"Porting" a 357

[Guest cardcutter]

I have a full size 357. I am thinking about having it magna ported to tame the recoil some.

My questions are;

1 what am I looking at in cost?

2 is it worth it?

I have not fired a ported pistol. does it really help much with barrel climb and or felt recoil.

Sorry for the silly questions.

Thanks in advanced for the advice.

Jim

[TNWNGR]

Well it depend's on the barrel length and overall weight of the gun, but yes it can make a difference. As to if it's worth it, my wife has an ultralight 38 Spl w/2" barrel that's ported and she likes it. One of the thing's to consider is you can taylor a load to a gun and reduce muzzle rise or recoil, shoot mid range 357 magnum's or simply stay with 125 or lighter bullets and also make the gun more comfortable to fire. Having your 357 magnum ported isn't going to hurt anything but your not going to enjoy shooting it in an indoor range or at night. Aside from that it depends on what you want.

[Jonnin]

I have seen some amazing compensators and port jobs. I have seen some that did next to nothing as well. My wife's glock 17 was the C model (ported) and I fired it alongside a regular 17, could not tell any difference at all. I have shot ARs with and without a good compensator and it can cut the recoil by a ton, making rapid shooting very easy.

I guess, what I am saying is, if it is done right it can be a huge benefit, or it can do nothing at all. I do not know how to tell you to find someone who can do it right, though.

[Will Carry]

I have a couple of .357 magnums. A GP-100 4" and a Bisley Vaquero 5.5". Both revolvers are heavy enough to soak up the recoil of most loads. I have shot a Taurus 44 magnum that was ported and it made a world of difference. It made shooting the 44 magnum fun! It would do the same for a .357. I do not know how much it would cost to get a barrel ported but it does tame the felt recoil. I have had shooters baulk at the idea of porting, saying you will catch your clothes on fire and get debris in your eyes, but I have never experianced this.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Is barrel steel so hardened that sometimes it can be a tough job to machine-in ports? Dunno anything about it. Just curious. One time I tried to cut a hardened drill bit in half and got real surprised how difficult that turned out to be.

[Guest cardcutter]

It is a Taurus 669 vent rib model. It is nice and heavy but it bites a bit with full house loads.

[TNWNGR]

It is a Taurus 669 vent rib model. It is nice and heavy but it bites a bit with full house loads.

Ah. Magnaport is a bit costly but still one of the best options.If you have any machinist friend's you can ask one to port it for you over the course of a couple of meal breaks. Find some Taurus and other brand pistol's that have been ported and pick a pattern you like then have it milled.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Is barrel steel so hardened that sometimes it can be a tough job to machine-in ports? Dunno anything about it. Just curious. One time I tried to cut a hardened drill bit in half and got real surprised how difficult that turned out to be.

Barrel steel tends to be comparable to mild steel as far as overall hardness. On some blow back semi auto rifles the breech and bolt is hardened. With some semi auto pistols the breechface of the slide is hardened. But from what I have seen no revolvers have any part of the barrel hardened. I will admit I have a very limited amount of experience with revolvers though. And even if it did have a portion hardened is unlikely to be hardened at the muzzle.

Dolomite

[DaveTN]

Is barrel steel so hardened that sometimes it can be a tough job to machine-in ports? Dunno anything about it. Just curious. One time I tried to cut a hardened drill bit in half and got real surprised how difficult that turned out to be.

Porting is usually done on a sinker EDM machine, so it doesn’t matter how hard the barrel is.

[1gewehr]

A couple of points about porting:

1) You will lose velocity. In a short-barreled weapon, this can be a very significant amount.

2) In low-light conditions, you may get a significant amount of flash obscuring your target.

3) With lead bullets, you can get lead build-up in the ports.

4) There will be a significant amount of gas, lead, and/or jacket particles exiting the ports. Firing a ported .357 with a 4" or shorter barrel from the hip is not recommended.

5) The higher the gas pressure, the more effective porting will be. Ports on low-pressure cartridges are rarely effective (eg; .22, .32, .38Spl, .44Spl)

Hope this helps.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Thanks Dolomite and DaveTN