Well almost anyway.
Well to start I have always liked the looks of a fluted barrel so I had planned on having the barrel fluted on my re-barrel project.
When I called the barrel maker to place the order and asked their opinion on whether a #3 or #4 contour would be best suited for fluting, they said �If you want an accurate barrel then scrap the fluting, if you want a barrel that looks good then go with the flutes.�
Now I am in a total dilemma.
I really like the looks of fluted barrels, but I sure don�t want to invest the time and money in a rifle that isn�t accurate.
What are your experiences and opinions on fluted vs. non fluted barrels? Is there really that much of an accuracy loss when you flute a barrel?
A very confused,
Droptine

Well, you've confused me too. I haven't heard anyone say that fluting causes a loss of accuracy.

Droptine,

I've recevied fluted barrels that were bent and couldn't be straightened. My guess is that this doesn't help accuracy any. I have felt loose spots in fluted barrels and again guess that this doesn't help accuracy. I regularly flute barrels and have excellent results. I have seen fluted barrels shoot exceptionally well and I have seen fluted barrels shoot poorly. My opinion is it is a crap shoot who's outcome is entirely dependent on who does the fluting.

If the barrel is kept cool during the process and the flutes are machined in several passes each, then the integrity of the barrel should hold. On the other hand, if the flutes are hogged and the barrel is allowed to smoke, then all bets are off. If you get a good one, my experience is that it will shoot. Shilen for instance will not guarantee a barrel that has been fluted and I understand why.

Good luck,

Malm

I have two HS Precision Rifles that shot 1/2 " groups and both have fluted barrels. I guess somebody needs to tell HS that fluted barrels are not accurate

I had the barrel on my Ruger 77 MkII, LH .300 Win Mag fluted and it shoots just as well as it did before it was done; sub-MOA. Barrel was cryo treated after fluting but I don't know if that made a difference. I had the fluting done for weight reduction.

Absolutely amazing how we tend to blame the name brand barrel,action, (name your favorite component) when it was poor workmanship all along.

If you want the answer, talk to Ed Shilen of Shilen Rifle barrels. He quit fluting barrels 20+ years ago. In the bench rest game almost no one shoots a flute. The only thing a fluting job will get you is a sexy barrel and who needs two of them Get it?

Yes, you get a sexy barrel but I've also heard that fluting makes a barrel more rigid. I suppose that's for straight flutes not spiral ones.

The fluted barrel on my sendero sf 300rum shot .6" 5 round groups last weekend. This weekend I'm trying for sub .5". I don't know who makes the barrels for the senderos or how they are made; but don't let anyone tell you that all fluted barrels are crap.
Theoretically, a fluted barrel should last longer as it is able to cool quicker. Sometimes this is a factor when I'm shooting!

[ 03-05-2003, 05:09: Message edited by: recoiljunky ]

Went through a real long thread about a year ago concerning fluting. "To flute or not to flute" was the name of the thread. Do a topic search and see if that comes up as there were some savvy guys discussing it. I brought the thread up as I was building up a culling rifle that would be subject to a lot of fast firing and heat build-up was a concern.

Rather than re-hash it here I suggest you research that existing thread as I found it very informative. I opted not to flute.

If you *have* to have ditches down the barrel do it to a cut-rifed barrel. They have less stress and change less with extreme machining after rifling.

To prove it pour a lead lap but don't load it. cut away both sides so now the lap is flat and engages the bore at 180 degrees to each other.

It feels like a ratchet in a fluted barrel. It doesn't seem to affect accuracy enough to see a trend in hunting guns, though.

I have fluted lots of barrels and cryo treated all of them and they shoot fine. If you wan t light then thats the way to go

Info Sponge,

Not quite. Fluting removes metal which forms ridges or gussets down the length of the barrel. Anyone who has ever worked in the metals trade can attest to the supporting value of gussets.

Like I said in my earlier post, several years ago I had a fluted barrel come in to my shop that was bent and the customer wanted me to straighten it. With barrel fluting being relatively new at the time I gave it a shot. That was a learning experience. It wouldn't straighten.

