New member

[Mongrel]

Cheers Wayno, Puling the gun apart wasnt the first thing on my todo list lol, but makes sense to check if barrel is "free floated" not sure if that is correct term?
Will post pics when i bring it home

p.s. technical question, do all barrels have twist in them as the howa im looking at doesnt say it has the 1/10 twist?

[chrispy88]

Yeah mate all rifle barrels have twisted rifling. I dont think Howa offer different twist rates in the same calibre to so I dare say all their .308s would be 1:10.

The pic you put up is not the exact same I looked at, it had a black Hogue stock, but very similar. The one you have pictured has a fluted barrel whereas the one I saw had a standard sporter barrel. Hence the slight difference in price. The flutes will help the barrel cool quicker as they add surface area.

[Mongrel]

Thanks again Crispy, Well order made and is rdy for pick up tomorow.

Cant wait

[WayneO]

@Chrispy with regards to the fluting of a barrel

Fluting reduces weight by removing material. Since the major diameter of the barrel is unchanged by slotting the outside of the barrel here and there, the stiffness of the barrel is reduced very little. Thus, you get a lighter barrel that's almost as stiff as one of the same diameter that's unfluted. You've taken weight off without negatively affecting the stiffness, which is a big bonus because a barrel that is compromised in stiffness comes with a host of other problems and issues.

POINT OF CONFUSION: A fluted barrel will be stiffer than an unfluted barrel of the same weight. If the unfluted barrel weighs the same as the fluted barrel, by definition the unfluted barrel must be smaller in diameter. It's the diameter than influences stiffness. See previous paragraph.

POINT OF DISPUTATION: The greater "Surface Area" of a fluted barrel dissipates heat better than a solid barrel? Without having gone through the math, I submit that this is inaccurate. The greater mass of an unfluted barrel will take more heat to raise its temperature. The mass acts as a "heat sink." When you flute that barrel, reducing its mass, you reduce its heat capacity. Thus, the temperature will rise faster, and as such will rise to a higher temperature as heat is added to it by firing the weapon. If fluting did anything for heat dissipation, machine gun barrels would be fluted. They are not. Further to that, benchrester shooters would only shoot fluted barrels; they don't, unless they are trying to reduce weight for different categories.

[chrispy88]

Yes and no WayneO. I agree about negligible difference in stiffness, but depends on the design of the barrel and flutes as to whether it will greater aid weight reduction or heat transfer. A Howa fluted barrel is actually a bull barrel with thin flutes cut in it that greatly increase surface area and therefore heat transfer, but barely affect weight (at least this was the case 12-18 months ago when I bought mine). So if you ordered a fluted Howa thinking you were saving weight over a sporter barrel you might be disappointed!

That said, any flutes cut on a radius that is the same as the barrel radius will not change surface area and therefore not affect heat transfer, these will be just for weight reduction, totally agree. I should have been clearer in my earlier post and spoken about both aspects. Cheers mate.

[Gamerancher]

The main reason to flute a barrel is to reduce weight as WayneO says. It gives you the stiffness of a larger diameter barrel with less weight. Yes it will heat up quicker than a solid barrel of the same diameter due to the loss of mass. It does however increase heat dissipation due to the larger surface area compared to a non-fluted barrel of the same weight. Think of why a truck has a bigger radiator than a car. The problem with that is that it creates a heat mirage right in front of your scope, speaking from experience here. If you don't put enough rounds through it to heat it up to that point then the idea works well. If however you do fire a lot of rounds in quick succession you get the barrel mirage problem. In a hunting rifle situation the benefit of a stiffer barrel for the weight is an positive. In a competition rifle the heat mirage is a negative. That is why they aren't that common in comp rifles. We've all been there and tried it. If you see someone with a fluted competition rifle it is usually to make weight.

[Mongrel]

and here i was just thinking it looked cool :/
j/k......i didnt get this one for weight reduction i got it for heat dissipation and it was the option i had available being the impatient man i am
Thanks again guys for the input

anyways im off to get my new toy will have pics in a few hours or so(depends how long i drool at the gunshop)

Mongrel