I really like the looks of fluted barrels and am seriously considering one in my next rifle, on a Sako action and Lothar Walther barrel 25.5 inches long, chambered in 7 mm Weatherby Magnum.
The question is, safety-wise, what is the minimumm steel thickness I need around the grooves?
I am trying to work out the minimum barrel contour which is fluteable.
Thank you in advance.
Montero

Hola Montero, if you are considering a LW Barrel nobody better than Frank Walther himself or Mr. Bischof to answer you this question. Call him @ 0049 7328 96300.
You may also consider in getting a barrel with the special secret treament of LW. I have a few and I am very happy with them. They call It: Sonderbehandlung zur Erzielung von Match-trefferbilden. Cost you about 100 Euros but it is worth every Euro if you use your gun at long range.

Saludos de Alemania

Bongo

Lothar Walter flutes their own barrels so let them determine the minimun dimensions.

My gunsmith recommends 0.100" minimum barrel wall thickness between flute groove and rifling groove. I have one of his fluted, cryo treated Shilen barrels. 1/4 MOA and has stood up to enormous abuse from overpressures.

Roughly, "special treatment for the achievement of match hit forming."

For info on Walther barrels call Woody Woodall at Walther USA Tell him Jeff Hicks sent ya
770-889-9998

He will answer any questions you may have. He is a huge book of knowledge when it comes to barrels
I do not think Walther reccomends fluting, although they will do it for you.

The special treatment of LW is not..... LW-50 is just the propriatory stainless steel Walther uses for their barrels. It is much tougher than standard SS (416R) and barrel life will be much extended.
I exclusively use LW-50 barrel for my custom rifles. At the bottom of this post you will see two 200 yard target shot from a 308 with an LW-50 barrel on it. These barrels are GREAT!

As for depth of flutes, at least .200". For instance, if your barrel is 30 cal and the smallest outside diameter where you will have a flute is .650" the flute depth for that area should be no more than .150"

Some fluting facts:
Fluting does not stiffen the barrel. The barrel will be stiffer with no flutes. It will however be stiffer than a barrel with an outside diameter of the bottom of the flutes. I.E. A much smaller diameter barrel.

Fluting does not really remove much weight, especially on a thinish barrel. Maybe a few ounces. To remove much weight by fluting, you will have to make very deep flutes on a very large daimeter barrel, but this is kind of an oxymoron. Why have a big fat barrel for stiffness if you are going to reduce it by fluting.

Fluting does not reduce cooling time by that much, although it does some by making more suface area. It does not however extend the amount of shots in a certain time period that will heat your barrel to a certain temp.

Fluting does look good and that should be the reason anyone flutes a barrel.

All barel that are fluted should be stress relieved. The fluting proccess will always induce some stress on the barrel.

Celt


[ 09-19-2002, 20:39: Message edited by: Celt ]