I have a 416 Rigby Ruger that has been Mag-Na-Ported and it is quite decent to shoot. Noise probably is greater but i wear plugs and muffs when shooting from bench and don't notice it. The Ruger is perceptably easier on recoil than my Cz 550 with Brockman laminate. Muzzle jump is definitely less. Ports are almost imperceptable to me as they are thru the front ramp band and being at top are not particularly obvious. As to a 404 not needing them as the recoil is not great enough that is how the individual deals with recoil not dependent on caliber. I don't handle ANY heavy recoil well. I just barely tolerate it and as a result don't shoot heavy calibers for pleasure. It never ceases to amaze me how some equate handling heavy recoil with some sort of MACHO thing.