DIY Porting on a shotgun?

[Lavid2002]

Just wondering. Porting on a shotgun seems pretty strait forward. What if "Someone" were to have a barrel they were willing to chop away at in an attempt to port it for shnitz-n-giggle. Anyone hear any stories of people trying this?

What say ye?


-Dave

Like this...The last post in this thread...
http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=185730

Also lol @ the first comment ...."No"

 

[Lee Lapin]

Don't bother butchering a barrel. Porting on shotguns does little but increase blast/noise.

lpl

 

[Lavid2002]

Yeah that would be annoying. After research on this subject the typical responce is "Practice more" to reduce muzzle flip

Louder is certainly an undsireable characteristic for me. But for the sake of the conersation....Could this be done easily at home?

 

[BigJimP]

Drilling holes into a hardened steel barrel isn't something I have ever attempted / nor would I ...although it could be done with the right bits / right speed ...cutting oil, etc .... You would need a clamping fixture to keep it from rolling or moving as you drill ....but in theory, the technique is no different than drilling holes in a piece of round - turned - wood ...

Now drilling them at an angle ... like Browning factory porting, or porting done by Angle Port will be way more difficult to do as a "one off" project ...

I think porting helps a lot .... keeps the barrels down as you find that 2nd target and prepare to take that 2nd shot. I know its controversial on this forum / but personally I would not have a 12ga or 20ga target shotgun without porting - and in fact I hunt upland birds with the same guns I shoot Sporting clays and skeet with .... Browning Citori XS Skeet model O/U's with 30" barrels.

 

[Lavid2002]

I find the people who have high dollar guns dont even shoot enough to fully enjoy the benefits of the features of the guns.

I know a guy with a benelli who keeps his scope mount on it because its easier to leave it on all summer for deer season in the fall

I also see guys at the shooting range with benellis who dont even get scores that are all that high. 20-22 ish....

Not to say "oh you cant buy a benelli unless your the best shooter in the world"

But it seems like the money would have been better spent on ammo IMHO. I bought the MP-153 and bought a ton of ammo with the extra cash instead. I think its the better decision...

 

[hogdogs]

It would be easier to hack saw some slits in the barrel at an angle than to try to drill them. Would I do this? Doubt it...
Now a mossberg road blocker...
Brent

 

[Lavid2002]

Ribbed barrel : /

 

[highvel]

After you drill holes, or cut slots, I would think you need to come up with a way of de-burring the inside of the barrel.
As far as angled holes, or slots a lot of aftermarket porting is done with EDM machines.
I wouldnt attempt it because if it were off just a tiny bit, it would drive me crazy!!!

 

[BigJimP]

Lavid2002 ... your comments about high dollar guns are interesting ....but I'm confused ??

I'm a little confused about what your perspective of what a "high dollar shotgun is" ...especially since you seem to generalize about Benelli's ...when the most expensive Benelli I know of, is the Super Sport, selling new for around $ 1,875 ....

By most standards ...$ 1,875 isn't even a "mid priced gun" .../ not that there aren't cheaper guns out there ...

In my opinion, the "features" of a gun ...regardless of what it costs ...ought to be enjoyed by the shooter..regardless of their scores. High cost guns don't buy better scores ....better technique, better shooting fundamentals do ...

Porting, which is what we're talking about / in my opinion, is a feature of a shotgun that will help a shooter ( and I know its controversial ) ...but I still say it keeps the muzzle jump to a minimum - which is valuable on a dual target game like Skeet, Sporting Clays ..or hunting upland birds. I like my ported guns in the field and in the clay target sports.

 

[Hawg]

Modern barrels are not hardened steel. Not even hi powered rifle barrels.

 

[.300 Weatherby Mag]

Porting is a waste of time and I wouldn't try it at home....

I find the people who have high dollar guns dont even shoot enough to fully enjoy the benefits of the features of the guns.

