NCJ Number
192468
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 25 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2001 Pages: 44-47
Date Published
2001
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reported the results of tests on three ported pistols, S&W SW40P (.40 S&W), Glock G21C (.45 ACP), and Taurus PT957 (.357 SIG), to reduce the effects of recoil.
Abstract
The pistol is considered the epitome of handgun development: light, powerful, accurate, and capable of taking a great deal of physical abuse and still keep functioning. One of the shortcomings when it comes to shooting them is recoil. Laws of physics dictate that if a projectile of a certain mass is fired at a certain velocity from a handgun of a certain weight that a degree of reactive force—recoil—is produced. A great deal of time and effort has been devoted to limit the effects of recoil. One of the most practical is the ported barrel. This consists of circular, oval, or trapezoidal ports near the muzzle or along the top of the barrel. When the cartridge is fired, gases push the bullet down the barrel and as it passes each port some gas is vented out to counteract muzzle flip and reduce felt recoil. Three popular ported barrel pistols were tested for enhanced control and performance: S&W SW40P (.40 S&W), Glock G21C (.45 ACP), and Taurus PT957 (.357 SIG). The Glock and S&W have ports on the sides of their barrels near the muzzle, while the Taurus’ are along the top. Testing consists of comparing muzzle velocities, recoil/muzzle flip, and shooting under low light conditions. When a few rapid fire drills with each pistol were conducted the muzzle flip with the ported guns was considerably subdued and follow-up shots were fast and accurate. All the test ammunition included flash suppressants in the propellant. Firing three shot strings from each handgun under low light conditions demonstrated that flash from the ports occurred above the line of sight. This provided a tunnel to aim through and had no effect on night vision. To determine the amount of blast from the ports, each pistol was covered by a sheet of construction paper when fired. To determine if the blast from the ports could cause actual injury, each pistol was held alongside a dummy. While all three pistols tore holes in the shirt, only the .357 SIG appeared to do any real damage, and this was only a light scorch mark. In conclusion, ported barrels appear to provide increased recoil control and accuracy with only a slight decrease in bullet velocity.