Ported carbines?

[NHlever]

I saw a Winchester 94 "Timber Carbine" in .444. I like those half magazine carbines, and had one for quite a while in .44 Mag. The .444 is ported though, and I'm not sure I like that idea much. How have those of you with ported guns in that power range made out with them? Do you like them, and can you use them when others are on the shooting line at the range?

[BoolitBill]

I have a marlin guide gun in 45-70 with the porting. My opinion is that the porting does not reduce the recoil in any way but does cause a lot of noise. I have shot it several times at the range and almost every time I get a comment about how loud the gun is. Everyone has been polite about it and I don't feel like I have to stop shooting the gun, but it does bother some people so I try to limit it to when other people are not on the line shooting. If I had to do it over again I would not get a ported gun.

[william iorg]

I have had a ported 444 Winchester since they first appeared. The rifle is quite loud. Members of my family will not hunt with me when I use this rifle and they will move up or down the line when we shoot on the range..
I wear double hearing protection on the range and plugs when hunting.
The Winchester is an accurate rifle, mine has a fast twist barrel. Apparently both fast and slow twist barrels are equally distributed with the Winchester 444’s.
The Winchester Model 94 does not have a cut-out in the left receiver wall so large meplat bullets must be seated a bit deeper to make the turn from the loading gate to the magazine tube. Other than this have no complaints about the rifle. My rifle has digested many full power loads with the Lee 310-grain bullet with no ill affects.
I have found our light framed West Texas deer are killed quickest by any of the 240 to 250 grain jacketed bullets. These bullets almost always exit and deer are generally dropped in their tracks at the shot. The Speer 270-grain bullet is also a good deer killer.
The 310-grain Lee bullet cast 16bhn or softer kills deer well but generally the deer will trot a ways before running out of oxygen and falling. With a shoulder shot the deer drop in their tracks using the big Lee bullet.

I use the Weaver bases and the Millet Angle Loc rings. For many years I had a Weaver 2X scope with 5 minute Lee Dot and the scope and mounts performed well. I Switched to a Weaver 1-3X scope and it worked well but have gone back to the 2X Weaver. I use this rifle from ground blinds and while sitting under cedar around water tanks. This is a good rifle for use on deer that are alert or in motion.

Using Hodgdon 4198 the ported barrel puts out a good tongue of flame and red gas jets up the ports. Ball powders put out quite a ball of flame. I prefer the use of stick powders with the short ported barrel.

[6pt-sika]

I've owned ALL the Marlin Guide Gun type rifles that they ported ! Everything from a 357 MAG all the way to the 450 . At the range I wore plenty hearing protection , but in the woods I don't notice it to much !

The porting doesn't really reduce the recoil , it does however cut back on the muzzle jump .

Porting is something I've used on skeet and trap guns for over 20 years now and it's no big deal to me unless it's in something like a 338 or 375 Ultra Mag ! Then if some one catches you off guard at the range it can be deafaning !

[NHlever]

This is the kind of really good input I was looking for. I already wear hearing aids so as much as I like the rifle, I guess I'll just keep my eyes open for one that is not ported.