Decent or Junk Muffler?

That's probably the simplest way to do one(it came to me like that). No Dremel was used, a multi-bit step drill was used to drill the holes.
Make sure you take the muffler off and get any chips out before replacing.
If you have to buy drill bits for metal the best degree angle for stainless is 135

 

Does the mod affect engine life

 

IMO if they are too restrictive my guess is they don't breathe properly and hold heat in

 

If that's a 62" bar that girl holding it must only be 4' tall.

 

I had my 441 muffler glowing last winter. I cut at night after work so I could see it.

 

Dont drill it on the saw just to be clear. Metal will get into muffler and be sucked into the saw.

 

Probably not going too find many folks running theirs in the dark for comparison purposes.
If/when you open a couple more holes in it - won't be any quieter in the dark
It's pretty well documented here across a broad range of EPA constrained saws that increasing the exhaust flow path will allow the saw to exhale easier, should reduce back pressure(allowing fresh air&fuel charge from the bottom of the piston into the top) and higher exhaust gas temperatures contained within the muffler can aren't reflecting onto your cylinder and exhaust side of the piston.

 

Probably why my brother thinks it's loud compared to his 361

 

It is a good idea to blow them out with air too.

 

I rinse them with water as well.

 

I'm thinking I will try this soon. It seems to be a drill and a dremel would work ok, and I have both. Need a new drill bit to work on metal as pointed out above.

Is there a limit to how much of the material could be taken off before it starts to rob performance? I saw above where you want your drilling to remain behind a certain point on the muffler. I will use the examples in the pictures as reference of what to do.

I will remove the muffler and make sure to clean it properly. On Youtube, they spray the metal with high temp paint. I would rather avoid that.

 

You dont need to paint it. It will carbon up anyway. It will rust if it gets wet eventually anyway.

You want to keep you hole behind the deflector to force the exhaust forward and not burn plastic but you really can put a hole anywhere , just be conscious if it will be in your face or where your breathing or dont want to burn plastic parts.

 

Get a decent peice of wood to test the saw in before and after and make a video so you can see how much you gained.