Bull and Flute in the all important barrel

[n3twrkm4n]

I was wondering what all you guys preferred barrel wise... I've noticed many guns now coming in fluted barrels and I realize they offer better heat dissipation but why do .22 pistols come in bull, slab?, and fluted barrels?

I'm looking to get educated, I've found bits and pieces by doing a search but figured it would be an interesting question to ask.

Is anyone more accurate than the other? Does heat dissipating quicker provide better accuracy? I know a hot hot barrel has accuracy issues.

 

[rnovi]

Managing heat certainly has an effect on accuracy. If you can keep a barrell cooler longer, your accuracy will hold more consitent longer.

But then, exactly how hot DOES a barrell need to get before accuracy really starts to suffer? Geez, on a .22, what, 50-100 fast rapid fire shots? 200 shots? I can't really say.

Bull barrells have more mass which means greater capacity for heat before accuarcy is affected. Fluted barrells have greater surface area which allows the gun to radiate heat quickly and cool down faster. Does it make a difference? Sure...how much?

Dunno.

But aesthetically speaking, I really, REALLY like the fluted heavy bull barrell on the Mark III Rugers! Sex on wheels!

 

[JohnKSa]

In rifles, the thicker and shorter (stiffer) the barrel, the more likely the rifle is to be accurate and handle long shot strings gracefully.

In pistols, the profile of the barrel is far more oriented towards handling characteristics (recoil control/stability) and appearance than it is to raw accuracy as it would be with a rifle.

 

[fisherman66]

I've heard that fluted barrels are actually more rigid than bull barrels. The logic as follows. The flutes reduce weight. The diameter adds strength. Seems to make sense to me.

I've also heard that fluting does not actually cool as well as bulls. The extra metal in the bull conducts heat away from the bore faster than air could. I'm not giving my opinion. It isn't formed yet. I don't shoot fast enough to make a difference.

 

[kozak6]

I have also heard that fluted barrels are stiffer, but I don't get it. How does removing material from a cylinder make it stronger?

The extra surface area the flutes provide is supposed to help cooling they also say, but I really don't know if it would make a difference.

The only real, tanglible difference that I am absolutely sure of, is that they are just a little bit lighter than bull barrels. I also find them often to be more aesthetically pleasing in most cases.

With a .22, I don't think there is really enough difference to matter. It's more of a budget and personal taste matter.

 

[Smokey Joe]

Fluting, bull bbls.

Kozak6--As I understand it, a fluted bbl is NO LESS STIFF than a non fluted bbl of the same dimensions. It is not stiffer.

Were you to increase the diameter of the bbl and flute it, it would be stiffer because of the increased diameter, whether fluted or not.

Agree with JohnKSA--in a pistol, the bull bbl is more about handling than about bbl accuracy. IMX, all that weight out front there helps me not have the pistol wobbling around so much (Alright, it still wobbles, a lot, but that's me, not the gun!) In rapid-fire (I shoot bullseye) the heavier bbl helps the gun not recoil so much and speeds re-acquisition of the target bullseye.

 

[RWK]

"but why do .22 pistols come in bull"

Well, that's not exactly true (no "flame" intended). Among many others, various revolvers and autoloaders have featured "bull barrels" and in many calibers beyond .22. As john already indicated, in handguns the principal reason is balance, recoil attenuation and handling.

 

[n3twrkm4n]

seems like a pretty good discussion, the only reason I ask is casue my dad owned a Mark II (jerk got rid of it! ) but I was looking at .22 pistols namely the Mark III or the Browning's... and I like the looks of a flute but my father owned the slab bull(?) barrel the one with the squared sides but he said it was a nice balance. But I think it's the Buckmark's that come with a fancy flute type style.

Oh well on to look at more guns, it's sooo hard to browse for new guns... heh yeah right! I wish I had some more money though.

 

[fisherman66]

Smoky;

I'm try to do a better job explaining.

By fluting the barrel is lighter. In a long barrel there is a minimal amount of bend created by the weight of the steel at the muzzle especially in a bull barrel. If you remove that weight, but keep the diameter the same by fluting the weight is not going to create as much sag. The "lands" of the barrel on top and bottom act like a bull barrel supporting from the bottom and creating tension on the top. If you look at cranes and other weight bearing structure you will see that it is built in triangles or prisms (lenghtened triangles). The reason is to keep weight down.

Does this make for a more accurate firearm? I can't say it does, but I think the arguement makes sense. Right now we are splitting hairs and I say technology will have to catch up in loading, chamber making, and barrel rifling before we know if it really makes a difference.

 

[brickeyee]

Fluting decreases the stiffness of the barrel compared to the original contour.
The dead weight of a barrel may cause a sag, but this has no real affect on accuracy since it is a constant offset removed when the weapon is zeroed.
A fluted barrel wil be stiffer than the same weight in a cylinder. The diameter is larger and the result is a stiffer barrel.
Fluting can increase heat dissipation by increasing hte surface area. While a bull may be able to initially absorb more heat (about 6 cal per gram of barrel pre degree C) if you keep shooting it will eventually overheat. The larger surface area of a fluted barrel can increase the time, but only prarie dog shooters and such have a real issue.

 

[James K]

Fluting has almost nothing to do with heat dissipation in any conventional pistol or rifle (some machineguns have used fluted or finned barrels for heat dissipation). The reason for fluting is that a fluted barrel of a given diameter is nearly as stiff as a bull barrel of the same diameter but has a lot less weight.

Jim

 

[Zekewolf]

I know this has been said a coupla different ways, but how's this?? A fluted barrel is not as stiff as the same barrel not fluted. Pretty simple, huh?

 

[CypherNinja]

I own a Mark II with the slab side barrel (Govt. Competition model) because I liked the balance more than the regular bull barrel.

Zekewolf:But a fluted barrel is stiffer than a bull barrel of equal weight.

 

[Mute]

A fluted barrel is stiffer than a non-fluted barrel of THE SAME WEIGHT. It is NOT stiffer than a non-fluted barrel that has the same maximum outside diameter as the fluted barrel.

While there might be some heat dissipation advantage, most shooters are not shooting enough rounds in a short enough time period to really take advantage of that. The only reason I see for a fluted barrel is to reduce weight. IOW, you want the benefit of a stiff bull barrel without the all the added weight of that barrel.

 

[Jim Watson]

You gotta consider the style points, too.

But the only real effect on a .22 is weight and balance. High Standard had a 7 1/4" barrel very deeply fluted to make it come out about the same weight as the 5 1/2" bull barrel but with longer sight radius.

 

[Zekewolf]

I haven't been to Bushmaster's website in some time, but the last time I checked, they advertised that their $50 fluting of their barrels resulted in a "stiffer" barrel. Two possibilities: (1) ignorance (2) prevarication.