Porting a barrel instead of a muzzle brake?

[engineer40]

I have a plethora of rifles with muzzle brakes. I recently got a new rifle that recoils like crazy. It has a front sight that is too near the end of the barrel to have it threaded.

I've never owned any firearm that had a ported barrel. Do ported barrels help to reduce recoil as much as a brake could?

Does having the barrel ported have the potential to reduce accuracy?

Thanks for anyone's opinions!

 

[Mikecr]

Not a lot of choices out there for rifle barrel porting.
Who did you have in mind to do it?

 

[sable tireur]

engineer40,

Magna Port does barrel porting but remember there is a difference between porting and muzzle brakes.

Porting will generally reduce muzzle rise but only slightly reduce recoil, the purpose is to reduce muzzle rise. They are cut into the area on each side of the front sight.

Muzzle brakes help with both recoil and muzzle rise but there is a significant difference in exhaust area with he brake dumping a lot more gas and faster than the ports.

If your front sight can be removed, thread the muzzle and then mount the sight behind the brake. It's done frequently for large caliber African hunting rifles.

Regards.

 

[engineer40]

Not a lot of choices out there for rifle barrel porting.
Who did you have in mind to do it?

I really have no idea... That was going to be my next question.

 

[engineer40]

engineer40,

Magna Port does barrel porting but remember there is a difference between porting and muzzle brakes.

Porting will generally reduce muzzle rise but only slightly reduce recoil, the purpose is to reduce muzzle rise. They are cut into the area on each side of the front sight.

Muzzle brakes help with both recoil and muzzle rise but there is a significant difference in exhaust area with he brake dumping a lot more gas and faster than the ports.

If your front sight can be removed, thread the muzzle and then mount the sight behind the brake. It's done frequently for large caliber African hunting rifles.

Regards.

Thank you for pointing this out. I didn't realize that porting didn't help with recoil reduction that much.

I'm going to check into your suggestion! Thanks!

 

[J E Custom]

engineer40,

Magna Port does barrel porting but remember there is a difference between porting and muzzle brakes.

Porting will generally reduce muzzle rise but only slightly reduce recoil, the purpose is to reduce muzzle rise. They are cut into the area on each side of the front sight.

Muzzle brakes help with both recoil and muzzle rise but there is a significant difference in exhaust area with he brake dumping a lot more gas and faster than the ports.

If your front sight can be removed, thread the muzzle and then mount the sight behind the brake. It's done frequently for large caliber African hunting rifles.

Regards.

+1

We did a lot of testing on different recoil reducers and here is the results.

www.jecustom.com - FAQ's

Magna ported barrel had very little recoil reduction as Sable tireur stated and did reduce muzzle rise some (Not Much) We also found some velocity loss because it effectively reduced barrel length
(some pressure is released several inches before the muzzle).

The best reduction we found was 15 to 29% depending on the cartridge used. It is best to remove the front sight and install the brake and if you need a front sight, have it reinstalled just aft of the brake. I have one done this way and will never have another done because it does not help and it is expensive to do.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Dr. Vette]

I own two 340 Weatherbys; one is Magna-Ported and one is braked. I would agree with previous statements that the porting decreases muzzle rise (when compared to an unbraked 300 Wby, for example), but the braking helps far more with everything.

 

[engineer40]

+1

We did a lot of testing on different recoil reducers and here is the results.

www.jecustom.com - FAQ's

Magna ported barrel had very little recoil reduction as Sable tireur stated and did reduce muzzle rise some (Not Much) We also found some velocity loss because it effectively reduced barrel length
(some pressure is released several inches before the muzzle).

The best reduction we found was 15 to 29% depending on the cartridge used. It is best to remove the front sight and install the brake and if you need a front sight, have it reinstalled just aft of the brake. I have one done this way and will never have another done because it does not help and it is expensive to do.

J E CUSTOM

Thanks J E Custom. I've actually been to your website a number of times and appreciate all of the work you put in to testing.

 

[engineer40]

I own two 340 Weatherbys; one is Magna-Ported and one is braked. I would agree with previous statements that the porting decreases muzzle rise (when compared to an unbraked 300 Wby, for example), but the braking helps far more with everything.

Thanks Dr Vette!


It's a new rifle to me and now I'm curious if I would have time to get the muzzle threaded before Nov 15th... and still get it back with enough time to find an accurate load and get it sighted in.

It does already have a Limbsaver installed. For now maybe I would be better off putting a slip on Limbsaver over the installed one. I might try that out and see how it works for this coming season.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Deleted member 46119]

I own two 340 Weatherbys; one is Magna-Ported and one is braked. I would agree with previous statements that the porting decreases muzzle rise (when compared to an unbraked 300 Wby, for example), but the braking helps far more with everything.

I have a Wby that is ported and of course brakes. Porting does not work for me, brakes do.

 

[snox801]

My father has a 300 win Mag he had magna ported. Not as effective as a break but does help. He said it made a world of difference and that is his go to rifle for over 25 years. Did not effect accuracy at all. I prefer breaks but his works great and he likes it.

 

[J E Custom]

The reason Magna porting doesn't work very well is because It has no baffles to redirect the gasses, and the port volume is so little compared to most brakes it cant get rid of most of the gasses that contribute to recoil.

But it does look good.

J E CUSTOM

 

[HARPERC]

I have 3 rifles with sights, and those sights become less useful to me as time goes on. My .375 H&H is about 30 years old, and other than sighting in one time have never been used. Planning on breaking it, and the front sight will go without hesitation.

My .338 RUM is on a pre-war Model 70. Originally a .300 H&H I kept the sights, and had them mounted behind the brake. Kept them mostly for nostalgia reasons. In 25 years I've never needed the sights. This is my least favorite solution.

My little 96/44 has sights, and doesn't need sights or a brake.

I think most of the time a spare scope on trips is more useful, than back up sights. Especially with a rail type base, and rings, you can be back in action fairly quickly.

 

[J E Custom]

I think most of the time a spare scope on trips is more useful, than back up sights. Especially with a rail type base, and rings, you can be back in action fairly quickly.

As we get older and aligning three things (target, front site and rear site. Especially blade sites) gets harder, a very low power scope (1x to 5x power)works very well for me. they will focus very close, and on dangerous game rifles that have lots of recoil the need for the iron sites is negated.

The well made safari scopes have a generous eye relief needed if you don't want to muzzle brake the rifle or be able to take the brake off if needed. (Some outfitters will not let you use a brake).

So if you have a heavy recoiling rifle, have a good muzzle brake installed and if the front sight needs to go, so be it.

Here is a rifle that I built years ago with this set up and it shot one of the best groups of my life
with a 400 grain bullet. (.034 @ 100 yards) with out a brake, but may someday wear one.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f28/416-buff-21003/

J E CUSTOM