POTD: The LWRC International IC-A5 Rifle

@Social_Artifice Dissapates heat faster

@john huscio Based on what? Their marketing? Fluting mostly reduces weight and very marginally helps with cooling. Most combat rifles doesn't have fluting and do just fine. The spiral fluting looks unique and that's about it. It's a polarizing feature that if anything is just costing them clients.

@Vet Combat rifles dont have it due to cost. Probably millions in just fluting to equip an army. Fluting is absolutely worth having if you can justify the cost though.

@Tyler McIntyre https://www.shilen.com/faq....
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@john huscio it's a marketing gimmick https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

@john huscio And shaves off about 15% of the barrel weight which keeps the piston rifle significantly less front heavy.

My 14.7” IC-A5 is noticeably better balanced than my friend’s 14.7” IC-A2 and M62A.

@DanMcKraken I don't think the POI shift would be an issue on a "service rifle", however on an AI rifle sure. Fluting increases surface area while maintaining the same diameter, which speeds up cooling. It also is a fairly significant weight saving method. So no, it's not a marketing gimmick, it's just not the right thing for all applications.

@Vet The Mk.46 has a fluted barrel... so does the Mk.48 I think. I read or heard somewhere that old school SEALs who had experience Stoner 63 wanted the Mk.46 to have fluted barrels based on their operational experience. On the Sniper rifles like the M2010 and the Barrett MRAD have fluted barrels.
Beyond fire arms, heat sinks you find in computers have structures that offer more surface area to assist with cooling. Another good example of why in some cases having more surface area is a good thing is the villi within your intestinal walls. The villi creates more surface area to better digest.

@DanMcKraken There's actually ways to do it to fix this but most of the good solutions are IP protected for a million years.

You're dealing with two problems here and conflating two situations