Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Questions, thoughts on barrel fluting...

I have rifles that are fluted. I have rifles that are not fluted. Each rifle came to me that way. I am preparing to have built a new rig and trying to decide "to flute or not to flute". That is the question.

From what I have read most seem to agree that fluting after the fact (if detrimental) is more detrimental to a button rifled barrel than it is to a cut rifled barrel. The barrel I will be using is a cut rifled barrel in #3 profile.

With that in mind and willingly admitting that 75% of the reason that I would like "to flute" is because I like how it looks how much weight reduction might one expect on a 24" finished #3 profile as a result of fluting. If I chose to do this I would use parallel flutes of whatever a normal accepted depth and contour is. Nothing extraordinary.

Short of the looks the weight reduction is the only other consideration that has any merit to me.

Thanks in advance.

twofish

Flutes are for band camp. Keep one cartridge out of the box and that will likely equal the weight loss.

WELL SAID!


And they are UGLEE. Give me clean lines and classic looks, please.

Flutes are aesthetic on most everything #4 contour and below. You'll have to decide if the look is for you. Deep flutes can do real good on heavy barrels when it comes to weight savings. I've yet to find a barrel that was made less accurate when I sent it to Karl to have fluted.

I personally like tha way straight flutes look on a rifle. Does fluting truly only reduce weight by that small an amount?

I am surprised that it is such a small amount. I thought it would be more with all the talk of larger profile barrels being close in weight to smaller profiles after fluting.

Flute a straight contour with a 22 caliber whole done the middle, you'll loose some weight, but it will still be HEAVY.

As said, fluting a #3 is cuzz you want to, you ain't saving much of anything.

I'd rather put the $125, or whatever it costs to flute, towards another tube. I figure the goal is to wear a tube out and why spend the coin to make one 'pretty' if you will eventually be throwing it away.

In so far as flute depth. What would be considered an aesthetic flute vs. a weight saving flute? I can only surmise that if fluting for some reason did infact negatively impact a barrel, whether button or cut rifled, the deeper the flute the greater the impact??

That is pragmatic thinking that I cannot disagree with. Kinda like chrome wheels on a car, steel ones serve the exact same purpose short of the shine...I do like chrome wheels though.

Found this from Karl's website.

Scroll to bottom for weight reduction answer.

http://www.kampfeldcustom.com/index_052.htm#23question

As I said, take one cartridge out of the magazine and you'll equal things out.

I'm with non fluted for an old school look!

If you like the looks and $$$ is not an issue than I say go for it... but I'll side with SH on saving the extra jingle for more important things, because you won't be saving much weight!

I'd rather have the smith turn the barrel down to a lighter contour.

Who's #3 are you using? Some, such as Brux and Bartlein, are pretty heavy.

I don't know how many barrels I have fluted; more than I wanted to, that is certain! Nonetheless, I have never done one for myself and don't expect to.
I had one interesting experience with a fluted barrel. I was not equipped to flute at that time so I sub-contracted the job. When I got it back, I felt that the flutes were too deep at the breech end. Reluctant to give it to the customer, I put the barreled action into an old stock I had and took it out to fire myself. It was only through good fortune that I was not injured when that barrel burst at the breech end. I bought a new barrel and re-barreled the rifle with a slimmer contour at my expense. This marked the last time I ever sub-contracted anything. GD

I like the fluted barrel look, and it can result in what I consider to be a significant weight reduction in larger contours.
On Lilja's website there is a spreadsheet you can get that estimates the weight reduction.

David

Thanks to all. The barrel I will be using is a Brux .30 Cal.

Greydog I would say that there was some wisdom involved in that good fortune.

twofish

As I said in OP 75% for looks and 25% for weight reduction. Unless the finished rifle shoots pretty much one ragged hole I can see myself saying "I wonder if I had not fluted...?".

Thanks for the laugh, Scott.

I need to start asking myself before I start planning out my latest harebrained idea, "How would Steelhead mock this?" Probably save me a lot of trouble and money.

If ya like flutes ,get'em.
Not everyone agrees on everything. I jumped on the IT&D band wagon cause it was the thing to do .All it got was a chit chamber job ! Dave wouldn't fix it,so I'm stuck with good barrel with an out of round chamber.

I was laughing so hard I spilt my milk all over my jammies!!