Anyone use fluted barrels?

If weight is really the goal, then steel. Small contours heat up quick in big magnums but still shoot great for the first few rounds. I think of flutes as adding weight. Typically you'd need to go up a contour or two in order to then flute it. Especially if ordered directly from a manufacturer.
If one is already considering a larger contour, then carbon has a horse in the race, especially for larger muzzle diameters for suppressors or big bores

I'd like to weigh my Bart #4 that's fluted 3/8x5 I think.

But the Boss Man at LPR used about a 36" pipe wrench and spot tigged it for good measure. Maybe it's cross- threaded too .
It's been good for 1.75-2.25" at 500yds, over about 2-3 different sessions though!
Snake River did the flootin'

Fluting a cut rifle barrel is a lot different than a button rifle barrel. Some of my biggest disappointments have been fluted, like trying to fix a bad girl friend!

My Krieger and Brux fluted as they came from the company have been great, but with 4 other companies that shoot 5/8-3/4" at best, it is $1000 shot to crap when they do not live up to expectations. Looks be damed, I want the accuracy.

Well time will tell on mine !

One and only fluted Krieger Barrel, came on my Weatherby Ultralight, in 270 Win. Its stainless Steel, and very thin. Heats up quickly. No rapid third or fourth shot for this rig. Favorite deer rifle, love it , use it more than any other hunting rifle. Just need to understand its limits!! New Accumark coming in 7PRC.with a heavier barrel and will be fluted. Not really a big deal to me either way .

Koda_ said:

Thats interesting, a sub 2lb barrel would heat up really fast. Would you say the retained precision is due to the quality of construction or do you think the flutes help keep it cooler longer? Is it too hot to touch after that 10rd string of fire?

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A ten shot string takes me an hour or more. I fire the first two like a cold bore and follow up. Then I space the rest out.

RichCoyle said:

A ten shot string takes me an hour or more. I fire the first two like a cold bore and follow up. Then I space the rest out.

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Well then the flutes arent helping keep the barrel cool. To me thats a cold bore zero not a string of fire but I know everyone has their own technique.

i've stated this in other threads on what i have and weight differences, so here it goes again (not condescending).

2 almost equal in length and not so much profile wise, but both are for small trunnion 110's long action builds.
264wm 32" savage magnum profile w/ straight flutes
300wm 30" cf magnum profile (my guess is with the cf layers for that diameter) that weighs ONLY 14 or 15oz less than the 32" ss.

that's my end of buying cf barrels. not enough weight difference for the extra cost. now having cf components for weight savings is a different story i buy into!

Larger surface area for a given weight barrel equals faster cooling but this is all moot on your standard hunting rifle. You also have to compare barrels of equal final weight and bore size..

Unless its varmint like p-dogs etc if everything goes ok you hopely need 1 cold bore shot if not maybe 1 possibly 2 more. As long as any POI change is consistent it can be compensated for with practice.

Depending on how the fluting is done, for a given barrel weight they absolutely can be stiffer heat slower cool faster.

With current multi axis cnc today you can design and cut some very complex fluting. Just look at some of what LRI does.

Despite the assurances that match button rifles are completely steess relieved, as a hobby knife making and using a digital controled ht oven realitiy its not that simple. I think there is a good reason Hart only does fluting pre bore lap for that very reason. But with cut chances of stress are greatly reduced. I stick with cut if its going to be fluted. Personally, I feel the same about muzzle threading as well as its one of the most critical areas of the barrel in terms of accuracy.

tim_w said:

Depending on how the fluting is done, for a given barrel weight they absolutely can be stiffer heat slower cool faster.

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Ive always thought that for the same barrel weight fluting it would cause it to heat faster due to less material? It will also cool faster.

From memory of my short-lived CAD experiment the increase in surface area was in the single digit to maybe extremely low double digit percentages. Recall that you give up some of the barrel's OD surface area to get the surface area of the flutes. It's not a gain of 100% of the flute's surfaces.

Koda_ said:

Ive always thought that for the same barrel weight fluting it would cause it to heat faster due to less material? It will also cool faster.

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It does not have less material. They have equal material/mass/weight. Two 30 cal 5r 10 twist barrels one is fluted the other is a standard tapered cylinder. They both weigh exactly 3.5lb..have the exact same mass. But the fluted barrel has 2x the total external surface area and they both have identical bore volume / surface area. The barrel temp location that is critical is the bore surface. The exposed external surface area of equal mass will start cooling preventing retarding tempeture rise and reaching ambient after firing is ceased sooner.

There is a reason cpu heat sinks are ribbed with deep channels and not just a solid hunk of aluminum.

ETA: The 2x surface area is a hypothetical example to place focus on that area. No consideration to real world practicality

tim_w said:

It does not have less material. They have equal material/mass/weight. Two 30 cal 5r 10 twist barrels one is fluted the other is a standard tapered cylinder. They both weigh exactly 3.5lb..have the exact same mass. But the fluted barrel has 2x the total external surface area and they both have identical bore volume / surface area. The barrel temp location that is critical is the bore surface. The exposed external surface area of equal mass will start cooling preventing retarding tempeture rise and reaching ambient after firing is ceased sooner.

There is a reason cpu heat sinks are ribbed with deep channels and not just a solid hunk of aluminum.

Its about surface area when it comes to temp control and

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yeah, my description wasn't good.
So if we have a barrel of a given diameter it will heat at a given rate. If we take that same barrel and flute it, its now lighter and will heat faster. Likewise it will cool faster. So the net effect of fluting a barrel is really nothing gained.

This is just my layman understanding, would love to learn more if not correct. Ive read a little about fluting and always read conflicting opinions even from experienced shooters.

Koda_ said:

yeah, my description wasn't good.
So if we have a barrel of a given diameter it will heat at a given rate. If we take that same barrel and flute it, its now lighter and will heat faster. Likewise it will cool faster. So the net effect of fluting a barrel is really nothing gained.

This is just my layman understanding, would love to learn more if not correct. Ive read a little about fluting and always read conflicting opinions even from experienced shooters.

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That is generally correct.

Where if you have a 3.5 lb 2b contour barrel then took a rem sendero/varmint contour which starts @ just shy of 5lb and fluted it to where it weighed 3.5lbs it would nave more surface area. The amount could vary significantly based on the design profile of the fluting.

Fluting wouid be very different if naximum cool vs maximum stiffness vs combo blending the two for best compromise of both