Barrels: Fluting vs. Dimpling

[cockednlocked]

Is there a performance advantage to one over the other..?

Is there any technical data comparisons..?

Opinions...?

[survivalshop]

They both look cool . Both methods are to reduce weight & other than the cool factor , not much else .

[Jgun]

I have seen claims that fluting also improves barrel rigidity. I certainly think that the added surface area must speed up barrel cooling. I haven't found that the fluting makes enough of a weight reduction (by itself) that I really notice it much when I handle two similar guns with and without fluted barrels.

[cockednlocked]

I'm not sure you can improve on the rigidity of a barrel by removing material, as in fluting. I believe that is more a sales point myth, than reality. I'm just curious if either of these techniques has an advantage over the other. Which one actually improves the accuracy of the barrel by improving the cooling characteristics, if at all..?

[Jgun]

I have never seen any scientific data to support any of the claims, including the heat dissipation improvement. But most of the claims sound feasable. The heat shedding improvement due to greater surface area seems logical. The rationale behind the rigidety, is I believe the I beam theory, that you can remove material strategically in specific ways so that a beam has greater resistance to flex in a certain direction. It may be more a matter of the barrel being equally rigid to a solid one while reducing (somewhat) the weight. I'll tell you one thing, I've seen amazing high speed film of barrel whip created by the force of the bullet traveling down the barrel applying force against the rifleing, and after seeing that the possibility of ribs running the length of the barrel working against that force, also seems possible.