I notice a marked reduction in recoil shooting my 8.5" versus my 1970s-era 6.5"; I think I'll leave my new one as is for now.
Andy, I agree with you on the 8 1/2" (which are really 9 1/16" for some reason) being easier to shoot than the 6 1/2". They are much more muzzle heavy than the old 6 1/2" standard pistols. The new 9 1/16" pistols probably would not gain much with magnaporting. The same with the 357 AMP pistols. I am able to shoot 357's better than the 44's.
It is not just about reducing recoil to make the pistol more comfortable to shoot. With less recoil and muzzle flip you can change your grip to a lighter hold by your strong hand giving you more trigger control and a "more accurate grip". Your grip becomes much more like the grip used when shooting target type pistols.
The hand position on an AMP is much further below the bore axis than most pistols causing more muzzle flip.
The bolt moving back also adds to the "flip". Have you ever shot a solid bolt gun? The muzzle flip/recoil on the heavier bolt guns is really noticeable on them.
Waiting so long to obtain a new AutoMag, the thought of releasing my grip to send it out somewhere for porting makes me nervous:)
I had a TDE 44amp 6 1/2" barrel back in the 1980's. I sent it out to be Magnaported. I could not detect any difference in recoil. I did detect that I was 100 dollars poorer though.
Thanks for all the comments about mag-na-porting the barrel. Still $100 in case you wonder
@softsounds I did a lot of checking regarding performance. Seems like you need two cuts on each side to start getting noticeable benefit. You also get a slight change in velocity.
@paul-wolf I actually called Mag-Na-Port today and I asked about dual ports vs. quad ports and their comment was that the quad ports might impact the cycling operation of handgun to eject the spent round and allow a unfired round into the chamber without issues. The person I spoke to had no previous knowledge of porting a Automag and could not reliably answer my question.
Reason I asked if anyone had ported their barrels earlier today and had any issues.
Mag-Na-Port was a standard feature on custom Auto Mags made by Lee Jurras back in the day. It has benefits and disadvantages which have been covered above. (One thing not mentioned is that it sends fire up through the ports which sizzles the side of the front sight, significant for early guns that had a colored nylon insert).
One thing thst the all-knowing ‘they’ say about the process generally is that it hurts the value of a gun—any gun. If a gun is considered a collectible piece, non-reversible alterations like Mag-Na-Port adversely affect the value. If it’s just a shooter, or if you aren’t concerned about such things, the impact in value isn’t a consideration.
I would be very reticent to do it to one of these new guns unless I found it unmanageable otherwise. The extra noise and flash aren’t worth it to me. Having said that, I’ve never fired a Mag-Na-Ported anything, so maybe if I had personal experience I might have a different opinion….
All great points, Mike - well said. I hadn't even considered the flash versus an insert - yikes - as I've been pondering buying an extra front sight and having a go at adding an insert myself, as in this article:
https://www.range365.com/how-to-install-contrasting-color-front-sight-insert/
My experience with AMP's that are ported is that it helps reduce muzzle flip and perceived recoil.
Muzzle flash is not a problem at all outdoors. I have never shot a ported AMP indoors but I imagine it could be a distraction. I have shot my 357 Coonan with a comp indoors and it is quite a flash.
As far as damage from the gases to the sight are negligible on a vent rib barrel and I suspect it would be the same on plain barrel but I have no experience.
In my opinion, the porting on a standard 6 1/2" VR barrel is desirable. I do not think it would help much on on the new 9 1/16" VR barreled guns.
Here are some photos of one on my ported AMP's. This will not come off. I clean the burn marks immediately after ever shooting.
Here is a photo I just saw of a ported AMP 280 on GunBroker. It's my opinion that the porting in not going to ever burn or melt the sight insert.
@softsounds I did a lot of checking regarding performance. Seems like you need two cuts on each side to start getting noticeable benefit. You also get a slight change in velocity.
I have a 629 3 inch Backpacker that I sent out for MagnaPorting about 30 years ago; single cut each side of sight. I can see no noticeable difference in muzzle flip or recoil with full power loads…..still BRUTAL!
@softsounds I did a lot of checking regarding performance. Seems like you need two cuts on each side to start getting noticeable benefit. You also get a slight change in velocity.
I have a 629 3 inch Backpacker that I sent out for MagnaPorting about 30 years ago; single cut each side of sight. I can see no noticeable difference in muzzle flip or recoil with full power loads…..still BRUTAL!
I thought the same thing with a couple of guns.
I shot a 6 1/2" AMP non-ported barrel along with a 6 1/2" Mag-na-ported one with the same load and then you could tell the difference easily.
I bought a custom Rohrbaugh 3" 9mm that weighs 14 oz and was ported by Bob Cogan and shot it along side a standard Rohrbaugh and then you can tell the difference. I shot several different loads in these two pistols and you could tell the difference in all of them. I chronographed the loads also and the porting cut velocity by 10 fps is all, surprised me.
I have quite a few Jurras and Lomont AMP's and barrels and all the 44's are mag-na-ported. I don't think those guys were just doing it for fun. JMO
@paul-wolf Just wonder if there heli-cored in there or do they have actual threads with lock tight blue on the threads? seems this can be addressed someway but we"will see,Just a thought or maybe it wasn't brand new But we should always check our pistol .I have a 10mm but never had problems with it but, I"m sure the truth will come out in the end.
Can't really use Loc-Tite if you want to strip the pistol for cleaning.
I was always told that the original AMP's were made with a special type of helicoil that included some type of locking substance or mechanism to resist loosening. Here is something I found on line.
@bob-cohee I’m pretty sure that Patrick had said, in one of his communications, that the new ones had helicoils - I will go back and look to try to find this.
