Originally Posted by mathman
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The stiffness of a barrel is a result of the "quantity" of steel used, not the finished shape.


Not true. For a given amount of steel the moment of inertia of the cross section, which changes with shape, influences the resistance to bending.

Note that I am not saying removing material from an already made barrel will make it stiffer.


Furthermore, the elastic modulus for plain carbon steel is about the same as that of any barrel alloy. No appreciable "stiffness" difference between a given contour in CM versus stainless.