Fluting question

[crich4254]

I have a brand new never fired barrel. If I were to have it fluted, would that change the way it would or should shoot? I guess would I lose accuracy? I’m expecting it to shoot ragged holes.

 

[Presis Skytter]

I toured Brux Mfg shop once. In their tour they said they flute their barrels before reaming. Why? Because fluting will cause the metal to relax different ways.

If it was me and I wanted a fluted barrel, I’d get a barrel that was made with them, not add them later.

 

[Mark M.]

I have a brand new never fired barrel. If I were to have it fluted, would that change the way it would or should shoot? I guess would I lose accuracy? I’m expecting it to shoot ragged holes.

I guess I would first ask.What caliber are you intending?And what are you going to do with the rifle

 

[Rick Richard]

All my experience with fluted barrels is plenty enough accuracy for a hunting rifle. Those barrels have all been custom barrels

 

[C.E.Smith043]

I toured Brux Mfg shop once. In their tour they said they flute their barrels before reaming. Why? Because fluting will cause the metal to relax different ways.

If it was me and I wanted a fluted barrel, I’d get a barrel that was made with them, not add them later.

Spot on

 

[makurtz]

I started spiral fluting my F-Class barrels (Bartleins & Brux's) to make legal weight when I switched to Majesta scopes on two of my rifles. Taking off 12-14 oz. Fluted three before & two after they have been chambered. I've experienced no difference whatsoever with accuracy vs unfluted and they've all been very, very competitive.

 

[tac284]

@boltfluter, I believe when I visited with Paul last time he mentioned in all the time he has been fluting barrels he has never had one be a problem. Maybe he will chime in and confirm.

 

[MQ1]

I’ve had a single experience where I had a premium barrel fluted by a known good, well respected gunsmith known for good fluting…that could not put two shots within 6 inches of eachother after fluting.

It was a Shilen barrel for those who are going to ask.

And the identical replacement barrel shoots lights out…so I try not to think about it

YMMV

MQ1

 

[WSnyder]

I’ve had boltfluter flute previously chambered and shot barrels and after the process they did not have any accuracy issues at all. Those all received suppressors after and along with the fluting so POI changed slightly. I couldn’t tell you if it was the fluting or the suppressor or both but the changes in POI were minimal. One barrel with fluting and suppressor is shooting on average better now than before with the same load. He’s also done a number of blanks for me and not a one shoots bad. I’m sending another batch of both previously chambered and some blanks soon and I have no worries about how they’ll shoot.

I suppose one could always go south but so far so good

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I noticed Shilen’s website says they don’t do fluting for accuracy issues, but who knows the real reason.

 

[Will Henry]

I've fluted a number of barrels for other people and had no reported accuracy loss, but I have never felt inclined to do one for myself. WH

 

[pintopete]

FAQs | Bartlein Barrels

www.bartleinbarrels.com

 

[Syncrowave]

My (uneducated) understanding is that fluting won't change the "stiffness" of the untouched barrel (it will remain the same), but since fluting could either relieve internal stresses, or introduce new ones, the POI might change.

Personally, I would check whether the barrel shoots as-is, and if so, I wouldn't risk fluting it ... and vice versa.

 

[DaveTooley]

My (uneducated) understanding is that fluting won't change the "stiffness" of the untouched barrel (it will remain the same), but since fluting could either relieve internal stresses, or introduce new ones, the POI might change.

Personally, I would check whether the barrel shoots as-is, and if so, I wouldn't risk fluting it ... and vice versa.

A lighter barrel can not be as stiff. Physics

 

[DaveTooley]

I've fluted barrels down to #2 contours. That was a 5 1/2 lb. 6.5-06 AI . It shot just fine for what it was.

 

[Syncrowave]

A lighter barrel can not be as stiff. Physics

Well, I'm not an engineer or scientist or gunsmith, but I always heard that a fluted barrel was "as stiff" as its unfluted earlier self ... kind of in the same way that tubing is stiffer than round bar of equal or even greater weight (since tubing of the same weight will have a larger diameter)...so it's not purely a matter of mass...if I'm reading this stuff right...

This is what the DuckDuckGo AI brain surgeons say FWIW:

 

[Kracken McGraw]

FAQs | Bartlein Barrels

www.bartleinbarrels.com

Very good read.

 

[DaveTooley]

Well, I'm not an engineer or scientist or gunsmith, but I always heard that a fluted barrel was "as stiff" as its unfluted earlier self ... kind of in the same way that tubing is stiffer than round bar of equal or even greater weight (since tubing of the same weight will have a larger diameter)...so it's not purely a matter of mass...if I'm reading this stuff right...

This is what the DuckDuckGo AI brain surgeons say FWIW:

In barrels of equal weight the fluted barrel is stiffer. This not a comparison of tubing vs solid round stock.

 

[Mark W]

I noticed Shilen’s website says they don’t do fluting for accuracy issues, but who knows the real reason.

I would be interested in seeing their data that led to that conclusion, but I’ll go out on a limb and guess that it probably wasn’t shared.

 

[ISS]

Dan Lilja told me once, IIRC, that there were engineering reasons to flute. But, flute first or risk "pushing" a barrel that was complete out of round if there was an inclusion (hard or soft spot) when the fluting (one flute at a time) created uneven pressure that rotating the barrel 180* to cut the next flute.
It's an issue that Savage eliminated when fluting their barrels. My friend Carl Hildebrandt was chief engineer there and told me about going to the H&R liquidation sale and convincing CEO Ron Coburn, again, IIRC, to buy the set up that cut all the flutes in their revolvers at once. That keeps the pressure even on all of them.

It makes sense.

ISS