Ported 50AE

[IndyFiero]

Hi,

I am looking at getting a 50AE ported barrel and wanted to see how others with a ported barrel liked it. Would like to reduce the felt recoil.

Thanks,
SteveG

[MrBlackCat]

I don't have any Desert Eagle barrels with the internal muzzle brakes to comment on, but others here do. With that said, I have all the Mk19 barrel calibers with external muzzle brakes, and those do reduce muzzle climb a visible amount. As to actual recoil reduction, I would say it doesn't do that... but, in my observation, the weaker the operators wrist, the more the perceived recoil, because of muzzle climb. In other words, the weaker the operators wrists, or their ability to resist muzzle climb, the more a brake (or ports) will help, as the recoil energy will be directed more straight back where wrist strength is less of a factor.
Desert Eagle recoil is far more of a technique issue involving muscle memory than anything else. When my stepson reached about 100 pounds, he was shooting my 50AE Desert Eagles one handed without a thought of the recoil. I describe it as locked wrist, with unlocked elbow. I do not shoot competitively, so this would likely not be ideal for that application as the delay for follow up shots would be high as I am just letting the gun move naturally and not really resisting it.

In summary, ports or brakes will reduce the felt recoil, how much depends on how the gun is already rotating upward when fired.

One last thing... there is a slight reduction in velocity after porting, but unless you are doing longer range hunting with it, it isn't likely enough to matter. I remember reading where someone chronographed the difference, but I don't remember it being more than 100fps or so.

Good luck and if you do get a ported barrel, let me know your experience with it.

MrBlackCat

[GarrettJ]

I can't comment on the .50 specifically. And when you ask about a ported barrel, I assume you are asking about porting holes in the existing barrel, such as by Magnaport. Like this:


The other option would be to add a muzzle brake to the end of the barrel. I believe MRI still offers this service.

The difference being the extended brake is likely more effective (more surface are for the gasses to work against) at the tradeoff of adding length to an already long barrel.




A third option if you don't want to modify your existing barrel would be to buy a new barrel with the integral muzzle brake machined into it. This does not add any length to the barrel. However, it does reduce the lenght of the rifled section of the barrel, so you will not gain as much velocity with this barrel as you would with an add-on brake.



As noted, I haven't ever shot a .50 with a ported or braked barrel. However, I do have a MK-XIX with a plain .357 barrel as well as an L5 .357 with the integral muzzle brake. I will say the two feel very different from one another. The brake reduces muzzle flip quite a bit. It also gives the gun a more "snappy" feel, getting back on target much quicker. After shooting the L5, the MK-XIX feels almost sluggish.

Most of this is difficult to see. It's more of a felt or perceived thing.

With the .50 having much more gas volume to work with, both porting or a brake should be more effective than on a .357 Mag. One of these years I may send my .50 barrel off to get ported, but it hasn't been high on my list of things to do. Maybe some day.

[getsome]

If I ever find myself needing that kind of firepower it better come with wheels and a trailer hitch……Just saying……