Stupid question time...If I order a barrel in 9.3x62 Say from Douglass) in a Standard Sporter Contour, can it still be fluted and if so would there be any adverse reaction, with regard to accuracy?

Thanks.

You can only make a barrel so thin before it bursts. In a standard sporter weight barrel with a hole that big in it, the flutes would be little more than scratches. At $50 per scratch, it would hardly be worth it even from a cosmetic standpoint. As far as accuracy goes. Any time you reduce weight you theoretically reduce accuracy. Less weight to keep you steady. Less material to soak up heat. Less material to resist warpage or walk during heat up. And any time you work material in any way it introduces more stress. I always tell my customers that they can expect their accuracy to suffer a bit with fluting. How much you never know unless you shoot it before and after. Some times there is no noticeable difference. Other times quite a lot. I don't recall hearing about any that shot better after fluting, but I'm sure some one will pipe up with a story.

So, at what contour would flutes be a viable option?

Well, that's entirely up to you I suppose. On my own stuff flutes are not an option. But that's me and I'm sort of funny that way. I suppose from a cosmetic standpoint they look sort of foolish if they are less than .040 inch deep. I don't know that I would make a 9.3 any thinner at the muzzle than .650 inch in diameter(on the inside of the flutes.) So to have enough material to make flutes in you would need to go to a Remington 5-1/2 Medium Weight Varmint contour. That would actually be adding quite a lot of weight to an otherwise trim 9.3 which are traditionally made with thin pencil barrels like a #4 Shilen contour. Tom plays with those gwerschmottem-gwerbotton calibers a lot. He probably knows more about the minimum dimensions of them than I do.

Thank you for the info. very helpful.

One of the best ways to learn, is to ask.

I have always wondered about stresses introduced during machining. I would stress relieve the barrel after fluting. That way you wouldn't have different stresses in different flutes.
I wonder if they did that when they made the octagon barrels like I have ?