Does any one here do barrel fluting?

[Joe R]

Does any one here do barrel fluting? If you know of some one that does I would like to hear from you. Ideally it would be in the Houston area.

 

[Erik Cortina]

Look up boltfluter on this site.

 

[JRS]

If it isn't a factory barrel, your best bet will always be the company who made it. They know what it is and were the last one to touch it.

 

[BigDMT]

Just mail the action to someone who does. No FFL transfers needed. You mail to him, he mails right back to your house when done. This guy on the web site below does awesome work at very fair prices with some really cool fluting options. I had him flute some bolts and they turned out very nice.

http://twistedbarrel.com/

 

[Cigarcop]

Kampfeld Custom

 

[ShootDots]

I had one of my barrels fluted by Rock Creek BEFORE it was delivered... I asked them if fluting was detrimental to the barrel and THEIR response was on this order: Cut rifled barrels have no problem with ill effects from fluting. Button or hammer forged barrels will need another round of stress relief due to the fluting.... I am not a metallurgist so I am simply reporting what Rock Creek stated... Something to think about before you decide on a flute job..

 

[Dgd6mm]

Look up boltfluter on this site.

+1 Joe take a look at the barrel that boltfluter posted today. Beautiful work.

Don Dunlap

 

[rwk]

Will barrel fluting warp a finished barrel.

 

[riverwolf1]

Yup theres a guy that goes by Boltfluter on here, that does fluting on bolts and barrels. I believe their website is proprecisionrifles.com

 

[riverwolf1]

There have been many discussions about this on this forum, and there are good arguments on both sides. The process does impart stress on the barrel, and there have been a lot of barrels that are fluted after chambering. Some say it has effected the accuracy and others say that it hasn't. I happen to have a custom built 6 BR heavy barrel that was fluted after the barrel was chambered and it shoots extemely well. I think its a crap shoot, but if you need to get weight down its a viable option.

 

[NateHaler]

IMO, there are only two legitimate reasons to flute a barrel.

1) to reduce the barrel's weight
2) because it looks cool

I would never have a barrel fluted after it was installed. I would buy another, lighter barrel, and if money was an issue, sell the heavier barrel to defray the cost of the replacement.

 

[riverwolf1]

BillO
Is it your belief that when a factory produces a barrel blank, ie drill the hole, rifle it etc that they flute the blank before all the above is accomplished or do you think that they get the blank completed ready to ship to a customer and the customer says please flute it? I chamber my own barrels but do not have a mill so sending the blank out before or after chambering does not seem to make a difference. As for after installing, its a matter of unscrewing it from the action and sending to someone like boltfluter to get it fluted. The only reason I have ever had fluting done is to make weight in the BR game. I have a Teddy action that by utilizing a heavier blank with fluting it makes the LV class. Like I said in my earlier post there are pro's and con's in the way fluting is accomplished! I [ersonally have 3 fluted barrels all done after. 2 of them shoot extremely well in BR competitions and thats were the rubber meets the road, if it doesn,t shoot you paid your entry fee for fun!

 

[NateHaler]

BillO

My belief, i.e. my opinion, is that the time/hassle/cost of removing a barrel, having it fluted, and then screwing it back on (and confirming proper headspace), and then determining if the barrel is capable of satisfactory performance is more of a PITA then simply buying a lighter weight barrel.

Some people will go to Jenny Craig, read books, wear a FitBit, and join a support group to lose weight.

Me, I'll eat less and exercise more. Easy. 8)

 

[RW]

I believe boltfluter can flut it, with out taking it off the action! with is a plus! You would just ship it to him and he would ship it back to you. You can look him up on his web site, RW

 

[riverwolf1]

Ok now I am beginning to get where your comming from, I don't have to do any of the things your talking about because, I use custom actions with coned bolt face's. Once I have a barrel that has been threaded, chambered and headspaced I'm done I can take a barrel off my action and screw another in during a match without any a problem and its done all the time by guys that have switch barrel rifles so they can go from LV class to HV class and only have one custom action. Now a guy with a Savage kind of mind set ( and I am not knocking Savages) has to do everything your talking about, and I would agree thats a PITA, but you only have to do it once. I am stocking a savage rifle in 6BR right now for a guy and it was converted by SSS so that it has a shoulder and an after market recoil lug so tecnically you could unscrew this and put it back on without having to do the PITA stuff.

 

[DennisH]

Kampfeld Custom

Their are about one of the best.

Dennis

 

[gunnermhr]

Kampfeld Custom

Another vote for Karl, he does GREAT work.

 

[JDMock]

COL Billy Stevens, Leitchfield, KY. James

 

[Joe R]

Thank you all who hare responded and offered me advice. I did make some calls and decided to have two barrels fluted by one of the people that you guys recommended. I'm not going to say which one and I'm sure you can understand why. I'm sure they're all excellent craftsmen, but I have to pick one and I don't want there to be looser/winners. You all have been helpful. Couldn't have done it without your recommendations.

Kindest regards,
Joe