Ruah,
You need to be seriously concerned about weight if you want fluting. Fluting takes effort and costs a lot more for not much weight saving. There are no other benefits.
A fluted Lilja 319 weighs 2.16lbs and costs $640
An unfluted Lilja 319 weighs 2.47lbs and costs $510
You save .31lb at a cost of an extra $100. When you think about how much the assembled gun is going to weigh including scope and full mag, with a 0.3lb saving - I don't think you can yawn loud enough.
As for a muzzle brake, everyone has their favorites and there is no one that stands out on this forum. You have to wonder about a bird cage however. Those things are designed to change the shape of the muzzle flash to help hide you at night against a human enemy. To the extent that works is arguable but when lives are on the line every bit helps. As a civilian shooter you are not going to need what it was designed to do and yet it will add length, weight and cost. Not much, but a thread protector is another option and you can clean and inspect the crown on a regular basis.
You don't really need a brake either with this calibre, unless there's something wrong with your shoulder or you are concerned about 3-gun match splits. But a brake will serve you better than a cage. One good thing about a brake apart from making it more comfortable to shoot is that you should be able to see fall of shot at long range if you are careful.
Fluting and hiders are cosmetic. The cost of a brake and fluting is the difference between a rack grade tomato stake and an Olympic-grade match barrel. One will shoot, and the other will sort of shoot - hopefully.
My point is that neither fluting nor muzzle device is as important as the quality of the barrel, which is everything.
You need to be seriously concerned about weight if you want fluting. Fluting takes effort and costs a lot more for not much weight saving. There are no other benefits.
A fluted Lilja 319 weighs 2.16lbs and costs $640
An unfluted Lilja 319 weighs 2.47lbs and costs $510
You save .31lb at a cost of an extra $100. When you think about how much the assembled gun is going to weigh including scope and full mag, with a 0.3lb saving - I don't think you can yawn loud enough.
As for a muzzle brake, everyone has their favorites and there is no one that stands out on this forum. You have to wonder about a bird cage however. Those things are designed to change the shape of the muzzle flash to help hide you at night against a human enemy. To the extent that works is arguable but when lives are on the line every bit helps. As a civilian shooter you are not going to need what it was designed to do and yet it will add length, weight and cost. Not much, but a thread protector is another option and you can clean and inspect the crown on a regular basis.
You don't really need a brake either with this calibre, unless there's something wrong with your shoulder or you are concerned about 3-gun match splits. But a brake will serve you better than a cage. One good thing about a brake apart from making it more comfortable to shoot is that you should be able to see fall of shot at long range if you are careful.
Fluting and hiders are cosmetic. The cost of a brake and fluting is the difference between a rack grade tomato stake and an Olympic-grade match barrel. One will shoot, and the other will sort of shoot - hopefully.
My point is that neither fluting nor muzzle device is as important as the quality of the barrel, which is everything.