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Well my 6” SS .44 Magnum went on a vacation to Smith & Wesson for close to a year. I was having a problem with the cylinders slightly dragging during rotation. To their credit the repair would be covered under warranty. But of course while they had it apart anyway…. I had them really tighten up the cylinder / barrel gap. Perform a trigger job / combat trigger with stop, Flute the cylinders so I don’t have to shake the speed loader to get the rounds to drop in. I went with a 20% lighter main spring and had the muzzle crowned. I could not be happier with the work they did it’s just wonderful. BUT the one thing I really questioned was should I have it Magna Ported?? What would I gain and what would I lose (Other than more money) by shipping it off to have that done? Also I don’t think Smith and Wesson even does that work? Any opinions?? Thanks Much Scott

Well Scott, it sounds like you have a pretty nice hog leg now. I have never personally owned a Magna Ported firearm, but I understand that it does help reduce muzzle rise at the cost of more noise directed back towards the shooter.

Either way you decide to go, I'm sure you're going to enjoy that gun!

Take care

A friend of mine had a 4" 44 mag that was ported from the factory, not S&W. I don't know of who's design it was. But the porting made the gun manageable to handle and did not want to break your wrist every time you fired it.

Sounds like yours will be real nice to shoot.

You have to send it, or have it sent to Magna-Port. Best thing is to phone the Magna-Port folks, and follow their suggestions.

I had a rifle in .300 Winchester magnum Magna-Ported... It had zero effect upon accuracy, but it sure did cut down on the recoil.

I wouldn't want to shoot a 44 mag without hearing protection in any case - but I'd be DANGED SURE to have hearing protection when shooting one that had been ported. - It makes a loud gun louder, no doubt about that.

Vectorxw8 wrote:Well my 6” SS .44 Magnum went on a vacation to Smith & Wesson for close to a year. I was having a problem with the cylinders slightly dragging during rotation. To their credit the repair would be covered under warranty. But of course while they had it apart anyway…. I had them really tighten up the cylinder / barrel gap. Perform a trigger job / combat trigger with stop, Flute the cylinders so I don’t have to shake the speed loader to get the rounds to drop in. I went with a 20% lighter main spring and had the muzzle crowned. I could not be happier with the work they did it’s just wonderful. BUT the one thing I really questioned was should I have it Magna Ported?? What would I gain and what would I lose (Other than more money) by shipping it off to have that done? Also I don’t think Smith and Wesson even does that work? Any opinions?? Thanks Much Scott

Thanks much to all that took time out of their days to offer advice. Every person I have talked with says Do It! It's not a lot of money either. Looking at their web site I will be going with the 2 vents on each side. The data shows I will not lose any feet per second but, the felt recoil is much reduced. Like was said by another member, I would never shoot this without hearing protection anyway so I have nothing to lose (other then a little money) and everything to gain. Thanks Much, Scott

A 6" 629 that has been Magna-Ported... That sounds just right to me!

Now you've got me wanting to be a copy-cat.

charlesb wrote:A 6" 629 that has been Magna-Ported... That sounds just right to me!

Now you've got me wanting to be a copy-cat.

Well what really made my mind up was my hand to have this done. After all the work Smith & Wesson did to it it's like a whole new gun, an awesome new gun. But its been close to 2 years since I last shot it. It came with wood grips but swapped them out for the Hogue grips I just liked the way they feel. So after 30 rounds of Precision ONe, .44 Mag, 240 gr. FMJ the space between thumb and index finger ripped. Ouch!! Can't say that has ever happened before, maybe I really am getting old. So from everything I have read Magna-Porting will help and its going to cost $129.50 plus shipping. That is not much to save my poor old hand!!

My 4" "mountain gun" (tapered barrel with a 1/2 underlug ) really bites withe full 44 mag loads... but with 44 specials it is a dream to shoot.... try loading the 44 mags with trail boss and a 240gr swc and you will have a new favorite plinker.