BS... When I see guys at the skeet range with a $40K Kreighoff every week... It's obvious they aren't shooting them enough to enjoy them

I'm a little confused about what your perspective of what a "high dollar shotgun is" ...especially since you seem to generalize about Benelli's ...when the most expensive Benelli I know of, is the Super Sport, selling new for around $ 1,875 ....

The most expensive Benelli I have ever seen is the Super Sport Performance which runs around $2600...

 

[zippy13]

One of my shooting buddies successfully ported quite a few barrels including two R-1100 and three Beretta barrels for me. He used an industrial grade drill press with a special barrel jig and milling vice. IIRC, he customized an automotive brake cylinder hone for deburring the bore.

 

[Lavid2002]

Im not saying people who have high dollar guns dont enjoy them. Im saying my experience with people who have expensive shotguns dont get out as much as someone with a "working mans gun" and I know that will drive people nuts on this site....let me list a few duck hunters I know
-Me
*MP-153
*H&R pardner pump
-buddy
*Rem 870 (Hunts with me all the time)
-co-worker
*Browning silver camo (Still hasn't got his hunting license, rarely shoots it..he planned for more)
-friend
*Old winchester or browning pump I forget...(Hunts moderate)
-Friend of that friend
*Benelli SBE2(hunts with the guy above sometimes)



etc.... Its not a statistically proven thing...just something i've come to notice.



Anyways back on topic.

As for the...

1,875 isn't even a mid-priced gun

So you wouldnt mind sending me some cash? : D

The average household in america makes apx. 45,000 a year...

Spending 1/23rd of your annual income is a LOT of money for a gun....You may make more than that. You may make less its none of my business. But the point is. Compared to the average joe spending 2,000$ on a gun is indeed a lot of money. So saying 1,800 isn't even a mid-priced gun is garbage IMHO.

 

[zippy13]

After research on this subject the typical responce is "Practice more" to reduce muzzle flip

I don't see how increasing practice time is going to alter Newton's basic laws of motion. To many comp shooters a ported barrel results in less muzzle flip and a shorter recovery time. A shorter recovery time may lead to higher scores. Before porting my barrels, my highest match score had been 99. Soon after porting I shot my first 100-straight (and won the shoot-off)… the result of porting or a coincidence? A one per-cent improvement can make the difference between Champ and Chump.

 

[Lavid2002]

The biggest match out here is a 25 rounder....I get in the 21-23 area most of the time with the occasional 24. I want to get that 25 so0o bad

I have only shot at this club 6 or 7 rounds though. Ill get it soon


Congrats dude. 100 is quite a feat....

I don't see how increasing practice time is going to alter Newton's basic laws of motion.

It wont...but its like a nOOb shooting a SMG or a skilled person shooting an SMG. Even after a few magazines I was shooting more on target with full auto than when I first shot. Did the recoil go away? .....no...but I learned to lean into it, 90% on the front...try to pull the gun apart, etc... and I was doing better. You know what I mean

 

[BigJimP]

We all have budgets Lavid ....and you're right ....its not for either one of us to judge ...what someone else should or should not buy ...or shoot.

I don't care if a guy chooses to hunt / or shoot clays ...with a $ 500 pump gun / or a $ 30,000 Krieghoff .....its more important to me they be a gentleman, be safe, etc ...

Personally, I think the Benelli Super Sport at $ 1,875 is a lot of gun for the money .... I also think they are guns that will probably perform with little or no issues in my hands for another 20 yrs ( making mine 25 yrs old ) ....and for 2 or maybe 3 generations behind me ....but that isn't to say a gun like a Browing BPS ( mine are 25 or more yrs old now / won't live in my family for 2 or 3 generations as well ..and new today they're probable a $500 gun ) ...so its all relative in my view. But $ 1875 works out to be $ 75 a yr over 25 yrs in my mind ... or that's how I justify it ...... vs the BPS at $ 20 a yr for 25 yrs ....

But in today's world .... where decent O/U's from Browning and Beretta ...are considered mid grade guns ...selling new for $ 2,500 - $3,000 depending on the model like a Citori XS Skeet ...the Benelli Super Sport at $1,875 is a mid priced gun ...from my perspective. The higher end guns - Perazzi, Blaser, Kolar & Krieghoff are all ( $5K - $30K)...

