Quote Originally Posted by Newhouse View Post
I always enjoyed making fun of those muzzle loaders with the thumb holes and the fluted barrels, how fast could you possibly expect to shoot a muzzle loader as to require the cooling properties of flutes, but I suppose they design rifles to bag more hunters than game.
Faster cooling isn't the only purpose of fluted barrels; fluting also improves barrel rigidity. Honestly that is probably the main reason you see it in hunting rifles, not the cooling advantage.