Fluted vs.Chrome Lined AR Barrels

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Are there any advantages of a fluted AR barrel vs. a chrome lined AR barrel?
 
The fluting is a minor weight savings/cooling measure on the exterior of the barrel. Chrome lining is a bonded chrome surface on the inside of the bore, promoting longer life and easier cleaning.
 
You can have the exterior of any bbl fluted, whether it's chrome lined or not. There are other interior coatings and surface treatments for the interior bbls besides hard chrome. Are you trying to compare two bbl options from a manufacturer, or something else?
 
One is inside and one is outside they don't relate to each other. Chrome is the old standard for durable mil spec bores with melonite being the new standard for a more than just durable bore and outer finish and accuracy should greatly improved.

Fluting tends to be more for someone wanting a different look with a minor amount of weight savings and has no practical upside out side of looks.

Best chrome bore is probably from Criterion. There's more great melonite treated barrel each year now. Fluting !!??
 
hardluk1 said:
Fluting tends to be more for someone wanting a different look with a minor amount of weight savings and has no practical upside out side of looks.
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Adds a little more surface area for cooling and saves some weight without losing rigidity too.
 
Using a government profile barrel makes fluting a moot point.
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Good stainless steel barrels are as corrosion resistent as a chrome lined barrels but will wear out faster if you are into using an AR15/M16 as a light machinegun.
 
goon Flits also lets some parts of the barrel cool or hold heat longer. Not good for accuracy . Flutes are for looks. Want a profile that's not to heavy or to lite by a mid weight and shoot it.
 
it cuts weight and volume on the very bulky, accuracy-oriented hbar's so that the gun balances better and doesn't overheat.

a chrome-lined barrel is generally not of the sort of style or purpose that the fluted ones are, but as other said, they promote easier cleaning and make the barrel last longer and tolerate a lot more stress.
 
flutes are not just for looks. they allow you to use a heavier profile (stiffer bbl) at a lighter overall weight, and provide improved cooling aspects.
 
flutes are not just for looks. they allow you to use a heavier profile (stiffer bbl) at a lighter overall weight, and provide improved cooling aspects
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I thought the largest benefit was from increasing barrel "stiffness" and reducing "harmonics". In any event, my two most accurate ARs have fluted bull barrels.
 
From Varmint Al's website- http://varmintal.com/aflut.htm
CONCLUSION ON BARREL FLUTING....

When comparing two barrels of equal weight, length, and material but one is solid and other is fluted, the fluted barrel will have:

-A larger diameter

-Greater stiffness (depending on how the extra diameter/weight is distributed)

-Vibrate at a higher frequency (depending on how the extra diameter/ weight is distributed)

-Less muzzle sag (depending on how the extra diameter/ weight is distributed)

Fluting a solid barrel will:

-Reduce its weight

-Reduce its stiffness

-Increase its natural frequency of vibration

-Decrease its muzzle sag.

Reducing the weight of a barrel by fluting makes a stiffer barrel than reducing the weight by decreasing its diameter.

A shorter barrel of the same section, solid or fluted, will sag less and vibrate at a higher frequency.
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Fluting a 1" muzzle on a bench varmint rifle is an advantage. Reduced weight and better cooling. On an AR I dont think you will gain a whole lot. Their isnt enough barrel there to make much weight difference I dont think.
 
One thing I will say for fluting - it looks cool. My brother as a Baikal single shot with a spiral shaped fluted barrel that never fails to get some attention, even though he only paid $250 for it.
 
You guys really should look into the physics and engineering of fluted barrels before making claims
 
Fluting also makes the barrel more rigid. I like to have both fluting chrome or melonite
 
There aren't any definitive studies that prove or disprove the advantages of fluting. Many target shooters prefer the fluting because they think they gain an advantage. I have both. My RRA Varmit heavy barrel isn't fluted and it will shoot better then I'm able to. I I could remove a lot of weight from it by fluting but I don't think I would gain anything.
My fluted mid length does cool off quicker than my non fluted M4, however that really doesn't matter given that I don't over heat my barrels anyway.
 
Nom De Forum hit the nail right on the head. It seems to me that fluting a barrel serves only two purposes; it looks cool and it actually DOES lighten the barrel. I am still waiting for some one to tell me, exactly, how removing metal from a barrel makes it stiffer. I await the chance to learn something I don't know........
 
tark said:
Nom De Forum hit the nail right on the head. It seems to me that fluting a barrel serves only two purposes; it looks cool and it actually DOES lighten the barrel. I am still waiting for some one to tell me, exactly, how removing metal from a barrel makes it stiffer. I await the chance to learn something I don't know........
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It makes it stronger by adding all the edges from the fluting. Think of car fenders and hood. Without making edges corners and lines they would be weak. When I bent metal to cover wood on houses the more bends the stronger. Thinner C channel is stronger then flat metal with more thickness
 
carbine85 said:
There aren't any definitive studies that prove or disprove the advantages of fluting
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tark said:
Nom De Forum hit the nail right on the head. It seems to me that fluting a barrel serves only two purposes; it looks cool and it actually DOES lighten the barrel. I am still waiting for some one to tell me, exactly, how removing metal from a barrel makes it stiffer. I await the chance to learn something I don't know........
Click to expand...

Again, you really need to look at the physics and engineering of fluted barrels before making claims. Varmint Al posted a very good and definitive study on how fluting affects barrel performance, including harmonics. You can find the link in my earlier post. Here it is again- http://varmintal.com/aflut.htm

Also, if you look at the summary I included in my earlier post, you'll see the pros and cons of barrel fluting.

To further understand how fluting affects barrel performance, you should also study his article on barrel harmonics
 
MistWolf said:
Again, you really need to look at the physics and engineering of fluted barrels before making claims. Varmint Al posted a very good and definitive study on how fluting affects barrel performance, including harmonics. You can find the link in my earlier post. Here it is again- http://varmintal.com/aflut.htm

Also, if you look at the summary I included in my earlier post, you'll see the pros and cons of barrel fluting.

To further understand how fluting affects barrel performance, you should also study his article on barrel harmonics
Click to expand...


Ok I did. I also reviewed the history of experimenting with fluting barrels on several generations of military weapons. Performance gains on ARs (or much of anything else) do not justify additional expense, ergo "Fluting is a scam to make money off the naive".
 
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