Regarding fluting a barrel...
It seems to me that much of the stress imparted in a barrel comes from the method of machining used.
For instance, I have observed many times over the years that metal "bends" when it is machined in a certain manner. Lets use a keyway on a pumpshaft for an example. Sometimes milling a large keyway on one side of the pumpshaft causes the metal to bend in the direction of the keyway because the internal stresses that were put into the metal when formed are now uneven due to one side of the shaft being relieved.
Taking a piece of square precision keystock and sawing one side of it to make it rectangular will often result in the piece bending.
There are many examples of metal objects relieving themselves when machined.
I have also observed barrels that were being manufactured with fluting on them and have thougt that proccess was somewhat flawed. Most manufacturers will use a CNC lathe to flute the barrels as it is quick and accurate. What they will do is to cut a flute, turn the barrel 60 degrees (on a 6 flute barrel)cut another flute and work it around the barrel until complete. It seems to me that this allows an uneven relief of the natural stresses in the barrel which allows it to bend some.
I beleive if they used an opposing method, meaning that the barrel is cut and then turned to the opposite side and then a flute cut, and done this way each time a flute is cut that it would balance out the stresses that are built up in the steel through the manufacturing proccess. It may be that the Cryo treament is allowing the stresses in the barrel to normalize somewhat and balance itself out.
I dont claim to know anything about the chemcial makeup of steel or whether it has molecules or not, but I wonder if there is too much emphasis played on the chemcial and physical aspects of the steel and not enough about the way we handle barrels of precision rifles when they are being machined.
Comments?
