I’m new to ported barrels and like what I have seen so far on recoil management. I like the 3-hole ported barrels over the PSA SWR 1-hole ported barrel. Do more holes actually make a difference with such a short barrel or is it more for looks? If so, I was wondering if the holes will line up correctly if you use a Zafirri ported barrel in the SWR slide or if any other brands were compatible?
2 Likes
I would not mess with aftermarket ported barrels. Especially from ZP. Not that their products are bad; they’re not. ZP is known for extremely tight tolerances and if a ported barrel doesn’t exactly match the slide…hilarity ensues.
7 Likes
I agree but from what I have seen some are compatible and I’m not looking to create a disaster. When I say compatible it’s not with PSA in what I’ve looked at but with other manufacturers. I guess the biggest thing is, are more holes better?
With ported barrels/slides, it’s about whether or not the gases can escape unimpeded. If the ports in the barrel don’t have sufficient space to eject those gases, the gun becomes a grenade. Are more ports in the slide better? Maybe. The better question to ask is do the holes in the slide match up closely enough with the ones in the barrel to allow those superheated gases to escape?
Personally, I don’t see enough of an advantage in ported barrels to warrant the risk of my pistol grenading on me. I would absolutely go with barrels/slides purpose-made to match each other.
4 Likes
I understand and totally agree on the reasoning with hole alignment and that was the main reason I asked if they were compatible. I have only just started looking into the ported barrels and slides and notice that some state cross compatibility with other brands. Most videos I have watched on ported barrels and muzzle rise reduction have had 3-5 holes and PSA is the only one I had come across so far that has been only one hole. I like the quality and price of PSA products and usually do lots of digging and research before dropping those hard-earned money. I have an extra Dagger lower that I wanted to do something different with and wanted to investigate the ported barrel angle. I certainly don’t want to cause harm on myself or others and want to get something safe first and something I’m happy with second. This is the only forum group I’m in so I figured there was plenty of knowable people on here to help get me some answers.
1 Like