Again, you pay more for less. Fifth, The actual amount of weight savings is generally rather small in most gas guns, since many areas cannot be fluted. All you really need to know is that as you take material off you reduce the stiffness. Anyhow, in a humble attempt to end this controversy for once and for all, I've decided to try a cold, hard, mathematical analysis of a typical real-world situation. Weight is directly proportional to cross-sectional area.
Surface area is directly proportional to the outside perimeter.
Measurements of the 700VS were taken from an actual 700VS from my personal collection. Flute dimensions are approximate, but should be fairly accurate. The weight and surface area comparisons hold true only for the fluted portion of the barrel. Hence, the effects of the fluting would be less than reported above. Under NO geometrically possible conditions can flutes make a barrel MORE rigid than a plain, unfluted barrel of the same diameter.