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A couple of facts about them.
1st, If you take identical barrels and flute one of them, the non-fluted barrel is more rigid. It takes a fluted barrel of identical weight at the same length to = the rigidity of the non-fluted barrel.
2nd Fluted barrels do not dissipate heat much faster than no-fluted as most would have you believe. If you need more heat dissipation, certain types of bead blasting creates more yet super small surface area for faster cooling.
3rd If you ever get snow or water in the flutes and pull the trigger, much of it will jetison itself onto you scope lense and render your optics useless.
4th If the smith does not cut the flutes right, they can cause inaccuracies and weak spots as well as undue stress on the barrel.
Are fluted barrels bad? Not neccecarily, but I cant think of any downsides to non-fluted barrels. If weight is a concern, then go carbon.
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Fluted barrels are easier to pick up when you have gloves on, slick barrels are more difficult to pick up than non-fluted ones.
Additionally, you can rechamber a non-fluted barrel more times that a fluted one.
James