the extra noise and muzzle blast they generate, particularly to adjacent shooters.

[TNred]

No real benefit.  But a REAL pain to clean.  Also makes gun MUCH louder.

Barrel porting is pretty much snake oil.  Realistically, it might reduce recoil and muzzle jump by 2%, but many independent tests have proved that barrel porting is not near worth the cost.  Talk to people who have paid to have their barrel ported, and many will say they can tell a difference.  Unfortunately, I think it's all in their head.  After paying $200 to have holes drilled in their barrel, most people don't have the %&!!$ to admit they can't tell a difference.

[mjbgalt]

in my experience i have to disagree. i had a mossberg and it had the ported barrel. then i swapped out that barrel for one with no ports and the difference was amazing. the recoil was about 25 percent MORE without the porting.

this was with two slug barrels, btw.

made a hell of a difference.

and by the way my %&!!s are in the right place.

-Matt

[ratgunner]

I had a model 500 w/out porting years ago and traded for a 1300 then a few years later went back to a mossberg 500 this time ported and I think there is a noticable reduction in recoil.Just my 2 cents. :-)

[dukkillr]

if you showed up in my blind or boat with one of those ported guns i'd ask you to shoot a different gun or leave.  The noise is MUCH MUCH MUCH worse.  If you're using them for slug hunting, who cares?  If you're hunting next to other people, they will hate you.