Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

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Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by brouta » 08 Apr 2014, 4:06 pm

I'm not suggesting fluted barrels are dangerous or anything like that. Just a train of thought...

If you got all technical and measuring pressure and barrel strength etc. Would it be fair to say the fluting of a barrel is a potential weakness?

Like is a fluted barrel typically a thicker barrel that's fluted, so the thickest points are the same as a 'normal' barrel?

Or are they 'normal' barrels which have material removed and rely on the strength of the rest of the barrel?

What do we think?
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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by Guliver » 08 Apr 2014, 4:20 pm

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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by Pilch » 08 Apr 2014, 6:51 pm

Obviously the thinner fluted section is weaker than the thicker section, just simple physics, but so what...

All round it's strong enough to fire... Job done.
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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by Lorgar » 08 Apr 2014, 7:03 pm

TBH, sounds like you're trying to highlight a problem which isn't really there...

Say you've got a chain which will hold 200kg except one link will only hold 100kg.

If you only need to life 50kg with it, the one link isn't weak... It's twice as strong as it needs to be.

Fluting's the same.
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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by brouta » 08 Apr 2014, 7:05 pm

I get that...

I just ask after seeing a few pictures of octopus barrels where they had done up the fluting.

That was what raised the question.
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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by Kipper » 08 Apr 2014, 7:09 pm

If a fluted barrel goes, obviously it's going to go where thinnest... The flutes...

That doesn't mean the flutes were at fault though, it just means the pressure exceeded what the barrel was meant to take.

Path of least resistance...
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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by Chronos » 08 Apr 2014, 7:30 pm

Kipper wrote:If a fluted barrel goes, obviously it's going to go where thinnest... The flutes...

That doesn't mean the flutes were at fault though, it just means the pressure exceeded what the barrel was meant to take.

Path of least resistance...


Yep.

That said there was rumours of early fluted sako and tikka barrels splitting using factory loads. I know no more than that they were rumors. Might be that some prototypes failed the testing process, might also be Remington scuttlebutt :)

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Re: Barrel fluting a potential weakness?

Post by brouta » 10 Apr 2014, 9:15 pm

Lorgar wrote:Say you've got a chain which will hold 200kg except one link will only hold 100kg.

If you only need to life 50kg with it, the one link isn't weak... It's twice as strong as it needs to be.


That's a good point. Hadn't looked at it that way.
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