Are there Benifits of a fluted barrel? Myth or tructh?

[glockguy]

Just as the title says, is it worth the $200+ to buy one for an ar15? l don't know a lot about them, only what iv read.

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[jluck]

Yes, Truth. Weight reduction. That is the purpose of fluting.

 

[DieselScout]

What is the cost of a similar non-fluted? What is the weight savings?

 

[rick benjamin]

Fluted Barrel | Bison Ballistics

 

[Cougfan2]

Besides the weight reduction, fluted barrels also offer more surface area and aid in heat dissipation aiding in more barrel stability from shot to shot particularly in prolonged shooting sessions. It should be noted that even with fluted barrels, once the barrel gets really hot your groups will start to spread. When I am sighting in a rifle or testing new loads, I will fire not more than 5 shot groups before letting the barrel cool for 5-10 minutes.

 

[Mark W.]

Weight reduction

Aids heat dissipation

Adds structural rigidity to the barrel

Adds 10 to the cool factor

 

[DieselScout]

Adds structural rigidity to the barrel

How?

Weight reduction, I buy. Heat dissipation, maybe, but it will be marginal as the surface area increase can be pretty marginal depending on the amount and depth of the flute. Also, since it's the same material, it's going to take the same amount of time for the heat to move to the surface of the barrel, again, depth of flute may aid this marginally.

I am an average rifle shooter on the best day, are flutes going to turn me into an above average shooter? No, are they going to make my rifle lighter and easier to carry in the field? Yes, but before I start taking chucks out of my barrel to lose gun weight, I should work first on myself to lose "self weight."

 

[DoubleTapDrew]

It ads to the cost of the barrel. IMO not worth the $200. Not $200 worth of weight savings or heat dissipation.
It's not like AR-15 barrels are heavy to begin with and you are probably saving less than the weight of a cheapo plastic vertical foregrip or magpul afg. I have one on a bull barrel 10/22 but it was about $15 more than a non-fluted one and looks kinda cool to me.

 

[Mark W.]

How?

Weight reduction, I buy. Heat dissipation, maybe, but it will be marginal as the surface area increase can be pretty marginal depending on the amount and depth of the flute. Also, since it's the same material, it's going to take the same amount of time for the heat to move to the surface of the barrel, again, depth of flute may aid this marginally.

I am an average rifle shooter on the best day, are flutes going to turn me into an above average shooter? No, are they going to make my rifle lighter and easier to carry in the field? Yes, but before I start taking chucks out of my barrel to lose gun weight, I should work first on myself to lose "self weight."

Anytime you change the radius of a bend in the same piece of material it makes it harder to bend the material in that the material has to bend at many different rates all at the same time. Basic engineering.

case in point an I beam compared to a simple rod of the same mass.

 

[DieselScout]

Anytime you change the radius of a bend in the same piece of material it makes it harder to bend the material in that the material has to bend at many different rates all at the same time. Basic engineering.

case in point an I beam compared to a simple rod of the same mass.

Alright make sense. I am not a engineer, my science is all on the organics side.

 

[Velzey]

I have found that my fluted barrel comes in handy. Makes for nice finger grooves when I use my rifle as a walking stick.

Only takes 20 min to jog down a 5000' canyon chasing elk, and three hours to hike back out...

 

[AMProducts]

I think this is very much a personal question, for AR's I typically stay with the M4 profile for my shorties, and the HBAR profile for longer barrels.

When it comes to varmint rifles, a fluted barrel (especially one with bigger flutes) really does help with heat dissipation and weight savings. How much is that worth? probably not $200. OTOH, if I was getting a custom barrel cut, $200 should get the whole barrel profiled and cut, even if I wanted fluting.

 

[orygun]

I see the weight reduction issue a bit differently. "Usually" the fluting is done on a larger than standard diameter barrel and can reduce the weight to a point that's similar to the smaller diameter barrel.
That allows some of the other factors to come into play.
Generalizations...
Larger diameter = stiffer, for the same length. With flutes makes barrel even more rigid.
Larger diameter = more shots fired before barrel heats up.
Larger diameter with flutes = more surface area to help cool down faster. Although this may be a wash, because a thinner barrel will cool faster than a thick barrel because of less material.
On something like an AR-15 it may be more useful than on a bolt action rifle.

Mostly I think people want it because they like the looks. $200 extra? Probably not on my rifle.

 

[jluck]

I personally do think it's worth the extra 200. If I can have a rifle with the performance of a bull barrel and the weight of a m4 barrel (or close), I'm good with it. I mean really...(?).. 200 bucks, Who doesn't piss that away on other stuff on the regular.

I do like the high end stuff as well as a do the old tried and true side of hunting and guns. I am thinking about having a Proof Research carbon barrel put on a rifle just for the heck of it.

 

[cookie]

Even if there were no benefits fluted barrels look cool. It is like buying pretty wheels for you vehicle .

 

[Sstrand]

Or a trophy wife . . .

Sheldon

 

[glockguy]

i purchased this one AR-15 5.56/.223 x 16" Stainless 416 H-Bar Fluted Barrel .750 Gas Block Dia. | Cobra tactical Systems

 

[Gaucho Gringo]

Swamped barrels also reduce weight and aid in balance. Been around for the last 250 years so I guess it is a time tested technique.

 

[mattdomes]

Here is a good video on fluted barrels and their "benefits"

SNIPER 101 Part 10 - Fluted Barrel Rigidity and Cooling Dynamics - Rex Reviews - YouTube