I’ve been testing various upgrades for the Hellcat Pro for the last two years. Triggers, upgrades for controls and mag releases, magwells, optics…the Hellcat Pro has been a staple on the 360 Tactical Solutions channel. One of the two primary topics brought up with the Hellcat Pro is “snappy recoil” so I’ve put in a lot of work testing different products to help level out the recoil on the HCP.
Clearly 9mm isn’t a round that produces heavy recoil but a reduction of recoil is beneficial regardless if you are having an issue with it or not. Less recoil means faster and more accurate followup shots. From my perspective thats a good thing as long as it doesn’t come at the cost of velocity loss to a point the round can no longer be effective in a personal defense situation.
For the port king video I tested six port variations for both muzzle rise and velocity. Those include the Hellcat Pro Comp, Floyds Custom Shop Commander porting, Floyd’s Enforcer Porting, a prototype of a new style of Enforcer porting, the Apex ported barrel and a custom cut version of that Apex barrel. With the muzzle rise testing I used a Mantis X10 and in order to measure the recoil I used the Garmin Xero Chronograph. For ammo I opted to use RBS 115gr on the muzzle rise testing and Speer Gold Dot 124Gr during the velocity tests.
The testing procedure was relatively simple. Five mags loaded with ten rounds of 115gr for each port variation when testing muzzle rise. One of the mags was a warm up and then four mags while using the mantis to record recoil characteristics. This set of tests was ran four separate times under various conditions both for the muzzle rise and velocity. Because defensive ammo is so expensive I loaded up a single mag at ten rounds for each port variant with the 124gr Spear and recorded velocity on each of the ports. After the four sets of muzzle rise and velocity tests were done I took all the data and put together an average for each port for its muzzle rise and velocity. Doing the testing several times and in different conditions helps achieve a more accurate average than it would doing a single test session.
A quick note about test results. Different people can and will have different results based on a lot of factors. For instance one of my barrels has nearly 30k rounds through it, another barrel has just over 15k rounds through it. The high round count and wear on the barrel could potentially create a fluctuation in both muzzle rise and velocity data as the riflings do wear down over time and use making the internal diameter of the barrel slightly larger than a fresh stock barrel like what I have on my HCP Comp. Also there could be variations in the ammo thats used. There’s no real way to know if every round in the box is loaded with the exact same amount of powder. Obviously every manufacturer has hiccups in their process here and there. Then there are external variations in air temp, humidity and altitude. Don’t forget about each persons personal grip as well as different upgrades and break in between my gun and the next guys gun.
In order to keep my testing as uniform as possible I stuck with one lower and just cycled out the slide/barrel for each test. The lower that I used is from my primary carry gun. On that gun I use a Floyd’s Custom Shop magwell, Hogue Beavertail Grip, GoGun USA GasPedal, Apex Type3 trigger and a Streamlight TLR7A/7X. All of these items can have an impact on the mitigation of recoil. Individual results may vary even though I’ve attempted to keep these tests as scientific as possible. This is more or less just a documentation of my personal experience, so at the end of the day it’s up to the user to decide what’s best for them.
Remember that you can use 360TS as a discount code at places like Brownells, Optics Planet, Apex, Floyd’s Custom Shop, C&H Precision, KORE and TandemKross not only to help support the channel but also so you aren’t paying full retail. At the end of the day, every dollar saved helps.
After firing a total of 960 rounds while recording muzzle rise and 240 rounds for velocity the averages will give a decent idea of what each port job performs best at.
For instance the Apex slide and ported barrel doesn’t reduce the most recoil but it does have the highest numbers for velocity. 16.7° of muzzle rise isn’t bad at all, its actually pretty respectable but out of the six variants tested that’s the highest number on the list. Although it’s the highest muzzle rise it’s also the highest velocity out of the group. If you are looking for a slight decrease in recoil but want to keep the most velocity while using defensive ammo then the Apex combo is the best bet.
The custom cut version of the Apex barrel isn’t just my favorite because it was my creation but it’s also the lowest number in terms of muzzle rise while also having the second highest velocity results out of everything tested. The downside there is that this variant isn’t available to the consumer market. I’m working with Floyd’s Custom Shop to tweak the design a bit and then maybe we will see an option for it over at Floyd’s. 14.92° of muzzle rise and 1138 fps are great numbers but I think it can be improved.
Floyd’s Commander porting did great in the recoil department with 15.68 of muzzle rise. Unfortunately and expectedly the velocity for the Commander dipped down to 1122 fps. This isn’t a deal breaker though, the ammo used in the testing is rated 1150 fps so its lower than what it should be but it will still have some energy downrange.
Floyd’s Enforcer is kind of the best of both worlds when it comes to commercially available aftermarket porting. 1571° of muzzle rise and 1127 fps is a good mix of recoil reduction and velocity retention. As an added bonus the recoil impulse from this port feels “softer” than other options.
What I like to call the “New Enforcer” is a test unit sent to me by Floyd’s and it’s a slightly different configuration from the standard Enforcer. This option isn’t on the market yet but it’s very similar to the currently available Enforcer as far as the numbers go. 15.71° of muzzle rise and 1129 fps makes it neck and neck with the “old design”
Springfields ported option, the Hellcat Pro Comp was a surprise. 15.27° of muzzle rise and 1135 fps puts it up at the top of the list. This design has a low level of muzzle rise and high velocity. I believe we can attribute that to the expansion chamber that is cut into the port which makes the design closer to an actual compensator than a traditional port. For an OEM design it’s actually pretty good.
So here’s my opinion after all my testing and experience. If you are in the market for a Hellcat Pro and you want one that’s ported I would lean toward buying the Hellcat Pro Comp. A lot of times Springfield has the gear up promo where you can get extra mags and stuff when you submit your receipt to them online. If you already own a Hellcat Pro and want to have it ported the Floyd’s Custom Shop Enforcer is a solid choice. You get good recoil reduction with the Enforcer without losing too much velocity. Then again if you have the money and you really want to do something different the Apex option will reduce a little muzzle rise and still have a high level of velocity.
Porting isn’t for everyone. Some people have a hard time adjusting to the excess sound and concussion thats experienced when shooting a ported gun. There is also a debate over the fireball that can be experienced with ported guns and it potentially blocking your vision when shooting. This is more an issue at night but in the dark pretty much all guns have some kind of muzzle flash so for me it is a non issue. There are so many options out there for customizing the Hellcat Pro and these are just some of the options available. For me the clear winners here are the Hellcat Pro Comp and the Floyd’s Enforcer porting. I will of course continue to test different options that look like they have potential and who knows, perhaps in the future we may end up crowning a new king of the Hellcat Pro ports.
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