I recall reading of a test where the temperature of a fluted rifle barrel was actually measured over timed intervals, testing the effectiveness of the theory that fluting a rifle barrel is worthwhile from the standpoint of barrel cooling. Upshot was that it was of essentially no practical benefit. The barrel's temperature did gradually drop, but so slowly that it was irrelevant.
Pros and cons of fluting barrel
- Thread starter ryanshaw44
- Start date
I figured some one would ask about facts, fact of the matter is i had the chance to test this theory with 2 rifles, one was a H.S precision which guaranteed a 3 shot sub moa group, the other a model 70 black shadow.
Both rifles 300 wsm
The model 70 would not group as well for a three shot group, (1.3'') versus the .87 three shot group the fluted H.S offered up.
But when a five shot group was fired the H.S fired a 2.32'' group, the fourth wandered a bit further than the 3 shot group but the fith almost a 1''.
The model 70 5 shot group was 1.92, OD on the two barrels was within .006, guess which was fluted, the H.S precision.
In high pressure situations like a rifle creates, many other simular pressure apps don't use fluting to dissipate heat, coolant lines, radiators, and heat transfer units on the pipelines don't flute, they add fins!
Why cause fluting would weaken the lines!
Whether fluting is worth the cost is irrelevant..... I NEVER stated that it was worth the cost or was a necessary add on..... I only said that in some situation fluting does indeed improve accuracy by cooling off the barrel more quickly.... Increasing surface area helps to cool... this is a fact and not a theory.... I shouldn't have to prove to you that the world is round....
Reputable gun makers who flute barrels... Remingtion, Winchester, Savage, Tikka, Sako..... the list goes on....
Nobody is reccomending fluting for target barrels.... every gun has it's own use and whether fluting will help or harm depends on the usage of the rifle....
The increased rate at which a fluted barrel cools, compared with a non-fluted barrel is irrelevant.
Remington, Winchester, Savage, Tikka, Sako, et al, are in the business of selling guns. If a feature or gimmick can increase sales, it makes a lot of sense to offer the feature or gimmick. Heck, I bet someone could sell guns with bubblegum pink stocks. Wait, someone already is.....
Remington, Winchester, Savage, Tikka, Sako, et al, are in the business of selling guns. If a feature or gimmick can increase sales, it makes a lot of sense to offer the feature or gimmick. Heck, I bet someone could sell guns with bubblegum pink stocks. Wait, someone already is.....
What you don't understand is that I am not advocating fluting a bench rifle.... in the case of a bench rifle you want exactly what you are saying here... you want the barrel to be big and heavy and absorb heat.....
On a hunting rifle, you don't want to carry that heavy barrel.... you may have to fire 3 or 4 rapid shots.... then the rifle will have a while to cool off.... the idea is to cool the barrel as quickly as possible so that shot 3 is still accurate enough....
Your test is flawed... you used two different rifles.... you have to compare like for like.... you need two identical rifles... same barrel OD... one fluted one not.....
Coolant lines and radiators are designed based on hydraulic principles... rifles don't work this way....
No... but I believe with a bolt action rifle where the action is slow that a fluted barrel would be cooler for shot 4 than a non fluted barrel doing the same....
Note that most of the rifles that carry fluted barrels are indeed bolt action varmint rifles....
I think you guys are mistaking me as saying you should run out and flute everything....lol.... all I am saying is that a case can be made that on some firearms used for certain purposes fluting may be of use... therefore the statement "fluting is useless and will hurt accuracy" is incorrect.... it all depends on the application....that's all...
I believe the statement was "fluting will never increase accuracy" and at best will not harm it to noticeable degree...
The biggest harm with a hot barrel is not a loss of immediate on target accuracy but the fact that each shot taken when a barrel is extremely hot, wears the barrel considerable more than if it were cooler...
The biggest harm with a hot barrel is not a loss of immediate on target accuracy but the fact that each shot taken when a barrel is extremely hot, wears the barrel considerable more than if it were cooler...
I never gave this much thought.........
Not to hi-jack....
.......but could you add to this?Here is something to think about-
When a shot is fired, and heat energy is transferred to the barrel, the exterior surface of the barrel, the radiating surface, does not instantly reach its maximun temperature. It takes time for the heat to reach the surface, and for the barrel to reach a uniform temperature. Fire a series of rapid shots, and the barrel surface temperature will continue to rise, after the firing is over, until it reaches its maximum temperature. It will then begin to decease as heat energy is transferred to the atmosphere.
What effect would fluting have on this?
As the heat radiates towards the surface the first part it would hit would be the bottom of the flutes.... as it hit the bottom of those flutes it would begin to dissipate heat to the surrounding air.... as the remainder of the heat built up in the barrel it would continue in the metal and be further exposed to the air by the sides of the flutes.... eventually, if you kept firing and heating up the barrel it would reach the outer diameter... at which point the surfaces of the barrel would all be dissipating heat.... including the bottom and sides of the flutes....
Why is it "irrelevant"?.... How much heat is "enough heat"?....
A fluted barrel not only cools better due to increased surface area, it also starts to cool earlier than a non fluted barrel.... I fail to see where you can state that it is irrelevant withouty any evidence to back it up....
- Location
- Niagara Region, Ontario. For now
It's not a question of "does it cool faster?" for me.
It is a question of "does it cool fast enough to make any noticeable difference?"
I don't think you will be able to prove that that difference is noticeable, or that the difference offers any benefits to the shooter.
If you could prove that fluting would mean a barrel would heat up at a slower rate during rapid fire you may have a point, but this is not the case if you continue to put rounds through the barrel. The cooling only comes into effect after rounds stop going down the barrel.
With a fluted barrel you actually get less material on the barrel and in turn the barrel would heat up even quicker during a rapid fire string, negating the minor benefits of slightly quicker cooling, no?
Ok... first off, I am not talking about "rapid fire"... I am talking a regular series of shots that you would take with a bolt action hunting rifle... say 4-5 as that is the usual mag capacity of these rifles...
A fluted barrel would start to dissipate heat more quickly and would not allow the rifle barrel to reach the same temperature as it's non fluted counterpart given the same amount of shots over the same amount of time....
Also, the idea that you are getting less material on a fluted barrel is actually not completely true either... typically fluted barrels do not have a tapered contour like most sporting barrels do.... so, for the majority of the length of the barrel you actually have more material....
They also quit the idea of machining or fluting as it was the same process to cylinder sleeves on most types of engines years ago, reason being was performance was hampered by uneven expansion rates and increased wear.
These work under almost the exact same principle as a rifle barrel fwiw to those interested in a little bit of factual trivia
This happened before my time, this knowledge was passed on to my father who has close to 50 years experience with journeyman mechainics / journeyman welding experience.
On a heavy varmit barrel/ heavy target barrel fluting probably wouldn't decrease accuracy much if at all
But on a light sporter barrel the results could be most unwanted.
These work under almost the exact same principle as a rifle barrel fwiw to those interested in a little bit of factual trivia
This happened before my time, this knowledge was passed on to my father who has close to 50 years experience with journeyman mechainics / journeyman welding experience.
On a heavy varmit barrel/ heavy target barrel fluting probably wouldn't decrease accuracy much if at all
But on a light sporter barrel the results could be most unwanted.
A proper fluted barrel is none of these mentioned above.... it is a barrel that is designed specifically to be fluted.... light sporter barrels are tapered... proper fluted barrels are not....
