Honeycomb fluting on barrels?

[BK]

http://store.legionfirearms.com/product ... 18_hex.htm

http://kitup.military.com/2012/03/hex-f ... ment-40581

Looks interesting, but their website doesn't mention twist (that I could tell) and they are a bit spendy.

 

[DrMike]

Certainly different, in any case. It doesn't particularly appeal to me, but it is nevertheless different.

 

[JD338]

Kurt,

Looks pretty cool.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

meh. :roll:

Just another place for grit to accumulate. No useful purpose.

Then again, there's no useful purpose to beautiful grain on a nice walnut stock either... If you like it, go for it! :grin:

 

[CanuckBen]

meh. :roll:

Just another place for grit to accumulate. No useful purpose.

Then again, there's no useful purpose to beautiful grain on a nice walnut stock either... If you like it, go for it! :grin:

From a visual lookover of it, I'd agree that those honeycomb would be a good place for sand to accumulate, but perhaps the finish of it makes it so that it doesn't, but how can we say that it has no useful purpose w/o having all of the technical details of it, having tried it in field, etc?

Like the ChristensenArms barrels - perhaps that are just a visually appealing barrel w/o any technical advantages, but if one has never tried it, how could one tell? Sometime a new idea can be a good one

 

[Guy Miner]

CanuckBen - you may well be right. I'm a little jaded after all these years of seeing the latest and greatest stuff come out year after year. Fads that come and go. BS that lingers... Promises of utopia that turn out to be ghettos...

I really am a basic kind of guy. A good rifle, good ammo, and most importantly a good shooter, determine accuracy in the real world. Mostly the shooter. That takes skill, coming from good training and a lot of practice. For practical field accuracy, most of us would be far better off spending our money on:

training
ammo
new barrels when the old wears out

It is good to try new things from time to time. I'm just jaded with all the "new and better" claims I suppose. I'll know if I'm right when I start seeing hex fluting on barrels winning most of the rifle matches. Haven't heard of one yet, but it's new tech, there's time. You know what wins long range matches? Reading the wind.

Fluting? There's several types: straight, interrupted, helical, and what do they call the stuff that radiates out from the barrel like thin little washers spread from muzzle to action? Mostly it seems to be a decent way to reduce barrel weight, and sell more guns. Each has been touted as the new way to awesome accuracy.

Everything was new at some point, and some good ideas do stick - look at fiberglass stocks... See, I do like something that was new once!

OK. I'll submit my name in the contest for curmudgeon of the day... :grin:

Regards, Guy

 

[widgeon]

Definitely interesting.

I would hope there is some science behind it. Maybe the honeycomb pattern helps to maintain or even adds rigidity ?

 

[ScreaminEagle]

If they are gonna start issuing us weapons with barrels like that, then i want a power washer issued as well. It's hard enough to keep your weapon clean with all the sandstorms and such.

 

[CanuckBen]

If they are gonna start issuing us weapons with barrels like that, then i want a power washer issued as well. It's hard enough to keep your weapon clean with all the sandstorms and such.

I don't believe anyone is force to buy one, let alone it being a (to be) military issued barrel design :wink:

 

[BK]

SE, that was my first thought when I saw it, but they claim they Ceracote after machining. I dunno. I just thought that it was an interesting idea, and maybe provides a stiffer barrel with a lighter weight. But at nearly $500 for just the barrel, somebody else is going to have to find out.

 

[AzDak42]

Whatever technical gain it might have, I'm going to take a pass just because I can imagine an hour with a q-tip to get it all cleaned out after getting dirty.

 

[Coyote Hunter]

From an engineering standpoint, the hex fluting makes sense. From a practical standpoint, maybe not so much. As for aesthetics, that’s up to the viewer – different, to say the least.

As far as the engineering, there are two points to consider.
1. The design probably adds strength to the barrel when compared to straight or helical flutes. Kind of like rip-stop nylon fabric. (Of course we hope that strength is never needed, but barrel splits do occur, often from the muzzle back.)

2. The repeating hex design pattern is the most efficient shape for enclosing space (removed barrel material) with a minimum of material. There is a reason bees use it in honeycombs. Think ‘lighter’.

From a practical standpoint there are a lot more corners to clean. Ugh.