I recently purchased a DW Model 744 with a 6" ported barrel. I noticed that when you align the ports on the barrel with those on the shroud, the cylinder gap is greater than .006". If I set the gap to .006", the 2 barrel ports are maybe 30 to 45 degrees off the alignment of the shroud ports. Should the barrel and shroud ports line up? Is it bad if they don't?

I shoot lead, and had been removing the shroud and barrel after every shoot to clean. To lessen the amount of work, I purchased a new stainless barrel from CZ. I now had a non ported barrel in a ported shroud. I shot it some, and stared checking cylinder throat and barrel dimensions. I checked the throats with pin guages and pushed soft lead slugs through the bore. The original ported barrel measures 0.4285" and the slug pushes smooth the length of the barrel. The cylinder throats all measure .0429". However, the new barrel from CZ measures 0.4315". And the slug is tighter at the throat and loosens up halfway down the barrel.

So, I'm thinking of going back to the ported barrel, as it fits the cylinder throats the way it should. I'll put up with the cleaning, as the gun is just awesome to shoot! But that is why I am now re-concerned about the ports matching up between barrel and shroud. Do you think CZ would be able to provide a 0.428" barrel?

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