When Jeanine T.’s father passed away in Hartford, CT, she began cleaning out his belongings.
While going through a closet, Jeanine found a rifle.
She didn’t know anything about the gun but didn’t want to keep it, so she decided to turn the rifle over to the Hartford Police Department.
At the police station, she met with two officers who were firearms experts for the department.
After seeing the weapon, the officers informed Jeanine that the gun was a Nazi rifle, a Sturmgewehr 44 (which means “storm rifle”), made in Germany.
Turns out, Jeanine’s father had brought the gun home from Europe while serving in World War II.
Jeanine figured the rifle was worthless and thought it needed to be melted down.
The rare gun was estimated to be worth over $20,000.
“It’s like finding the Babe Ruth of baseball cards,” said one of the police officers.
He added, “If you were to look at the gun and didn’t know anything about guns, you would think it was garbage.”
The police officer said, “Her father passed away. She did not know it was a machine gun.”
The German-made Sturmgewehr can fire about 500 rounds per minute.
The gun requires specially made ammunition that is hard to find.
While the Sturmgewehr was known for being a deadly rifle, it might be best known for the Krummlauf barrel attachment.
The Krummlauf is a bent barrel attachment for the Sturmgewehr.
The barrel attachment could be bent at 30, 45, 60, and even 90 degrees.
The 30-degree barrel was the most popular.
The barrel was introduced around 1944 when the war wasn’t going well for Germany, and they were desperate for a weapon advantage.
The idea behind the barrel was that a soldier could fire the gun around a corner without exposing themselves to the enemy.
As you can imagine, it was a failure.
First, for the bullet to make it through the barrel there had to be a lot of pressure behind it, which meant the barrel only lasted about 300 rounds.
Second, the bullets typically broke as they curved through the barrel.
Lastly, the rifle was inaccurate.
Shooters had to use a periscope to aim the rifle or look around the corner before shooting.
Now, as then, shooters are searching for ways to improve their barrels, or make changes to the barrel to improve the performance.
One thing that is popular with gun owners these days is fluting of their barrels.
What is barrel fluting?:
A fluted barrel is a gun barrel that has sections of the exterior carved out to create grooves.
From a cosmetic standpoint, it can make the barrel more eye-catching than the standard smooth barrel.
You can find fluted barrels in all sorts of patterns.
Plus, you can get them for a variety of firearms from rifles to pistols.
Some shooters will even remove the barrel from their gun and take it to a gunsmith to have the barrel fluted.
In other words, you don’t have to go buy a new gun part to have a fluted barrel.
There are two common patterns for fluting barrels.
The first is corkscrew fluting, which is a winding spiral pattern.
The other is straight fluting, which has grooves that go down a line from the back of the barrel to the front.
Benefits of a fluted barrel:
One reason that some people like to flute their gun barrel is that it can make the gun lighter.
Fluting will remove parts of the barrel making it weigh less. The deeper the grooves are in the barrel the less it will weigh.
Another thing about fluted barrels is that they can provide quicker heat dissipation after firing the weapon.
Fluting increases the surface area of the barrel which helps it cool faster.
Lastly, a lot of folks like their guns to have a custom look.
A fluted barrel can be fancy and make the weapon cosmetically appealing.
Drawbacks to a fluted barrel:
Fluting a barrel can potentially reduce the barrel’s strength.
Machining on a manufactured barrel can create weak spots in the barrel that could crack.
One way to prevent this is to buy a barrel that is fluted during the manufacturing of the gun.
The big gun makers are good at doing customizations during manufacturing.
A fluted barrel can also change the way your gun fires, which could be good or bad.
Plus, a fluted barrel is likely going to cost more.
So, your money might be better spent on other accessories.
There are plenty of fluted barrel options for AR-15s and similar rifles.
If you are looking for a fluted barrel, check out the barrels from Bravo Company.
If you decide to flute the barrel of a gun you already own, make sure you use a trusted gunsmith.
A fluted barrel is not a must-have item, but it could be a good addition to your rifle.
