This was has an unported barrel and "vented" shroud. The design may have been with intentions of reducing recoil but I believe Wesson learned that lesson about fouling of the shroud internally due to the nature of the porting holes not lining up with venting holes with a screwed on barrel and concentric porting ...so they started delivering with unported barrels. That's what I've heard from a reliable source on the subject.
Yeah, the "V" for the 44V is just that, ventilation for cooling.
