Fluted vs Non-Fluted Rifle Barrels?

Rockrivr1

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With all things being equal with a rifle, would you prefer a fluted vs non fluted barrel on a hunting rifle? Many here recommend a Tikka T3X rifle, but they come in many different configurations. One version has a solid barrel while one comes with a fluted barrel. Some come with a brake while others don't. I've not owned a rifle with a fluted barrel and from what I'm reading they help dissipate heat, but if not done right they can cause accuracy issue due to messing with the barrel harmonics.

So what do you prefer and why? Fluted or no fluting. Also, since were' talking about it, brake or no brake?

Thanks
 
This strictly my opinion but I see no benefit of a fluted barrel over a smooth one for almost all types of hunting. In fact if I were doing something where many shots are fired like shooting in a prairiedog town I would rather have two rifles than only one with a fluted barrel. Steel gives up heat slowly and the flutes only add a small amount of surface to speed the process up. I see flutes as more decoration and selling points that an actual benefit.
 
Yep, flutes are pretty but that’s about it. Especially on Tikkas where they are usually pretty light to begin with.
 
Depending on barrel length, profile, flute amounts and styles, it can save a pound. Straight and spiral are the only 2 i here. X-cal has a thermal flute for AR's that is supposed to save a lot of weight (unsure of how much)? It's supposed to dissipate heat better, but can't say it does? It adds a nice uniqueness to a firearm and enjoy the look
 

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Common thickness and no loud brake. You did say hunting barrel and that's what I require for my hunting.
 
So what do you prefer and why? Fluted or no fluting.
I think they look tacky/cheap, personally. It's like the tribal tattoo or the gold-plated plastic Chrysler Le Baron badge of the firearms world. The spiral fluted ones look especially bad to my eye. Ball milled ones also look bad to me.

Straight fluted barrels can look appropriate/ok on some tactical-style or PRS type rifles. But I prefer them without.
 
I do not feel fluting the barrel has a significant effect on cooling the barrel. It just does not add very much more cooling square inches over a round barrel.

I have 17 Rem rifle with a fluted barrel. Accuracy begins to suffer after three or so shots without giving the barrel a chance to cool.

Weight savings can be beneficial though but still, the percentage savings is relatively small.

I’ve only fooled with muzzle brakes on small caliber rifles (223 Rem). Yes, they reduce felt recoil and reduce muzzle rise but not really an issue with the small caliber rifles. Down side is it directs lots of noise to the side and rear of the shooter.

With large caliber, shoulder busting cartridges, the benefits may out weigh the noise disadvantages.
 
I have a rifle with a fluted barrel, I like how it looks but it isn't a big deal. I wouldn't pay extra for it. I don't know if it hurts or helps so I would leave it alone, but I wouldn't worry if a rifle came with it. I don't think it matters for hunting.
My Tikka came with a brake, and I liked it until I shot from a stand with a roof. It made the rifle much louder. It does help recoil. It was ok in open air. Plan on a Walker Game ear or something. I am a fan of Tikka whatever you get.
 
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I don't have a preference, but I do own both. As already mentioned fluting does little to save weight, but it does help cooling a lot by having those flutes and more surface area to dissipate heat better. My Remington 700 VSF is a heavy fluted bull barrel that's 26" long and having had the same 700 with a full round barrel previously I can say the 700VSF holds small groups all day long where the smooth round barrel began to string a bit vertically as the barrel got hot.
My 700VSF is in .22-250 and sees a lot of shots varmint hunting in a day. It shoots sub MOA groups at 200 yds. and has taken thousands of varmints, plus a dozen deer also. It is a heavy gun overall, but I don't mind packing the extra weight when it gives me so much confidence with it's accuracy.
This was on sale for $800 when I got it many years ago, and I thought that was a whole lot of money! But a few years later Remington dropped the HS Precision Kevlar stock with aluminum bedding block and switched to the cheaper plastic stocks, and raised the list price to $2300! Glad I got the earlier version with the HS Precision stock!

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I think they look ok, but usually not good enough to justify the extra cost. As such all my barrels are non-fluted.

Brakes - I hate those damned things. They do reduce recoil noticeably but it makes the sound significantly louder. My ears hurt even when wearing decent hearing protection. As such every gun I've bought with a muzzle break I've removed it and replaced it with a thread protector. My shoulder is more tolerant of pain than my ears (and I'm not shooting anything THAT bad anyways - the most powerful rifle I own is a 300 Win Mag which is stout but not crazy recoil).
 
As a rule, I like a fluted barrel. But the fluting on the Tikka isn't deep enough to help much. On that rifle I'd just as soon get a non-fluted barrel. Tikka barrels already pretty thin and they can't be fluted deep enough to make much difference.

