Why the "war" on Ported barrels??

Barrel porting, especially on O\U Trap grades was quite popular at one.
I may not be totally correct. But my understanding was that it helped control muzzle during doubles shooting. And some claimed that it reduced recoil. I can certainly understand the former, but always questioned the latter.
In any case, it seems to be terribly unpopular these days. Perhaps some of you could explain this to me? I can't imagine what porting could do to make a barrel so undesirable.
Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

Same reason 26” barrels aren’t seen much anymore on the skeet field.
Trend.

 

just trap is correct "trend" and also inaccurate criticism. Companies like pro port have done studies on porting and advantages of porting....while others say unproven negative statements.

 

Shooting next a ported gun really is a pain in the "EAR" also getting sprayed @ times is fun either, AND if porting was advantageous ALL the big shooters & olympic shooters would be using it

 

I like my ported barrels. Doesn't seem any louder and I've never had anyone next to me get "sprayed". I don't think it helps you break the target, but I don't see how they hurt.

 

Do we need a seperate class for ported barrels?

 

It all depends on the type of porting , bad porting can cause pieces of plastic to be thrown, and some ported guns are really loud

 

countless times shooting protecters ben sprayed by porting !!!!

 

Sprayed ? With what ?

 

Plastic wad pieces or unburned powder hitting my legs when I was wearing shorts

 

Porting doesn't do anything meaningful for a shotgun.
They make the gun harder to clean. They disperse more sound to the side of the gun making it sound louder.

 

shooting games a ported barrel is almost as next to an auto loader.

 

I don't understand the "making it harder to clean" comment. I've never - never - cleaned the ports of any of my guns so configured. I don't really believe that porting has any real material affect in the guns performance, loudness, or deflection of muzzle jump. I only had one gun sent to get ported and that was 30 years ago. If the porting holes close up so be it. But . . . I've not experienced that as an issue - the holes stay open although they do get a little rough around the edges from carbon build up.

As far as the decibel level on my ported guns, none of my squad mates complain. However, they are never very happy when I show up on the skeet range with my Cutts Compensated 12 ga Remington 1100.

 

I can't tell you how many times I've shot next to a ported barrel.
That's because I have never noticed increased noise, or being sprayed by anything.
Put me on the side of the guys who say it doesn't help anything and doesn't hurt anything/anyone.l

 

The company you referenced, Mag-na-port International, hasn't published any studies that they've done. Instead, they make some random claims, some of which are gobbllty-gook, that sound good put aren't substantiated. Reminds me of the claims made by some choke manufacturers.
Still, the only harm I can see caused by barrel porting is to the wallet.

 

This has been pretty interesting.
What prompted me to start this thread was, I noticed some on this site would reject barrels for sale solely on the grounds of porting(seemingly).
I agree that it was probably more of a fad than some kind of beneficial upgrade. But don't think I would shun barrels simply because of it

 

Depends on the porting. Browning factory porting is always annoying. A K-80 Tula choked International Skeet barrel with three small "shark gill" ports on bottom barrel only does not have any of the negative effects of noise, cleaning, or spewing combustion particles as routinely seen with many other porting designs, but helps with muzzle flip for first shot on doubles.

 

Was that green Kool-Aid or purple?

 

My protection partner is left handed and 6 inches or so shorter than me. He shoots a browning with factory porting and I get pelted almost every shot, I’d consider buying the guy a new gun without porting if he didn’t shoot it so well

 

A bigger problem that I see are the heavy loads that are being used on hc and especially protectors....porting or no porting......

 

The last 20 years I shot 90 per cent of the guys and gals I shot with had ported guns, I didn't notice what they had. I was concentrating on my shooting, not what was happening on another post. At twenty seven yards I don't see how you could tell if the shooter beside you had a ported gun or not. Maybe on a protector shoot but not ATA even at 16 yards.

 

I can't say as I have ever been noticeably distracted by having a porting gun next to me when shooting trap or games,or I have I ever been hit by any debris..or noticed the higher noise level but I wear good hearing protection,someone shooting longshot is the only thing I have ever thought distracting from a noise level standpoint and the only debris I have ever been hit with was a Butler automatic blowing up beside me. Jerry