Barrel porting vs compensators, any real difference in perormance?

[tazman]

There are lots of different ways to help with recoil and muzzle flip in handguns. Two of them are barrel compensators and barrel porting.
Does one work better than the other?

[lefty o]

big differences in each. also big differences amongst just different types of porting, and among different comps. imo most porting is not very effective because it is done on thin barrels and there is nothing for forward moving gasses to act upon. now on thick barrels, or barrels with a rib on them, porting can be very effective. as for compensators, they run the gambit from almost useless to simply amazing how good they work. its all in the design.

[Forrest r]

I've had several different firearms over the decades that were ported along with others that had muzzle breaks & still do to this day. I prefer ported bbl's on cc/snubnosed/short bbl'd firearms & muzzle breaks on plinkers/range toys.

Use the same ammo (full house 357's) in a 3" bbl'd 586/686 and a 586 l-comp. It's a real eye opener. It's nothing to do a 400+ round range session with hot loads in the l-comp. Regular 3"/4" bbl'd 586's, it gets tiring before the 400 round mark. The trade off with the l-comp is it's listed as having a 3" bbl but it is really only a 2 1/2" bbl with the comp hole in the front of the bbl.
https://i.imgur.com/V4IV6Qv.jpg?1

The 2 dw's have muzzle breaks on them. Not only do they add weight to the front of the revolver, they flat out work. A simple test of taking the muzzle breaks off and putting a standard bbl nuts on them and then shooting the same ammo will show any shooter there's a huge difference real fast.
https://i.imgur.com/lwCejE1.jpg

It's nothing to shoot full house 357's (power pistol/158gr bullets) for hours at a time with those dw's/muzzle breaks beating and banging on steal, bowling pins or anything else.

I've owned a lot of different 357's over the years and still shoot 3"/4"/6"/8" & 10" bbl'd firearms chambered in 357. Couldn't even begin to say how many 1000's of hot 357 reloads I've loaded/shot. Used to buy a case of ww820 at a time from pat's reloading (a case ='s 4 8# jugs/32#'s at a time) and burn it up in the 357's & 44mags.

The porting, comps & muzzle breaks have always helps/worked on any 357 or 44mag I've owned.

[mattw]

I shoot several ported guns. We have an amazing S&W armorer in our area that will port them in a multitude of ways. My favorite is boring right thru the center rib and starting small toward the frame and getting larger toward the end. I have a long cylinder SP101 that will recoil slightly down with 180 grain talons. I shoot a 45 acp 625 with 250 grain loads at pins that also has almost no upward movement due to this style of porting. A 40 EAA Witness steel frame factory ported gun works very well, with the right loads. My 6mm/284 has a 30" 1.25 diameter tube and it is breaked, would not give that up other than the noise.

Ports do not do much other than make noise and smoke if the pressure is not up, but go with a double ball crane lock, properly aligned cylinders and pressure and you have a fine running pistol!

[str8wal]

Porting will help with muzzle rise, but a muzzle brake is more effective in reducing felt recoil.

[mattw]

Porting will help with muzzle rise, but a muzzle brake is more effective in reducing felt recoil.

Correct and let me tell ya, if you port with a slight back cant you will get dirty... but it helps even more by aiding in recoil reduction. Not really recommended!

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I like mag na ports over a break / comp just to dang loud for me but helps more with recoil

[tazman]

I am thinking more in terms of controlling muzzle flip that recoil. I don't own a handgun with enough recoil to worry about.
I am thinking in terms of a faster second shot.

[evoevil]

I have 2 Casull's in 454. The 4.5" is ported and the 7.5" has a vais muzzle brake. The Vais was more of a noticeable difference over the mag-na-port ............ for me

[ss30378]

Are you talking about revolvers or pistols? Magnaporting in a revolver works very well but on a pistol porting wont touch an effective compensator/brake. Compensated pistols not only help with muzzle rise but also delay the unlocking of the pistol, slowing down slide speed and reducing recoil that way. Its also nice to not have to chase brass into the next county with warmer loads. Downside is they are pretty loud with compensators. I use them on 9mm, 10mm, 45 super, and 38 casull glocks and they do a wonderful job taming spicy loads.

[9.3X62AL]

I have exactly one (1) handgun with a ported barrel--a Glock 22C, all OEM. Is is louder than its unported cousin the Glock 23, and I can't discern much difference in recoil or muzzle flip between the two. I might just be an insensitive clod, too. The jury is still out regarding that latter question.

[tazman]

Thanks for the replies fellows.
I believe I will just drop the idea for now.

[osteodoc08]

Lest not forget muzzle blast and depending on Powder, muzzle flash, especially with porting. I had a compensates XD V-10 in 40 back before I knew any better. Concussion gave me a headache and down the road it went.

[Kestrel4k]

Most all of them work great for their respective marketing departments.