I am looking at getting another AR15 and I am interested in something with free float hand rail and longer barrel - "varmint type" AR15.
I noticed that many of the bull barrel or "varmit" AR15s with fluted barrels have a non ventilated rail or a carbon fiber non ventilated rail - such as the DPMS Praire.

Does this not affect the cooling of the barrel?  It seems an obvious yes but many manufacturers use them including colt target ARs.  Also i would think this cause a varied temperature spread on the barrel since some of it is exposed and half or more covered by the cylindrical rail.

I have a basic AR and want a better "target" type AR but that can also be used to hunt such as the DPMS Praire.

Any comments if this is a valid concern ?

Precision shooters tend to not shoot enough, rapidly enough for significant heating to be a factor - significant heat buildup being a primary factor in premature damage/"wear out" of a precision barrel.

Vents will increase the rate of cooling, but there's plenty of heat dissipation via radiative cooling anyway.

It's a non issue as far as accuracy etc.  If you need confirmation that a non-vented aluminum handguard won't affect accuracy you should look at how service match rifles are put together.

No problems, in 3 gun we wrap the tube with paracord to help deal with the heat.  The tube gets hot after some high round count stages that are short on time.  I never noticed the heat during use, but carrying the rifle around during scoring you notice the tube heat.  Never noticed any walking of the rifle off target due to a hot barrel and tube, but I use a HBAR contour barrel.

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