Barber Pole Bolts

It's actually supposed to give debris a place to accumulate without binding the action. 99% do it for looks.

It's actually supposed to give debris a place to accumulate without binding the action. 99% do it for looks.

Click to expand...

Now that sounds a lot more like the reason. The edges of the spiral would scrape any grit or fouling into the grooves where it would sit until the rifle can get a regular cleaning.

The amount of weight savings is negligible and if you have enough mud, sand, snow or whatever on your rifle to need relief between the bolt and the receiver you have bigger problems than a little spiral fluting is going to address. Bottom line: it is as pointless as lipstick on a pig.

rr2241tx said:

Bottom line: it is as pointless as lipstick on a pig.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that astute analysis of the merits of a fluted bolt.

Accuracy International doesn't think that flutes on a bolt are pointless but what do they know? All three of my Remington 700s have PT&G bolts with Sako extractors. The bolts are oversized at 0.700" and fluted. The flutes greatly reduce the contact area between the bolt and the receiver in addition to providing a recess for dust and dirt to reside. The less contact between the bolt and the receiver the better. Bolt manipulation is considerably smoother, faster and more reliable. Go take a look at Zak Smith's website and see what happens when dust/sand and bolt action rifles get together, and get back to us when you've figured out which rifles continue to function.

If they do it for aesthetics, then I think they failed. I think they are extremely ugly. Would much rather have a smooth bolt, or a jeweled bolt.

The grooves provide some reduction in weight. And the spiral effect supposedly helps maintain compression resistance strength.

Behold my comparison of three different bolts from lightweight rifles....

I believe AI did it so that the rifle wouldn't freeze up in ARCTIC conditions, while maintaining their tight tolerances, the had difficulty with the cold weather trials, believe the first model jammed from freezing (literally) up.

Small things add up. As Float Pilot pointed out the fluted bolt is 1/4 lb or 4 oz lighter than the non fluted bolt. Not much alone, but compined with other weight reduction tactics you can get real weight differences.

Fluted bolt -4oz
Talley lightweight mounts vs steel -4oz
Uncle Mikes Mt. sling vs leather -8 oz
Leupold scope vs Zeiss scope -4 oz
Blind magazine vs floorplate -3oz
fluted barrel vs standard -4 oz
McMillan Edge stock vs factory -12 oz
Remington 700 action vs Weatherby -8oz

Some lighter weight options cost a lot and may not be worth it to everyone, others cost no more than the heavier options and may even cost less. While most of the above options are small it is possible to put together a Remington ADL that will weigh right at 3 lbs lighter than a Weatherby Vanguard.

You could reduce the weight of your gun by 1.25 lbs just by making wise choices in your rifle, sling, scopes and mounts without spending a penney extra.

AI had a valid reason

As stated in this thread. AI had cold weather and special situations in mind not walking for a few hours in the woods or sitting in a tree stand. Is not having flutes in your bolt a show stopper...NO! at least not for 99% of the people on this forum. If you think the weight reduction of a fluted bolt will really help with the weight reduction and how you handle a rifle then you need to stick to a Red Ryder for the time being or move your tree stand a little closer to the road.

jmr40 said:

Small things add up. As Float Pilot pointed out the fluted bolt is 1/4 lb or 4 oz lighter than the non fluted bolt.

Click to expand...

That is comparing a steel bolt from a Winchester to a Titanium alloy bolt from a Remington. You can't make an assessment on the weight savings of fluting by comparing two bolts made of different materials for different rifles. Think about it, does fluting remove 1/4 the material of the bolt?

I may be wrong, the actions are titanium, but I think the bolts are steel. At any rate there will be some reduction and the rest of my post is valid

The bolt on the Husky is steel and almost as light as the Remington

jmr40 said:

The action is titanium, not the bolt

Click to expand...

And that particular bolt from the Alaskan Ti has a skeletonized bolt handle to further reduce weight.

Pistol Ranch said:

Just a question for the uninformed.....
What is to keep dirt/mud/trash from falling OUT of the spiral grooves when the bolt is rotated to chamber the next round or for removal/cleaning??

It seems to be a good way for dirt to find its way into a rifles action..

Click to expand...

FALs have sand cuts in the bolt carrier too. Any recess in a bolt or bolt carrier allows crap to migrate there which can help to prevent binding between the bolt/bolt carrier and the receiver. I don't care about the weight savings, but I do care about the bolt being free to move forwards, backwards and rotate. Some of us shoot in very dusty, dirty conditions and fluted bolts or bolt cuts can help. I use Mobil 1 grease (red) on my bolts and it collects in the flutes and holds dirt there. This is similar to tapping a transmission or oil pan for a plug or temp sender. A good trick to keep the chippings from entering the oil supply is to put grease in the flutes. The grease holds the chippings.

helical fluted bolts

Eye candy!

jmr40 said:

I may be wrong, the actions are titanium, but I think the bolts are steel.

Click to expand...

You're not wrong. The action is Ti and the bolt is stainless steel. I have an Alaskan Ti chambered in .300 WSM.

Sand cuts

You can't compare sand cuts in an L1A1 to flutes in a bolt action rifle. Semi's do have a little advantage with the rapid movement of the bolt. With the mass moving back and forth rapidly and throwing some of the crap out of the receiver. Watch some high speed footage and you would be amazed of just how much crap blows out the ejection port. AI made the flutes for extremely harsh cold weather to be used by extremely cold harsh men during extremely harsh missions. Other wise it's just eye candy and something that sells because it sounds cool and looks cool too. I think it's a little over rated.

crossrhodes said:

Other wise it's just eye candy and something that sells because it sounds cool and looks cool too. I think it's a little over rated.

Click to expand...

An opinion and yet you've offered no evidence to back it up. I've already stated that the swept area of the bolt making contact with the receiver is considerably less for a fluted bolt. How is that not a good thing if you shoot in dusty, dirty and windy conditions as I do? A fluted bolt isn't eye candy to me since I don't really care for the appearance. I do prefer a smoother more reliable action though so I'll stick with flutes.

Also, the sand cuts in a the FAL carrier are there to prevent binding (and possibly wear) ... how is that different to cuts/flutes on the bolt of a bolt action rifle?

crossrhodes said:

AI made the flutes for extremely harsh cold weather to be used by extremely cold harsh men during extremely harsh missions.

Click to expand...

They seem to work in dry and dusty conditions too, even when other rifles don't.

http://demigodllc.com/video_serve.php?id=ss-rifle-fail

Can this be done to a semi auto rifle like an AR? PM me please I must get offline now. I'm really interested.

1858

20 years of pounding dirt for Uncle Sam and five of it carrying an M40 I really never had the problem. You do your PM's your OK. fifteen seconds or less to pull the bolt out, wipe it with the sleeve you ripped off your skive shirt the day before and your good to go. The only proof I can offer that not having flutes didn't kill me. Be glad to show you a DD214 form if we had a secure net.

Sand cuts

Go put some Mobil 1 grease in the sand cuts of your L1 and go fire 500 rounds in a wind blown, sandy area and let me know what happens. How many L1's don't have sand cuts and are still out there doing fine.
Not having flutes is not a show stopper. You have your opinion but have failed to show proof that flutes are necessary.

They may not be necessary, but they may help with friction. Surface contact is reduced. I've never turned a fluted bolt that was not smooth as butter. I'm sure that some of this was due to the care the rifle was assembled with. But some of it was due to minimal contact too