Are they worth a damn?
Any insight into them would be much appreciated!

Just recently got a shiny new 870 (ok it's matte black - not shiny) and am looking to reduce the felt recoil as much as I can in attempt to get the gf to be comfy shooting it.

Are you talking about "porting" or are you talking about add on brakes like those used on rifles and pistols? Based on how porting works on a shotgun I would say it acts somewhat like a brake. Have use porting on my skeet, trap and sporting clays shotguns for years. What they mostly aid with is holding the barrel down so getting on second shot is easier. They also work great in the dove fields when you go for that second and third shot. As to felt recoil, I personally don't notice a difference like on those on my rifles but have had others swear they do. Best way to cut felt recoil is with butt pad or adding weight to gun or reducing your shot load which are what we do in clay bird shooting.

If you're shooting pellets, I can't imagine that shotgun brakes would be effective at reducing recoil at all. I just use reduced recoil loads.

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
If you're shooting pellets, I can't imagine that shotgun brakes would be effective at reducing recoil at all. I just use reduced recoil loads.

Brakes work by redirecting propellant gasses. They have nothing to do with the projectile type.

Depends on what you're talking about. Porting works a little. If you shoot now and then you probably won't notice. If you're a trap/skeet shooter firing hundreds of rounds at a clip, it's cumulative so every little bit helps.

Tank brakes like on an Open shotgun work.

Many chokes with porting as as much to aid wad separation as they are recoil.

Some of them are for breaching.

Reducing recoil in a pump gun is easy.

Buy reduced recoil ammo.

Better results, easier, cheaper, don't have to funk up a gun with a brake that was never designed for one. Winchester sells a AA low noise, low recoil load. Buy those.

Fiocchi sells low recoil buck and slug loads if this is for HD.

quote:

Originally posted by exx1976:

quote:

Originally posted by Dwill104:
If you're shooting pellets, I can't imagine that shotgun brakes would be effective at reducing recoil at all. I just use reduced recoil loads.

Brakes work by redirecting propellant gasses. They have nothing to do with the projectile type.

True for solid projectiles that keep the gas trapped behind them to allow the gas to redirected by the brake to counteract recoil. Different for a bunch of pellets smaller than the barrel diameter, even considering the wad behind it.

Something like this.

Looks like it screws into the barrel in place of a choke.

Yes it would be for home defense.

The "Tactical" part of that choke tube's name probably adds $70 to the suggested retail.

PT Barnum would have loved it.

Use lighter loads if you want to reduce recoil.

Would like to not have multiple different types of shells for different shotguns.

I've got a benelli m4 as well and I've heard it can get finicky with light loads.

What shells do you use in the Benelli? Be specific -- include muzzle velocity, shot weight, shot size, shell brand & name.

Winchester S12PDX1 -- 1-1/2 ounces of total lead with MV of 1150. I have 25,000 rounds down my 12 gauge guns, another 8,000 rounds down my center fire bolt rifles. The recoil on that Winnie load would be no fun, and I'm no stranger to recoil. No gf this side of Wonder Woman will be comfy with any load anywhere near that shell, regardless of what you do to your shotgun to attempt to mitigate recoil.

If your Benelli m4 can't cycle a low recoil buck round, then it (1) only has a couple hundred rounds down the tube and isn't yet broken in, (2) is dry as a bone and needs some lube, or (3) needs a trip to the factory for repairs.

I suspect since you stated "I've heard it can get finicky with light loads" that you haven't tried any.

Your assumption would be correct.

That being said - the only loads I've had any trouble with in the M4 is some target stuff a coworker gave me. He said he found it sitting in his attic for who knows how long.
That ammo basically turned the m4 into a single shot gun - I had to rack it after every shot.
(worked great in a pump tho!)

Try a knoxx stock, they work plus they are adjustable for length.

Buy her a shotgun of her own. If she has good upper body strength then buy her a Beretta 390 in 12 gauge. Maybe a youth model. If she is not muscular then buy her a Beretta 390 in 20 gauge. Maybe a youth model. Buy her a shotgun that she likes. Cut the LOP to fit her and install the softest recoil pad.

Porting a shotgun is the near equivilent to a muzzle break. Ported shotguns sometimes spray pellets out the sides. If a shotgun muzzle break would be effective then it would have been in common use decades ago, especially since the introduction of screw-in chokes. A shotgun muzzle break can be logically deduced to fail by spraying the pellets out the sides and back at the shooter. In Vietnam the military used a duckbill spreader for jungle warfare. The idea was to spread the pellets across an horizontal pattern. If a shotgun muzzle break were a realistic proposition the .mil would have been on it 50 or 100 years ago. Looking at the tube online, I could be wrong about pellet spray. But I do not think that the recoil dampening is as effective as claimed. Porting on a barrel is usually longer and on the topside. The tube is shorter but with more holes. I am skeptical. As fritz mentioned, a good portion of the recoil is from the shell loading that you are using.

Porting a pump shotgun would have a minimal effect. Please, buy the lady her own gas recoil semi-auto shotgun.

quote:

Originally posted by mr kablammo:
Ported shotguns sometimes spray pellets out the sides.
A shotgun muzzle break brake can be logically deduced to fail by spraying the pellets out the sides and back at the shooter.
Looking at the tube online, I could be wrong about pellet spray.

I don't think it's a stretch to say I've witnessed at least 200,000 rounds of shot shells fired between skeet, trap, and sporting clays. Many of the guns have been ported, especially the Browning over/unders. Buddies that I've shot with have viewed cumulative rounds in the millions. Never once have I even heard of the small #9 bird shot being forced through any port. All commercial and hand loaded shells I've been around have wad cups to hold the shot. These wad cups completely encase the shot through the firing process and all the way down the barrel, then don't begin to separate from the shot until the whole mass is a number of feet (or sometimes yards) away from the muzzle.

Furthermore, shotgun barrels are notoriously thin. Even soft lead (i.e. no antimony in the alloy) #9 pellets hitting a barrel port at Mach 1 is going to make a mark on the port. Eventually, said ports will be larger under repeated impacts. If this were occurring, gun owners would eventually notice this during barrel cleaning. In my own ported Brownings, I can guarantee that only things sticking to my barrel ports are powder residue and burnt plastic from the wads.

quote:

Originally posted by creslin:
Something like this.

Looks like it screws into the barrel in place of a choke.

Yes it would be for home defense.

That's more of a breaching stand off than it is a true brake. Good for shooting the hinges off a door without damaging the gun, bit likely nothing for recoil mitigation.

Another point to consider with porting is the noise level increase.

I've noticed that my one ported shotgun barrel (rifled slug barrel) leaves my ears ringing when I've shot it without ear protection.

Only time I do this is when I'm hunting with it, but man the last time my left ear was ringing for weeks. Probably not a good thing. I've never encountered this with my non-ported barrels.