Before Skip's passing, if you spoke with the good folks at Shilen, you would get the spiel that Shilen Barrels, Inc neither flutes barrels nor recommends that you do so...but, if you must, call Skip Otto.

Skip would drive the occasional engineer crazy because, by definition, removing material from a barrel (by fluting) makes it less stiff and some of them had difficulty thinking "outside the box" and even more difficulty facing hard data that contradicted what they expected.

That said, in the benchrest world the top competitors do not shoot fluted barrels. (Many of the top competitors go through more than a few barrels a year and when they find one of exceptional ability unscrew it and save it for big shoots.)

To quote one acquaintance, "barrels are like bullets, they're expendable".

P.S. The last fluted barrel I intend to use is the last one Skip fluted for me. It is a 7mm number 6 contour fluted to make weight as a number 5 contour for a hunter rifle. I would not do it again. A number 5 contour is plenty stiff enough (and will make weight with a light stock). Even a number 4 contour is and it will make weight with a heavier stock.

"As for fluting....worthless. It does nothing for accuracy , removes very little weight, adds expense to the manufacturing process and in my opinion looks bad. Improperly done it could make an otherwise good barrel shoot badly. Some believe fluting makes a barrel stiffer and less prone to whipping but this not so. Another myth is less metal with fluted barrels is that they cool more quickly. Maybe, but they heat up faster, too. Fluted barrels and the Remington VTR triangle shape ones are just marketing gimmicks to sell guns.

My answer....not fluted. But, an off the shelf stainless .260 M700 would be mighty tempting.[/quote]"

Im with bob. A local guy here who builds customs states he did some tests with fluted VS non fluted heavy barrel. Found the fluted to actually be less accurate.

I heard/read somewhere that the fluting reduces the "hoop" tension of the barrel and can result in bore diameter changes at where the fluting starts and stops. If each flute is not cut identical to the others, it can increase/decrease the stiffness in that one part/side of the barrel.