Borty77

What is the advantage of a fluted barrel? I like the looks; but do they perform better or allow the barrel to cool quicker?

I am looking at getting a Remington CDL SF

DM

They loose some weight with the metal gonebut still are "stiff"... Some say they cool a bit better too... If it's blued, there's more edges to wear the blueing off from faster...

DM

stubblejumper

A fluted barrel allows you to have a larger diameter,stiffer barrel ,with the same weight as a smaller diameter unfluted barrel.

Pawildman

Fluting increases the stiffness, just as ribs in a car's roof or plane variations in a hood. It also provides additional cooling surface.

statjunk

I agree with DM's comment. I wouldn't own a fluted barrel that is blued. It wears on the ridges. I've seen this first hand several times.

Tom

Chris_H

A fluted barrel increases stiffness, cooling surface, and decreases weight of the barrel.

Maine Shooter

I forget where but one of the better bbl manufacturers had a whole report on bbl fluting and it pretty much explained and showed how it's more cosmetic than anything.
Stiffness...ok, so why aren't really BIG bbls fluted (warship bbls for example) Surely they especially need stiffness.
Cooling: Theorymakes senceI guess but how many of us really shoot a bbl so darn fast that it gets hot enough so that a few flutes giving a fractional amount increase in surface area will be a big benifit? However, why then don't all the machine gun/automatic firearms have fluted bbls? Surely they especially would need extra surface for bbl cooling given the rate of fire they are capable of. When does one shoot so fast in a manual activated firearm that cooling becomes an issue?
I'm unconvinced fluting is anything other than cosmetic and that marketing simply make it a tactical, must-have, oh so important feature.
Actually what is fluitng anyways? it's longitudinal cuts in the bbls surface. Hmmm...rifling is just longitudinal cuts in the surface of the bbls bore. So...wouldn't rifling actually be specialized rifling?

Borty77

Chris,

That is the same set up that I am looking at. I just have to decide on stainless fluted or satin finish?

How do the Nosler Ballistic tips shoot?

Borty

CalNewbie

According to one mfg, their fluted barrels have 180% of the surface area of a non-fluted model. That extra surface area helps dissipate the heat faster. Its sort of like the heat sinks stuck on CPUs, the kind with the big fins. If a solid block cooled the CPU faster that's what they would've used.

How much faster is heat dissipated? I've never seen any documentation of the difference, thoughyou can be certain that there is one. I'll have to poke around the net a bit out of curiosity.

Fluted barrels also have the advantage of reduced weight.

jeepkid

Weight? Not enough too justify.

Stiffness? Nope, regular barrels are stiffer.

Cooling? A little bit better than smooth.

Would I buy one? Yep, I like how they look. Thats what I would base my decision on, if you like it buy it, if not, then get a smooth barrel.

My 2 cents.