Spiral fluting !!!

I’ve been away from accurate bolt guns for a while. I see folks using Spiral Flutted barrels. Being schooled in civil engineering I canT believe some one would ruin a barrel like this. A straight flutted barrelbis similar to an I-beam. Very strong, stiff and lightweight for diameter. A spiral flutted barrel is nothing more than a twisted i-beam. Extremely weak with very poor longitudinal stiffness. Exactly what you don’t want a rifle barrel to be. This is why building collapse during large fires when I-beams twist and fail.

might look cool, but it is a very poor design for a rifle barrel.

Apply your engineering math and determine the strength difference between the two styles of fluting....

You'll quickly find that that any fluting is much more about looks than it is about strength and weight.

A straight flutted barrel will be stiffer than an equal weight barrel without flutes. The flutted barrel will be larger in diameter for the same weight and the flutted barrel will have more surface area for better cooling.

straight flitting has real advantages.

but, depending on when the glutting is done ( before or after reaming and rifling) and how it is done, a good Barrel can be ruined with flutting.

This horse has been beaten to death time, and time, and time, and time, and time, and time(see where i am going with this?)and time again.

I do not have the tools or knowledge to argue or confirm anything you are saying. But i would bet dallars to doughnuts there isn't very many people (if any) that can shoot the difference.

Most people do it for looks. The weight loss is an advantage but the few ounces is pretty minimal. Flutes are definitely more of a personal taist thing.

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Big difference between cutting and twisting..... Highend Gunsmiths have their methods for fluting etc. If you start with a heavy contour like MTU, Heavy Palma, etc. There have been plenty of incredibly accurate fluted barrels.... Just like chambering if you have the wrong smith do it, it will not be done correctly...

I'm late to the forum so I'll play now.

One supposed justification I have heard for a spiral fluted barrel is better heat dissipation. I have no idea if it makes any practical difference - but it would increase the outer surface area of the barrel.

Personally I go with cosmetic as the reason it exists. I wouldn't pay the cost of having it done, myself.

When I looked at the fluted bolt on the Savage lightweight all I could think of was how it might hold crud and moisture. :noidea:

Fluting on bolts (when designed for more than cosmetic) is a way of giving the crud somewhere to go and maintaining function. This is due to the tighter tolerance held on custom actions. There are other methods that are put to use now on higher end actions to negate the need for fluting though. Basically allowing the action to have tight tolerances when it needs them during lock up and looser tolerances when the action is being operated.

But it doesn't relieve metal from any contact surface(?) :confused:

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Originally Posted by Stumpkiller

But it doesn't relieve metal from any contact surface(?) :confused:

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Is that a question or a statement? If portion of the bolt body are smaller diameter then the overall diameter of the bolt then yes it does......

I'm picturing the edges of the bolt head riding along the guides on either side of the magazine in the receiver - bolt body is not in contact with the guides. When they get to the barrel the lugs engage. So the "contact surfaces" to be kept clear of debris are the bolt head and either side of the bolt. I suppose the rear of the receiver cut-out for the bolt may benefit - unless it's a chunk (dirt, ice, twig) that jams between the receiver cut-out and the fluted recesses.

I don't see on a manual bolt-action that fluting is a solving any more problems than it might cause.

If you're looking at the sloppy tolerances of a Savage then yes.....

This is our forum. ;-) Perfection is the enemy of good enough. Look at the Ross rifle to see what happens when a beautifully made rifle goes outside to play in the dirt.

You don't see bolt fluting on the M24, M40, T-76 and other bolt-action sniper rifles that went to war. If it was a reliability enhancer in harsh conditions I think our tax dollars would have been made available.

I just got a spiral fluted X-Caliber blank in Savage Magnum contour. As soon as my reamer gets here I'll report back on how it shoots.

I've got a straight fluted X-cal, and non - fluted, both 7mm-08 for a switch barrel on a Borden Alpine action (fluted bolt). They both shoot great.

My 12BVSS has a fluted barrel. It is pretty :) I like the idea of better heat dissipation but would also liked to have had the extra weight (I am not a hunter).

When I hunted I liked short, fat barrels. Easier to get good accuracy and I wasn't overly concerned about losing 100 fps.

Spiral fluting? I think it came about cause 1) someone wanted to show off their machining skills or 2) they got a brand new CNC machine :)

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My spiral flute X-Caliber is good to go. It rings steel and shoots little groups just like the rest of them do. Looks modern, no issues with timing it like a straight flute.

You don’t see extreme accuracy folks fooling with fluting because they aren’t worried much about aesthetics, and there’s very little practical purpose for it, plus or minus. They wear the barrels out, not look at them.