Fluting

[Swampfox]

What is y’all thoughts on fluting in general and on spiral fluting vs the rest? My dad wants me to build him a AR10 upper in 6.5 Creedmoor with spiral fluting.

[A5BLASTER]

I only have one barrel that's fluted my 16 inch AA light and it has straight line flirting all the way around the barrel.

Really like it but to be honest I don't think it takes off all that much weight, What it does do is cut down some weight but keep the stiffness of the original barrel thickness.

I like it, it's cool looking but If I was doing it again I would have went with a thinner profile to start with.

With the creedmoor. I would sit down and get a good understanding if the goals for the rifle then decide if a thicker profile with aggressive flying is the best route or if a slightly thinner profile is better for the end goal of the rifle.

[Lantern]

Has anyone done a comparison between straight fluting in spiral? I would think that you would lose some rigidity in comparison to straight fluting. For that reason I would go straight fluting if I was going to do it at all.

[Klem]

I have one barrel that's fluted...I regret spending an extra 25% to get only a 13% weight saving. It might cool quicker but I doubt there's much in it. My opinion, save your money.

[grayfox]

I have one with straight fluting, a 20". It so far is performing great, the fluting cuts back on the weight true. But I wouldn't make presence or absence of (straight) fluting a deal-breaker for a good barrel either way. Wouldn't go for the spiral however, too much chance of introducing or exposing some kind of stress... and I doubt if it would keep stiffness compared to non-fluted or straight flutes, that's my 2 cents.
just doesn't seem to be a good move for a straight steel pipe.
Think spring vs straight bar of steel. Which one flexes more?
Might look pretty but function is what I'm most concerned about.

[Popeye212]

If that's what Dad wanted that's what I would build. Personally don't think the benefits vs extra cost are worth it.

[Swampfox]

I’m trying to get him to go with a Carbon Fiber barrel, but he is stubborn especially when he seen the price. Lol

[PrecisionFirearms]

We've tested the straight versus spiral fluting on the same lot of cut rifled barrels - we don't offer spiral fluting. Does that answer your question?

[Popeye212]

We've tested the straight versus spiral fluting on the same lot of cut rifled barrels - we don't offer spiral fluting. Does that answer your question?

Thank you for that info.

[Swampfox]

Thank you for the information

[RANGER]

I'm sure PF could chime in but my understanding from very competent 'smiths is that if it is done improperly it can negatively affect accuracy.

Charlie Milazzo saw a sub-MOA gun open up to over MOA because of it.

Some believe that after fluting it would be necessary to cryo-treat the barrel (due to the stress fluting can impart on the metal) to "realign" the grain of the metal.

[grayfox]

While my skepticism on cryo-treatments has been expressed elsewhere (so I won't go into it again and to each his own as far as opinions on it go), it probably depends more on the skill and quality of the mfr and the particular process they use to make the flutes. Could possibly be that no additional stresses are introduced, or a lot of stress introduced. If any work hardening, excessive local heating, or plastic deformation is caused (ie, grain realignments), that could be a problem but is mostly in the hands of the barrel maker who's doing the work.

Perhaps there is someone on here who has more metallurgy expertise and might chime in.