Author Topic: How much difference do flutes make? (Read 513 times)

Norseman112 · « **on:** July 03, 2005, 05:58:15 PM »

How much quicker do fluted barrels cool off vs. non fluted barrels?
Also how much difference will there be in accuracy.

Norse

mitchell · « **Reply #1 on:** July 03, 2005, 07:47:08 PM »

well as for accuracy i can't help you, but for the cooling i can try. a barrel is air cooled so the more area that the barrel has the faster it will cool but if you have lots of area the barrel will be bigger and heavier and will hold its heat longer because of it size (ie try heating up a bar of meatal until red hot and see how long it is until you can touch it then try it with a needle) from what i read the idea of flutes it to give it the stiffness of a bull barrel (stiffer more accurate) but also give it more area to cool faster.

so to answer your question you wold have to figure out how much area the barrel had before the flutes and how much after make it a ratio and use the ratio for time.

mitchell · « **Reply #2 on:** July 03, 2005, 07:51:29 PM »

I THINK!!!! :?

quickdtoo · « **Reply #3 on:** July 04, 2005, 06:20:54 AM »

Quote from: Norseman112

How much quicker do fluted barrels cool off vs. non fluted barrels?
Also how much difference will there be in accuracy.

Norse

Start readin!!!! :eek:

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

Tim

Norseman112 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 04, 2005, 11:12:23 AM »

Thanks Mitchell and Quick,
The flutes have just started my intrest and the link you sent me Quick has some good info. Here is a quote by the author regarding fluting.

Conclusions
In conclusion, a regular plain barrel is a lot stiffer than a fluted barrel of the same outside diameter; however, a fluted barrel is a lot stiffer than a regular barrel of the same weight. Fluting will definitely dissipate heat quickly. And it is not because the surface area is increased; it is because the heat is allowed to reach the outside temperature at a faster rate by removing materials. If your bull barrel becomes unbearably hot on the surface, it is safe to assume that the bore temperature is at a point where it can literally dissolve soft materials. This will damage your bore in the long run.

So if you wish to flute your barrel, it should be because you want to reduce the overall weight of your rifle and you want your barrel to cool at a faster rate. Fluting your barrel with the belief that it will add stiffness just doesn't make any scientific sense.

here is the link http://www.snipercountry.com/Articles/RealBenefitsBarrelFluting.asp

Norse