Pro - Cools faster, lose some weight
Con - Barrel loses some rigidity
My opinion - A rigid barrel is more important unless you are firing multiple shots in quick succession. A varmint gun may benefit from fluting, but if your shooting slow fire bench rest type stuff I would not bother with flutes.
All depends on application.
What about "fluting" a barrel?
Fluting is a service we neither offer nor recommend. If you have a Shilen barrel fluted, the warranty is void. Fluting a barrel can induce unrecoverable stresses that will encourage warping when heated and can also swell the bore dimensions, causing loose spots in the bore. A solid (un-fluted) barrel is more rigid than a fluted barrel of equal diameter. A fluted barrel is more rigid than a solid barrel of equal weight. All rifle barrels flex when fired. Accuracy requires that they simply flex the same and return the same each time they are fired, hence the requirement for a pillar bedded action and free floating barrel. The unrecoverable stresses that fluting can induce will cause the barrel to flex differently or not return from the flexing without cooling down a major amount. This is usually longer than a shooter has to wait for the next shot. The claim of the flutes helping to wick heat away faster is true, but the benefit of the flutes is not recognizable in this regard until the barrel is already too hot.
Are you sure the barrel loses rigidity ?![]()
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Pro - the barrel will be a bit lighter.
A lighter barrel will heat up more rapidly than a heavier one. Will the slightly greater surface area result in meaningfully more rapid cooling?
Has decorative appeal(?).
If the barrel is properly stress relieved to start with, and if the machining is done well, the barrel shouldn't be warped. If-if.
personally I don't agree . if it is done correctly there should be no issues.
An ongoing debate?
I choose to believe Shilen knows what they are talking about.
An ongoing debate?
I choose to believe Shilen knows what they are talking about.
Somebody better phone Ted Gaillard right away! MurI wonder if Lilja knows![]()
Not every barrel maker agrees with Shilen however. Several flute their barrels at their factory. Everybody has an opinion but no one has sufficiently proven that it is a bad or good thing to do.