To flute or not to flute

[lancetkenyon]

http://proprecisionrifles.com/#boltfluting

 

Here is my muzzle brake done by Phoenix Custom Rifles. Badger Thruster blended into the contour of the barrel.

 

[C. Cordova]

This one time...at band camp.... NO FLUTE

not sure everyone got this...but i cant stop laughing.

[C. Cordova]

Tom Beckstrand wrote an article in 2013's edition of Sniper Magazine about the Accuracy International PSR rifle. He touched on fluting a bit. Here is an exerpt from the article:

 

One design change that resulted from AI’s exhaustive accuracy testing and development of the PSR [Precision Sniper Rifle] is the removal of flutes from the barrels. Engineers at AI decided to isolate the barrel flutes to see what impact they had on accuracy. The engineers attached a laser to the rifle’s receiver, another to the barrel, and a third to the scope. All three dots were zeroed at the same point, then they started shooting the rifle. They discovered that, no matter which fluted barrel they used, the dots would diverge as the barrel heated. The dots from the devices mounted to the scope and the receiver would stay in place, but the barrel’s device would manifest a point-of-impact (POI) shift. The POI shift from the warming barrel greatly diminished when they used barrels without flutes.

Engineers determined that the flutes never heated evenly, causing the POI shift. I hope the results of this test gain wide circulation through the sniper and long-range shooting communities to help eliminate some of the ignorance that surrounds the perceived advantages of barrel flutes. Flutes are great for shaving weight, but this is the first test I’ve heard that provided empirical data detailing what happens when the barrel is fluted. This should be the death of the “they cool a barrel faster, so they’re more accurate” argument, listed among flutes’ virtues. Our goal is and should always be to mitigate the effects of heat; fluting exacerbates it."

[WampusCat]

Unfluted fan here.

 

One thing is for sure, once you cut those flutes into it you can't put the material back. If you build a rifle and have it fluted before assembly, you will never know what kind of shooter the stick was prior to the cuts. In this case you will know because it's already assembled.

 

The weight savings is negligible (talking a mere ounces) . The cooling ability of the increased surface area would also be hard to quantify with so many variables. They will look cool though.

[sjvcon]

Someone may correct me, but my understanding is that fluting in competition barrels is done before destressing because it creates stress in the metal. With that thought in mind I would not flute it...or waste the money fluting factory barrel......

[WampusCat]

The overwhelming majority of competition barrels are not fluted... One can draw conclusions from that.

[10Turkeys]

You can have them fluted from the barrel maker which would be the best choice, or you can have an after market flute, but with the after market flute you have to realize that your barrel might not shoot as good as it once did. I changed stocks one time and it put my rifle over the ten pound two ounce limit in the rules. I had it fluted to knock off a couple ounces and the gun shot the same as before, but I knew going in that there was a 50/50 chance of it not doing so. Bottom line is that I wouldn't do it just to do it.

[rcdinaz]

You can but them already fluted from Brux and Hart and many others.

 

You already figured it out though, don't bother... If the barrel shoots good there is not point.

 

I will be trying Phx Customs for my next build as was suggested. They helped me out on a rebarrel, good guys!