Rifling in Pennsylvania .50 Cal Pedersoli

I purchased the Perdersoli Pennsylvania .50 Cal from Midway USA. The gun showed up and is in pristine condition and looks beautiful. I went to clean it today and ran a .50 brass jag down the bore to mark my range rod. When I pulled it out it was all chewed up. Actual grooves cut into the jag. When pulling it out it definitely felt like it was dragging on something. I ran several patches down the bore and the bore actually cut the patches.
Any thoughts about this? Could the rifling be that sharp right out of the factory? Yes, I double checked the jag size.

Shoot it some, that should smooth things out.

Yes they can be sharp edges where the rifling was cut n burrs. You can shoot it or lap it lightly to get sharp edges wore down. Shooting prb's will give you poor accuracy until bore wears in

Takes a hundred or more shots to break in the barrel. But using Scothbrite with some oil on an undersized jag will certainly speed things up. I use green Scotchbrite.

I've been shooting my pedersoli Pennsylvania .50 for 2 years now, at first it was like yours, a b**** to load. alot of what your fighting is the preservative that they coat the barrel with, it hardens as it dries til its almost as tough as steel. Before I ever shot mine I put a piece of maroon scotch brite on a worm, soaked it in hoppes number 9 and scrubbed it out as best I could. After that it was .490" balls and .010 patches. make sure the patch is wet with a good slick lube (i like mr flintlocks) and fire away. make sure you swab with a wet patch between every shot for the first 50 or so shots or you will get a stuck ball (learned the hard way).

after you get a hundred balls through her she will free up. I have 500 - 600 balls through mine now and she shoots like a dream. The patent breach is super annoying to clean so make sure you have a .30cal nylon brush that fits your ramrod to get into it with, I also remove the vent liner (and reinstall with anti seize) at every cleaning session and flush the barrel with water using one of those screw in flushing fittings (its about the only way to ensure the patent breech is actually clean).

Have fun with her, once you work up a load she will nearly shoot a ragged hole off the bench at 50yds.

Chris