# Crazy idea...AK47 barrel porting



## jo_dawg69 (Jun 16, 2010)

ok, so i was watching the top ten assault rifles on the military channel a few minutes ago, and the ak was the number one on the list. while they were flashing a few different pics on the show, i noticed that one of the guns had what seemed to me to be ports on the gas tube, on the section connected to the wood furniture. so that got my wheels turnin quite a bit. i thought to myself, the 7.62x39 is a pretty snappy round in the ak. i know that different muzzle brakes and ammo can reduce the muzzle climb that results from the snappy round and the gas operation system. could porting the barrel just in front of the gas tube inlet significantly reduce reocoil on the ak? and could porting the gas tube aid in this? or would it decrease the reliability of the gas operating system? any thoughts?


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## telsonman (Jun 16, 2010)

I know the older AKs had ported gas tubes. It was normal. When the AKM came out, the holes weren't there anymore. Gas tube porting wouldn't have anything to do with muzzle climb.  If you want that to be affected, get an AMD65 muzzle break.


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## acmech (Jun 28, 2010)

Porting the barrel in front of the gas tube wouldn't be a good idea.  Most the snap you see in an ak is a result of the bolt and carrier moving rearward and its the inertia that causes your snap.  The gas port in the barrel of your average ak is supposed to be .128 inches in dia.  The amount of barrel you have in front of the gas port ensures the right amount of pressure before the bullet exits.  Now if you port the barrel you'll get less pressure and possibly failures to cycle.  Then you'd have to open up the hole in the gas port to increase pressure.  The flash from porting (I assume you'd put the holes in the top of the barrel to reduce snap) would also cause night blindness if shooting at night.


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## Steve762us (Jun 28, 2010)

If memory serves me right, those holes in the gas tube shroud were just cooling/air circulation holes.

Porting at the muzzle would probably have no noticeable effect, unless you fired full auto; you could more inexpensively get that same effect with a muzzle brake.


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## fishndinty (Jun 28, 2010)

Plus, the AK has so little recoil to begin with...not even worth it unless you are talking about a fully auto version.


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