Popple holes

[corbinfouquet]

I've always had them on my guns. How much of a difference does it actually make? I just got a cc that wont have them. 

[36873687]

Idk how much it really helps. I have 2 open guns with 3 holes each. My buddy’s son has a cc with none an it’s a shooting sob

[kneelingatlas]

I have owned guns with 0-12 holes in the barrel, I can say for sure it makes them shoot more violently and take more powder to make major, but the improvement is marginal at best.

[zzt]

I have two full sized 2011 Open guns with identical comps.  The only difference is one has two 3/16" poppels.  It shoots noticeably flatter.  It also hit the hands harder and shoots 4 PF slower with the same load.

 

If you are loading 9mm major with bulky powders, be careful how many poppels you plan, especially if you want to use 115gr bullets.  There is a reason the vast majority of 9mm major shooters use 124gr.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: The way to look at holes in the barrel is it makes the barrel shorter since the gas leaves the barrel sooner. So it will take more powder to make power factor. If you raise the power factor on a barrel with no holes it will give the comp more gas to work with. It will also hit the hand harder as well. I use 115 grain bullets and no holes in the barrel since it doesn't need it with a good comp design. The lighter bullet gives me more gas and hits my hand a little less. No barrel holes also is quieter if that is a concern. Thanks, Eric

[Dranoel]

If you are running a comp, it relies on gas pressure to operate effectively. The higher the pressure, the better it works.

 

So why bleed off pressure before the comp where it's most effective?

[MikeThomas]

Agree with Dranoel above, had popple holes on a Kidd Custom Viper a while back and I think they were very counter-productive.

[Sporky]

The popple holes create down force at a different point in time during the recoil arch keeping the gun "flatter"

Personally, I like it loud so bring on the noise!

 

The real "answer" is to make a decision, stick with it, and train your face off.  The holes will not matter one bit positive or negative when you practice enough.

 

BOOM!

[echotango]

I agree with sporky.  I started with no holes and went to 3x 1/8" holes.  Slight difference.  So I went to 3x 3/16".  Better.  I wouldn't go back to no holes. 

[andersonj55126]

On 10/21/2018 at 3:06 PM, Dranoel said:

If you are running a comp, it relies on gas pressure to operate effectively. The higher the pressure, the better it works.

 

So why bleed off pressure before the comp where it's most effective?

Most comps have some downforce but most gas pulls the comp forward.  So adding barrel holes is a trade-off between flatter vs softer.

 

Read this thread.

 

This is a very interesting graph from jid2 and it shows that holes obviously create much more z force (downward force) but interestingly the x force (forward pull) does not greatly reduce (or proportionally).  So it seems the barrel holes are definitely worth the trade-off.

[corny]

My problem with my 9mm Major Open gun with 3 x3/16" holes is nailing down a load that shoots flat.  I started shooting a 115 grain load and really liked it but seemed like it was beating the heck out of the gun.  I recently changed to a 124 grain bullet using AutoComp and getting muzzle dip with almost all of my loads.  Changed springs around and running a 7# spring and the muzzle dips less but still dips.  Going to try 6.9, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, grains of AC and see what happens.  Test and tune, rinse and repeat.