Building a long range 264 or 257Wby. Thinking about a Mcgowen fluted barrel. Any experiences with a fluted barrel?

they look cool.. BY WEIGHT, they are stiffer than an unfluted barrel

i don't like them. i don't like the way they look but i have shot a lot of them and cannot tell that they offer any discernable advantage. i also tend to agree with mel forbes, thinking fluting is one of the things you could do to your barrel to insure that it doesn't shoot well.

Shilen doesn't recommend fluting. That's enough for me. God Bless, Louis

I've got several fluted barrels, I like the way they look but think it is basically cosmetic.

If I was building a rifle for myself, I doubt I'd flute it, since for the cost of the fluting you can almost get another barrel. Rather than flute, I'd go shorter and stiffer for the same weight, but that's just my opinion, it's your rifle and if you like flutes, by all means go for it.

If you want to lose some weight to move the balance point of your rifle back or if you like the look than I say flute.

I've been torn between two contours and usually go with the heavier contour because I can flute and lose that extra weight. I like the fact that flutes are stiffer in same weight barrels.

Fluting can be detrimental to accuracy if not done correctly. But as proven by many accuracy smiths, if done correctly, it will not affect accuracy. Many long range tatical shooters flute their barrels.

Lastly, I'd look around at another brand barrel. There are better barrel makers that are just about the same price. And if you want to flute you need to start with the best quality barrel you can get.

If the Smith knows what heor she is doing then fluting a good tube like a Krieger or Hart for example will not hurt anything. The reason that all of the makers will advise against it is they cannot control the process and one can be ruined.

Many world records have been set with fluted tubes and all of my LV competition tubes have been fluted along with most of my sporters. My Smith is a HOF shooter as well and his rifles that he set records with were all fluted FWIW. The concern I would have with a factory barrel is there would possibly be stress relieved by the metal removal causing a change in the internal borel dimensions or causing the barrel to act unacceptably when it heats up while shooting. My .02..

I have posted this before. I was in Phoenix when Skip Otto shot a 5 shot world Record .099 at 200 yards. Skip always shot fluted Shilen barrels. Do you think that it would have been a .050 without flutes? The only reason for them is cosmetic, if you like the look, weight savings, or as in Skip's rifles it was advertising for his fluting services.
Butch

Thanks guys. I know some barrel makers like Shilen say no way. While Hart and Lilja have no issue. If I go ahead it will be in my mind for looks only. It will also be done by the maker McGowen. If there is an issue that would reduce finger pointing.

Lothar Walter will flute their own barrels & stand behind their work.

quote:

Originally posted by D Humbarger:
Lothar Walter will flute their own barrels & stand behind their work.

Exactly! If you want flutes then you should pick a barrel maker or "flutist" who will stand behind the job. I have had several fluted barrels come into my shop that simply would not shoot and when checked, were found to be loose directly under the area that was fluted.

When the smith I used to build my 30.06 decided he wanted to start fluting, he asked if he could do my PacNor bbl that he installed since I was sending him the rifle back anyway to paint the stock. I had already been using it for a year or 2 for hunting and had 2 great loads.

I told him to go ahead and flute it.

There was no change with my loads after fluting.

Don't know what that means. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe fluting doesn't do anything to the barrel.

My Lilja barrel that came fluted was done by Dan himself. If I recall, the fluting was done after the bore was drilled but before the rifling. If I ever have more fluted barrels, it will be done by the manufacturer as I think many do it this way, so as to not have a risk of stressing the bore after it is rifled.

Safer bet from an accuracy standpoint is no-flutes. No stress worries or un-even flute cuts.

Flute it, just cause it looks cool most of my barrels are fluted all but a few of my bolts are fluted. Looks good, they all shoot real well. All my barrels were fluted by the guys making them.

I had the bull bbl on my 22-250 fluted, it takes a lot more rounds now to get it heated up, There is more surface area to dissipate heat. It shoots the same.

Ramrode, beauty is in the eye of the beholder -- redhead or blonde, blue eyes or brown, chest or ass (sorry, didn’t mean to go there)

I say if God wanted us to have fluted barrels, he would have created them that way

Keep it plain, what ever you are shooting would want it that way

My 2 cents worth, Abob

So if a fellow had a......Ruger 77 MKII in 300 Win Mag that felt muzzel heavy. Who would be recemended by those who like fluted BBl's to do the job ?

In my experience fluting only aids in cooling. And it does work.

The only barrels I would think about fluting would be cut barrels, not buttoned barrels. There is to much stress in a buttoned barrel. Fluting seems to open up the bore diameter due to the stress that is in a buttoned barrel. Now if your flutes where helical and matched the twist, then I would be for it maybe. But that is the only way that I can see that wouldn't lower the accuracy potential.

Just go with a lighter barrel.

Ramrod, have you decided yet?

quote:

So if a fellow had a......Ruger 77 MKII in 300 Win Mag that felt muzzel heavy. Who would be recemended by those who like fluted BBl's to do the job ?

Mine was done by John Farner in New Mexico, (toomanytools). I am more than happy with the results.

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Ramrod, have you decided yet?

Well it is obvious that there is no clear winner. So my wonderful wife came up with an excellent idea. Since I was looking at fluted or non fluted. 257Wby or 264Wmag the simplest answer was to just do both. Got to love that woman's logic. Everytime we go to a gun show she stops and looks at the 700CDL with the fluted stainless barrel. So she called my ex-boss(my ffl) this morning and asked him to find his best deal on one of the CDLs Depending on what he finds(based on what I've seen probably a 257) the other will be built on my MKX action with a plain barrel. She said since she was going speed goat hunting next year she wanted something a little flatter than her 7x57. Only issue is I'll need a slip on pad for when I want to shoot the CDL since she is 5'4" and Im 6'1". I figure that is a small price to pay.

Isn't love grand, great plan