Here is a test you can perform to see if fluting provides rigidity to a barrel or not. Take 2 chambered barrels of equal diameter. 1 fluted and 1 without flutes. Clean the bores and place an unprimed case in each chamber. Provide support for the barrels at each end leaving the center clear. Take a propane torch or an Alcohol lamp and start to warm the center of the barrel as you peer down the bore through the muzzle end.

Watch how the reflected image of the rings in the bore start to distort as the unfluted barrel starts to warm. Notice also how little heat is required to cause the barrel to distort. The warmer it gets the greater the distortion. Next repeat this with the fluted barrel and note the results.

At this point it should become pretty clear how effective a role flutes play in providing rigidity to a guns barrel. This also provides a good demonstration on the effects of heat on the alignment of a barrel.

It is possible to cut the flutes too deep which can raise hell with the bore. If you make several machine passes per flute, the barrel is kept cool and the flutes don't crowd the bore, then there should be no reason that a fluted barrel won't work well for anyone wanting to have one. If a person doesn't like fluting, then they don't have to have it done...

Regards,

Malm

In the world of 1/2 MOA rifles fluting is probably fine. It is seldom you will see one on a winning BR rifle though. I flut barrels and it does no harm to a hunting rifle but I would never flute one of my own barrels and certainly not one one of the target rifles. Regards, Bill.

Info Sponge,

Perhaps then you can explain why a fluted barrel is less prone to flexing or heat distortion than the unfluted one?

Malm,
As much as I respect your opinion, you are off on this one. I do not know what you are seeing with the distortion when heat is applied but it is not barrel rigidity due to the flutes.

My main education is in Civil Engineering with enough structural engineering to bore this whole forum to tears for over a year. The formula for rigidity in a column uses what a property of the shape that is known as the moment of intertia. The larger that moment of inertia the more rigid it is. An example of moment of inertia is a skater spinning. They bring their arms in, the mass moves in and the moment of inertia decreases and they spin one hell of a lot faster. They did nothing to increase that speed but move their arms.

Flanges are formed on steel webs to make I beams. The steel on the outer extremities do more to stop deflection that that in the center. The ibeam is more economy of shape, using material at the extremities to do the work of resisting forces. Taking any round column shape and removing material on those extemities decreases the moment of inertia in the area where material does the most good and the abilty of that member to resist a load, either axially or in a load perpendicular to the axis. Okay don't get drowsy on me. It boils down to the full barrel has a larger moment of inertia is more rigid. If you want me to put my Professional Engineers stamp on it, I will do it and so will a gazillion structural engineers.

[ 03-05-2003, 10:07: Message edited by: Customstox ]

Chic,

No stamps necessary... my mistake.

Regards,

Malm

Jim Kobe,
Bull!! , fluted rifles are the very best at knocking the hide off your knuckles and some will even cut your fingers.

Malm,
No problem. At this stage in my life, I would much rather know just what you have forgotten about gunsmithing than all that I remember about engineering.

I still don't get the facination with super light rifles, I have yet to see a light rifle that was easy to shoot offhand.
I regularly add weight to my rifles to tune the balance.
Do you guys think that most folks spend so much money and effort on the lightest possible rifle, when the money would be much better spent on a rifle the "fits" and is properly balanced?
I understand the need for guys that really backback into remote areas, not for Joe Blow, hunting from horseback or atvs, in the east.

JMHO

For anyone interested, Varmint Al has a pretty interesting section on barrel fluting (from an engineering standpoint) on his web site. It addresses stiffness and the amount of 'droop' from the receiver to the muzzle. This is not necessarily the same as the accuracy issue.

Personally, I think the funniest fluted barrels are on some of the new (cheap) muzzle-loaders like you see in the Cabela's catalog.

www.cctrap.com/~varmint/arelo.htm

suntiet,

There's a good chance you might have done the fluting on my rifle's barrel as it was done in your shop back in '98 or '99. I concur with you; it shoots just fine, it is lighter and plenty rigid for my purposes.

Aesthetically I prefer un-fluted but my back prefers the fluted barrel.