The idea is to reduce weight without giving up much, if any, barrel stiffness. I'd much rather have a slightly larger diameter barrel with flutes than a non-fluted barrel of the same weight. Within reason less weight is usually a good thing for me. But you can go too far.

And there are some applications where the weight is a plus.
 
I've made fluted barrels for customers, if that is what was wanted after I explained that fluting did nothing worthwhile except reduce weight. They are NOT stiffer than an unfluted barrel of the same caliber, length and contour, they do not dissipate heat well enough to achieve any useful effect in sporting weapons (who shoots sporters fast enough to generate THAT much heat?), and the cost is greater because of extra machine work. As was mentioned above, any unneeded external machining on a finished barrel can induce stresses which CAN have a negative effect on potential accuracy. Fluting's a cosmetic and unnecessary feature for a rifle barrel, and I don't recommend it - in the shop, we called it the 'F word'... If you want a lighter barrel, make it shorter or select a different contour, but don't 'F' with it.

PRD1 - mhb - MIke
 
Whatever plusses that they supposably have are very minimal. I have a few because I just think they are "sexy"! I have a couple that have the Remington style flutes and a few with the Kreiger flutes which are narrower and a little deeper and there are more of them.
 
The discussion of to be or not to be is all about is fluted after, not by the factory worth it. A factory that does CNC work, can flute the barrel any way they want and have it be exactly correct with the headspace. Shops after the fact, not so much, as it does take a time consuming setup and a real good indexing head so the flutes are exactly centered on the top dead center of the axis of the bore, evenly spaced left and righ after headspacing.
I have a few that I have done and more than a few factory fluted barrels I have used to do builds with. If you order a barrel one step heavier, then have it fluted, you loose the extra weight and retain the extra riditidy of the heavier diameter barrel. That is the real advantage and how you can use the fluted barrel in a hunting or match rifle.
 
It provides stiffness with less material and lower weight. A smaller diameter barrel can weigh as little but will not be as stiff as a larger diameter barrel. The trend now for hunting rifles is short barrels. It will make less difference with less length.
 
The answer ought to begin with application. I agree with some of what @PRD1 offers in terms of explanation. I will diverge in that cooling surface = cooling and flutes increase that a fair amount in profiles that would typically be candidates for fluting.

If your barrel is drifting or stringing then it wasn’t stress relieved and no amount of fix is in order. If you’re ordering a custom barrel and you want flutes they should be beneficial but they won’t be free. Consider your intended usage and plan from there.
 
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My .02 cents worth. I have done a lot of shooting in prairie dog towns with small calibre, high velocity rounds. Have shot through fluted and non-fluted barrels and can say I see no difference in how long it takes to heat up or cool down. This is subjective because I'm not shooting 2 separate .204 Ruger rifles side-by-side for comparison purposes. I now shoot only non-fluted varmint barrels. Except for one .204 which still has the factory fluted barrel. When I replace that barrel, it will be non-fluted.
 
Fluting is stylish and aesthetic; any performance benefits - if any - are negligible to most shooters. No different than octagon, half round, gloss, matte, engraved, etc - personal choice.
 
I've made fluted barrels for customers, if that is what was wanted after I explained that fluting did nothing worthwhile except reduce weight. They are NOT stiffer than an unfluted barrel of the same caliber, length and contour, they do not dissipate heat well enough to achieve any useful effect in sporting weapons (who shoots sporters fast enough to generate THAT much heat?), and the cost is greater because of extra machine work. As was mentioned above, any unneeded external machining on a finished barrel can induce stresses which CAN have a negative effect on potential accuracy. Fluting's a cosmetic and unnecessary feature for a rifle barrel, and I don't recommend it - in the shop, we called it the 'F word'... If you want a lighter barrel, make it shorter or select a different contour, but don't 'F' with it.

PRD1 - mhb - MIke

For average sporting like a deer or elk rifle fluting isn't needed for cooling, or helpful. But when I'm shooting varmints all day it certainly can heat my barrel up, and even with fluted barrel I still check it by touch and let it cool for awhile. But the heavy fluted barrel on my Rem. 700VSF doesn't change group size when it gets hot. I simply stop to let it cool when it's too hot to touch.
We usually take 3 rifles for varmint hunting to give our guns a rest break. I take a .22LR, .17HMR, and the .22-250 along. I use a different rifle and cartridge for different distances, and we generally start out at less than 100 yds. with the .22's. Then move to mid range with the .17 and finally long shots with the .22-250.
We often get so many varmints that we stop and rest all three rifles for awhile.
 
From Google:

Fluting does not make a barrel stronger; in fact, it actually weakens it slightly because it removes material from the barrel, which reduces its overall mass and structural integrity; the primary benefit of fluting is that it significantly reduces the weight of the barrel while maintaining similar stiffness, allowing for better heat dissipation and handling, especially in situations where a lighter gun is desired.

I actually thought it increased stiffness, but that has little to do with strength.
 
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