Talk me out of barrel fluting

[fatjake]

Putting together a lighterweight elk rifle and trying to justify fluting the thing

700 action
#3 bartlein
Mcmillan game scout
Standard bdl bottom metal

Gonna chamber it in 300win and will be finishing the barrel at 25" and adding a Radial style brake (vias)


To flute or not to flute..... How much weight do you think I could shave?

Worth it or not???

 

[geargrinder]

Fluting a #3 will shave very very little weight.

Not worth the cost based on weight saving. Fluting is 99% for looks.

 

[MudRunner2005]

What it's going to cost to buy the barrel and have it fluted, you might as well just buy a Proof Research carbon fiber barrel at 26" and have it fitted to your action. Saves weight, and performs like a bull barrel.

 

[FEENIX]

Fluting a #3 will shave very very little weight.

Not worth the cost based on weight saving. Fluting is 99% for looks.

Ditto! Not a fan of radial muzzle brake.

 

[Bullet bumper]

Lightening a rifle is a take the weight where you can kind of thing without it hurting potential accuracy too much . Every ounce counts . Fluting may not be that cost effective compared to the weight reduction but it does remove some weight from the total . I have always been a rifle weight ignorer . When I was younger I trained with a heavy steel bar as a pseudo rifle and once you pick up the gun any gun even an M60 machine gun it feels light . Spending hundreds to take a few ounces of a gun when you could just build up some more muscle for free .

 

[ARKLITE881South]

Won't say who, but, they are very reputable, they say that fluting, in their opinion is just ''cosmetic'' has no real use.

 

[Bullet bumper]

People say that fluting is cosmetic because it does not improve the guns accuracy but if you mill off steel you reduce weight , how much for the money is a different story .

 

[Rich Coyle]

fatjake,

The barrel on my Weatherby mark V six lug is .550 at the muzzle. It is 1.09" at the action. Pac-Nor made one for me duplicating the factory contour and adding 2" to the length. After it was chambered I weighed it and then sent it to Twisted barrel. They took seven ounces out of it! That's near a half pound. I think they charged $150.

You can decide from this if it is worth it or not.

 

[fatjake]

What it's going to cost to buy the barrel and have it fluted, you might as well just buy a Proof Research carbon fiber barrel at 26" and have it fitted to your action. Saves weight, and performs like a bull barrel.

$350 barrel + $125 to flute
Or $800 proof barrel. I can still have almost 2 over the carbon barrel

 

[fatjake]

fatjake,

The barrel on my Weatherby mark V six lug is .550 at the muzzle. It is 1.09" at the action. Pac-Nor made one for me duplicating the factory contour and adding 2" to the length. After it was chambered I weighed it and then sent it to Twisted barrel. They took seven ounces out of it! That's near a half pound. I think they charged $150.

You can decide from this if it is worth it or not.

That's answers I'm looking for. Thank you

 

[Rich Coyle]

Lightening a rifle is a take the weight where you can kind of thing without it hurting potential accuracy too much . Every ounce counts . Fluting may not be that cost effective compared to the weight reduction but it does remove some weight from the total . I have always been a rifle weight ignorer . When I was younger I trained with a heavy steel bar as a pseudo rifle and once you pick up the gun any gun even an M60 machine gun it feels light . Spending hundreds to take a few ounces of a gun when you could just build up some more muscle for free .

Perhaps you can say this for most people, but not for most old people. When I was young I lifted and was stronger than most of the men I worked with. When I hit about sixty-five no matter how much I worked out it didn't seem to help. I switched from an eleven pound rifle to a seven pound rifle and can still get to the back country.

 

[ARKLITE881South]

People say that fluting is cosmetic because it does not improve the guns accuracy but if you mill off steel you reduce weight , how much for the money is a different story .

Thanks for adding the comment about reduced weight, i was going to add that but, it slipped by me. . I agree with you in that respect.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I had my heavy Bbl and bolt fluted by Paul at Pro Precision Rifles . First class work , quick turnaround and knocked 10 ounces off of my rifle.

The weight savings is very real , but only you can decide if it's worth your money. For me it was worth it , it contributed to taking my pig from 17 lbs to 9 lbs 14 oz. Other changes included a McMillan edge fill stock and a much lighter optic and rings.

 

[Bravo 4]

There are calculators online that can tell you how much weight different flutes may trim off.