Porting

[Paul Blackburn]

Is barrel porting on a defensive pump shotgun worth the squeeze with modern ammo?

[DDTSGM]

Based on several thousand rounds through my Browning Gold Sporting Clay (ported) and maybe 25 buck through a ported 870 (assume Vang) a guy let me shoot at a class, it is an unnecessary modification, FOR ME.

Unless you let the shotgun push you back the muzzle doesn't really rise, so proper technique is more important IMO.

[GJM]

I can tell you that I will never have porting on a 14 inch shotgun again. First, whenever you shoot it without hearing protection, that porting close to your ears makes an awful crack. Second, the porting is very close to the front of the handguard. How I know this, is I was shooting groups with Brenneke slugs across the seat of my ATV, and my thumb went on top of one of the ports. When the round discharged, for a moment I thought I had lost my thumb. Learning occurred!

[Unobtanium]

I can tell you that I will never have porting on a 14 inch shotgun again. First, whenever you shoot it without hearing protection, that porting close to your ears makes an awful crack. Second, the porting is very close to the front of the handguard. How I know this, is I was shooting groups with Brenneke slugs across the seat of my ATV, and my thumb went on top of one of the ports. When the round discharged, for a moment I thought I had lost my thumb. Learning occurred!

Not only thumbs, but light heads, etc. I just wouldn't port a gauge, period.

[willie]

Is barrel porting on a defensive pump shotgun worth the squeeze with modern ammo?

I have owned ported shotguns and could not detect recoil reduction. In the distant past some shotgun shooters installed a long vented attachment on pumps or auto's. Choke tubes screwed into the end. Many were Cutts Compensators. Cutts was the brand. I used these and did notice recoil reduction. The problem was increased noise which annoyed nearby shooters like on a skeet or trap range. I used to shoot a 1927 Thompson that had a Cutts on the end of barrel. It reduced barrel rise. Today a Cutts reduces the price of any shotgun such as those from the 30's through the 50's that often wore them.

[Paul Blackburn]

I appreciate all the feedback.

I recently watched this Magpul X Vancomp video that sparked my curiosity.

https://youtu.be/v3jgPhYsKSw

[LHS]

As with most things, porting has pros and cons.

My recoil control is such that the porting doesn't really matter to me in terms of controlling the gun, although I have seen smaller, less experienced shooters benefit from it, especially with heavier loads. Especially for someone starting out with shotguns, there may well be juice worth the squeeze in there.

What I personally like about the Vang ports is how they tend to direct the muzzle flash out and away from the line of sight. With an unported gun fired at night, you get a fireball of roughly equal dimensions. With the Vang ports, the flash tends to go up and out to either side, leaving the sights clear.

As GJM mentioned, I don't do ports on 14" or shorter guns, because I have big hands that are often in close proximity to where the ports would be.

So, as with everything else, look at the total impact of adding ports, and decide for yourself if their pros are worth their cons to you and your situation.