I know this has been discussed before.  How do you do a search of past 365 days for more info on this subject??

Everything I've read about fluted barrels lead me to believe that the flutes are helpful. More surface area for cooling, weight reduction, and stiffening of the barrel. Some people here will tell ya that it doesn't improve stiffness and to be honest I don't know, just what I've read. Can't argue with the weight reduction and increased surface area though.

The most humourous answer I saw here on this question was, "It makes you look like a fag on the battlefield". Sorry I don't recall who posted that but it had me laughing for an hour.

Shabo

Most of the high end sniper/target rifles have fluted bbls.  I'm sure if it didn't help in some way the manufactures wouldn't go the the trouble to flute them. I like my fluted/stainless bbl. on the AR that I built, it helps decrease the weight, helps cool the bbl.(the flutes act like cooling fins) and stiffens the bbl.  As has been mentioned before, the stiffness is when you compare a fluted bbl. with a bbl. that's unfluted of the same weight from what I've read.  I still think that with the same dia. bbl. the fluted one will be stiffer.  If nothing else I think  they look cool.

From my observation, it would cut weight and and seem to cool the barrel alittle quicker. But I can't see where it would stiffen it .As afar as the true Outer Diameter of the flutes vs the same Outer Diameter of a regular barrel. I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn last night. It's only an Observation. Maybe a Guru would chime in here?? WarDawg

when you get your barrel fluted, does the gunsmith but a phosphate coating on the flutes?

See if this helps....

[url=]http://www.varmintal.com/aflut.htm[/url]

[url=]http://www.fulton-armory.com/fluting.htm[/url]

[url=]http://www.probed2000.com/flute.htm[/url]

The issue with stiffening is as followes:

If you have a barrel Fluted and a non-fluted barrel OF THE SAME WEIGHT (thats the key) the fluted barrel will be stiffer.

Now critics of fluting will say for example that fluting a 16" hbar will make the barrel less stiff. This is true when you compare it to a regular 16" Hbar, but it a bad comparison. Naturally the barrel with more mass will be stiffer.

Overall, as long as it is done right, the advantages to Fluting out weight that (very) minor consequence. As mentioned before, most precision sniper rifles ($10,000+) are fluted.

I ordered my 16" hbar from bushmaster pre fluted, and I couldn't be happier with it.
Here is an excerpt from their website:

Fluting (machining lengthwise grooves into the outer surface of the barrel) increases the surface area of the barrel - thereby allowing increased radiational cooling of the barrel mass. This process also adds to the "stiffness" of the barrel which enhances its accuracy. A third benefit of fluting is that the barrel is lighter after machining removes the steel in those lengthwise grooves. A fluted barrel will last longer, shoot straighter, and is considerably lighter than a standard heavy barrel. The accuracy gains would be most noticeable at longer distances or to the competition shooter, but for only $50 additional for most Bushmaster barrels, many feel that the benefits of fluting are well worth the cost.