Porting a small caliber, light auto to ease the kick

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  • Movealongmovealong

    Sharpshooter
    Rating - 100%
    1   0   0
    Mar 2, 2009
    379
    16
    Bloomington
    The missus and I have been thinking about getting a CCW for her but sometimes she gets a bit tired with these light poly's recoil. We're thinking along the lines of LCP, P3AT and keltec PF9. Has anyone had any experience porting these, and if so has it made enough difference for the cost?

    Thanks
     

    shooter521

    Certified Glock Nut
    Rating - 100%
    17   0   0
    May 13, 2008
    19,185
    48
    Indianapolis, IN US
    Porting:
    1) has no place on a defensive firearm, IMO
    2) will not be very effective at all on light calibers like the .380
    3) on such a short barrel is going to rob the projectile of what little velocity it has

    My :twocents:
     

    melensdad

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 94.7%
    18   1   0
    Apr 2, 2008
    24,062
    77
    Far West Suburban Lowellabama
    Oh come on, somebody has to disagree with me! Where's melensdad when I need him? :):

    Sorry I was busy stopping speeding bullets and jumping tall buildings in a single bound :rockwoot:

    OK my take on porting is this.
    #1, it is effective in all calibers, even 22lr, but seems to work better in longer pistol barrels than short barrels.
    #2, on a defensive arm, at least the 2 that I have fired extensively with the MagNaPort system, there is NO problem with vertical blinding flash, but that only applies to 45acp rounds as those are the only 2 that I have extensively used.
    #3, on a defensive arm there is no downside to MagNaPorting as it does not seem to alter the functioning of the gun in any adverse manner.
    #4, the real affects of MagNaPorting are best felt on larger caliber arms than on smaller caliber.

    Now with regards to the Ruger LCP and similar guns, I honestly have no clue if the system would be very effective. First the barrel is very short, that doesn't seem to bode well for it being effective. Second, the grip of the tiny pistols is tiny so there is not much to hold onto and felt recoil may be more of a twist or torque in those little guns rather than a rolling recoil so again I'm not sure how effective the porting would be.

    Personally I would not recommend it in that small of a gun, it simply is going to increase the cost of the gun by about 50% and VERY LIKELY will not increase the comfort by any reasonable margin. :twocents:

    Now if you were talking about a service pistol in a major caliber then I'd say go ahead and do it.
     

    cosermann

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    14   0   0
    Aug 15, 2008
    8,392
    113
    I tend to agree that porting is likely to not be effective in this situation.

    You mention the Kahr PF9. Something like the Kahr CW9 is about the same size and a few ounces heaver. That might get you where you need to be. Or, alternatively a "full-size" .380 (like a SIG/Walther/Bersa) doesn't kick much. Of course, these ARE bigger than the micro-size guns. Not sure how much size matters to you.
     

    Zoub

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    May 8, 2008
    5,220
    48
    Northern Edge, WI
    Oh come on, somebody has to disagree with me! Where's melensdad when I need him? :):
    OK, I disagree.

    The main reason for not porting is they suck to practice with and less practice equates to a useless gun in her hands.

    Adrenaline in a life or death situation will overcome being blinded, burned and deafened but lack of practice means you will be all the above AND miss your target................then get the crap beat out of you.
     
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