I've been very fortunate / and can afford to shoot whatever I want (within reason ) ....and I hope everybody can make the same statement as they get close to retirement, like me, ...if they so choose.

I can only count the number of 100 straights I've shot in Trap on 2 hands ( in 35 yrs of off and on shooting ) ....and I haven't shot more than 50 straight in a long time in Trap.

I've never gone 75 straight in Skeet without coughing up a furr ball ...including a couple of weeks ago - when I missed a low house on 8 for the 74th target because I was so tense ...and then I went to heck with a 21 for a 95 that day ...and I think my best day with a 12ga in Skeet was probably a 97.....but every time I take one of my Trap or Skeet guns out of the safe ....I appreciate every second I spend with my guns at the range ....and what I paid for them never enters my mind.

If I thought I could buy a 100 straight in Skeet ...I'd order that Krieghoff this afternoon ...but I know it doesn't work that way ( but it would still be ported ! ) ...

 

[Lavid2002]

lol...had to have the ported comment on the end huh?


I know what you mean about being tense! And whats worse...if when you miss a clay then get all riled up about it!

 

[Jim Watson]

I have a couple of barrels with Bubba Porting and think they reduce muzzle flip a bit.

Procedure was simple, chuck up a 1/8" ball end milling cutter in the milling machine. (A ball end mill will leave less burr than a drill bit.)
Clamp the barrel lightly in the mill vise and center it under the cutter.
Roll the barrel until the vent rib comes up against the jaw of the vise.
Tighten vise.
Bring down the cutter to make the first hole just behind the choke constriction or choke tube.
Index the vise over .250" and drill another.
Repeat for 32 holes.
Loosen the vise slightly.
Roll the barrel over the other way til the vent rib comes up against the other jaw of the vise.
Line up the same distance from the muzzle and start over on that side.

Polish the stretch of ported barrel with fine emery cloth flapping in a slotted rod turned by a drill.

It works as well as any, but I would pay for a professional job on anything but my old Remington 1100.

 

[BigJimP]

had to stay on topic ....didn't want Dave to smack me ...

Missing the 74th ...did frustrate me ....but I hit the 75th ...( after my jaws and my intestines unclenched ..) ... / then I gave up on the 4th round ...didn't care as much, and it showed.

and like my shooting buddy says every day I miss one ...come on, 24 is still a good score ....( and you're shooting a bucket of shot in that thing ...its only a little defenseless target for gods sakes ....) ...( but then he's shot more 100 straights / than months I've been alive probably ) ....in 12, 20 and 28ga ...maybe even in the .410 ...

He shoots a very plain Krieghoff .... but a month rarely goes by he doesn't have a 100 straight out of 20 rounds or so we shoot in Skeet over a month ....and he's approaching 69 this year ...(imagine how good he was, when he was young, could see better and had those cat like reflexes )...

A note: I could have been as quick as a Cat ....but I was born like a Buffalo, so this is as good as it gets .....and that's why I like shooting these big long - heavy - Over Unders ( with buckets of shot in them ) ...!

 

[zippy13]

....and he's approaching 69 this year ...(imagine how good he was, when he was young, could see better and had those cat like reflexes )…

Age can be irrelevant, that's one of the beauties of the shotgun shorts. Good shooters come in all shapes, sizes, ages and in both sexes. I've told this before: All-American Grey Silva was one of Skeet's true gentlemen. When he was shooting in the Veteran Class (age 70+) he was the first one to break a 100-straight with a .410-bore (quite an accomplish) and he did it the weekend before his 80th birthday!!!
Another shooter tells of running a 100-straight and being assigned to a field for a shoot off. As he waited at the field, a kid, 10 or 11, arrived on a skateboard. Bill thought he was a little young to be working as a trap boy, but the youngster grabbed a gun from the rack and was ready for a shoot-off. The real referee arrived, and the kid proceeded to clean Bill's clock. He was Al Clark, future world champion.