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Does fluting a barrel affect precision

As per the title. Fluting I understand decrease barrel weight and can help with heat dissipation. The question is since it decreases barrel weight, would it affect the width of the accuracy node? What has been your experience?
 
JLow -

Howdy !

Look @ it from the other direction.....

Because " fluting " can lighten the barrel, one can use a larger-diameter barrel ( of otherwise same calibre, materiel; length ). The larger-diam barrel is " stiffer ".

As a result:
The larger diameter barrel might have an OD that ( cosmetically ) is wide / near as-wide-as the action.

There are some potential repercussions, as regards barrel " fit " in the rifle's fore end ( bolt action ).
With an AR-style rifle, handguard fit could be affected / changed.


With regards,
357Mag
 
That's an impossible thing to answer. As you would never know weather it was the barrel itself that widens the accuracy node. I bought two Krieger barrels years ago for a 1000 yard rifle, 6.5/284, one fluted, one unfluted. There was virtually no difference between the two, and what little difference there was, I could not say for sure that it was due to fluting or non fluting.
 
When you do any machining to a barrel, you might change how it vibrates. This could change how the barrel stays in tune.

There is no way to quantify as a general rule due to the massive difference in barrels.

So the only way to know on your barrel is to modify it and see if anything happens.

But then you only have a rule of 1 - " this was the affect on my barrel"

Clear as mud?

Jerry
 
Thanks for the response guys.

First, Don’t have any control on barrel diameter.

I agree that things could be different even between two “identical” barrels but was just wondering on the general side. I am buying one and have a chance to have it fluted by the maker and so ignoring price, weight, heat dissipation… Just wondering since I have heard from more than one source that barrel diameter affects the width of the accuracy node. BTW, not talking about accuracy but precision.
 
jlow said:
Thanks for the response guys.

First, Don’t have any control on barrel diameter.

I agree that things could be different even between two “identical” barrels but was just wondering on the general side. I am buying one and have a chance to have it fluted by the maker and so ignoring price, weight, heat dissipation… Just wondering since I have heard from more than one source that barrel diameter affects the width of the accuracy node. BTW, not talking about accuracy but precision.

I can't say one way or another - the trick with these type of statements is for the person to quantify to see if the difference would matter. If your planning on shooting in the 0's and 1's, I probably wouldn't do it. Width of node is another aspect again. IMO this can be affected as much by how you go about finding your accuracy node as any particular component.
 
6BRinNZ said:
jlow said:
Thanks for the response guys.

First, Don’t have any control on barrel diameter.

I agree that things could be different even between two “identical” barrels but was just wondering on the general side. I am buying one and have a chance to have it fluted by the maker and so ignoring price, weight, heat dissipation… Just wondering since I have heard from more than one source that barrel diameter affects the width of the accuracy node. BTW, not talking about accuracy but precision.

I can't say one way or another - the trick with these type of statements is for the person to quantify to see if the difference would matter. If your planning on shooting in the 0's and 1's, I probably wouldn't do it. Width of node is another aspect again. IMO this can be affected as much by how you go about finding your accuracy node as any particular component.
Thanks! This gun will be pretty much all about accuracy and is the reason I backed off from the fluting but just wanted some confirmation about the decision. Agree about the effect of other component but just want to maximize my chances.
 
It may offer slightly faster cooling, but it will also heat up quicker. As far as accuracy difference goes, if not done by the barrel maker......there is a chance internal dimensions will change...are you feeling lucky today?
 
LHSmith said:
It may offer slightly faster cooling, but it will also heat up quicker. As far as accuracy difference goes, if not done by the barrel maker......there is a chance internal dimensions will change...are you feeling lucky today?
Yes, the cooling bit is always a bit of a mystery to me. Certainly the fluting will increase surface area which enhance heat dissipation but my understanding is more metal i.e. a thick barrel also has the advantage of more material to suck up the heat from the chamber. Regardless, heat will not be my problem since it will be single load and usually with 2 min between shots.

The option would actually be done by the barrel maker if I had chosen the option…. But again a mute point. If I do it, it would be more about weight than anything, but that is a small consideration and so I chose not to do it since I want to focus on what is most important to me which is accuracy and nothing about luck!
 
+1 to what Ray just said. All my bbls. are cryoed now before any chambering takes place. I really believe that it helps the tune-ability of a bbl. as well as the longevity. If it does neither, I sleep better at night. ;)
Lloyd
 
Is that still in vogue? Not really sure that I have that option (was not given) and my understanding of the method is that the barrel blank should be treated before machining…
 
Just remember that the more you machine a barrel the more stress that builds up in the metal. Barrels are heat treated to remove the stress from drilling, rifling, and profiling. Now we have another stress to deal with. Why add what you don't need to?

Only reason I can see for fluting is the cosmetic factor. If you need to "make weight" take the weight off of the stock or use a lighter scope.
 
Ray - Very nice from the man himself – lots of wisdom there. You will notice that when he mentioned cryogenics, he does it at different stages of the barrel manufacturing. Since that is not really an option for me…

Amlevin – agreed.
 
357Mag said:
Because " fluting " can lighten the barrel, one can use a larger-diameter barrel ( of otherwise same calibre, materiel; length ). The larger-diam barrel is " stiffer ".

[Edit: I misread your post, 357Mag, sorry. Corrected below. B]

When you remove mass by fluting you lose stiffness. Of two barrels (of identical material) with identical lengths and contours, one fluted, the unfluted barrel is stiffer. But as you point out, if you use a fluted barrel of larger diameter it can be as stiff as an unfluted barrel which is thinner. But given two barrels of equal lengths, the heavier of the two will be stiffer.

However, there are many other variables to consider. This chap's web page offers a lot of things to think about:

http://www.varmintal.com/aflut.htm

Brian
 
Interesting article! First, his data does show less stiffness and greater “vertical position projected on 100 yards target” for a fluted barrel which is to be expected.

It seems in general fluting a barrel of larger diameter but same weight as an un-fluted barrel gives a stiffer barrel, but I think part of it depends on where the flute is. In that article, the flute is all along the barrel and almost to the crown. Some fluting like the one I was offered is only along the first half close to the chamber since (this is where most of the heat is). The difference is I presume the weakness caused by the fluting would be concentrated close to the chamber with on reduction in weight in the other half i.e. half that is closer to the crown. Seems like that could work against the barrel as the heavy half could leverage more against the weaker half?
 

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