I find no excuses for barrels being shipped out in the condition that Nightwind describes. When the annular reamer marks are so deep as to show shadows, the bore was reamed with a dull reamer, or the reamer was forced to hard and fast. For a maker to sell such a barrel is a shame upon him. The barrel is the heart and soul of any rifle. It should be free of any flaws that can affect accuracy. Period. There are no valid excuses. The maker had a tough day? Tough. I should not have to suffer his tough day also. I do not mind paying a little extra money for quality, but when I do, I expect to get it. I don't know exactly what is mean't by BIG makers. Are you talking large output, or top quality makers? The company with the largest output of swamped barrels is the last one to trust. The company I mentioned earlier has a very poor track record on quality. So poor that one of the leading parts suppliers dropped them because of a 40% return rate, and yet people continue to brag on them because their barrel is fine. I have one of theirs on hand that is a competition quality tack driver, but I also have worked with eight others from this company that run from just acceptable, to being suitable only as a fence post. Their problems generally lie with tight spots and rough reamed bores. The tight spots are the sneaky ones. One can look in the bore to get an idea of how well polished it is, but one has to gauge in some manner for tight spots, and this, with most hobby builders, comes when the gun is finished and shot for the first time. Too late to return it in that case, with most companies. I reached the point where I run a patched ball through an unbreeched barrel to check for this, before I waste my time building a gun around it. Although doing this is no guarantee, it is better than nothing in lieu of having gauges. Smooth bores are no exception. If one expects good performance, a smoothy needs to be just as uniform as a rifle should be, but this is most often not the case. Many makers and most customers think, oh, it's just a smooth bore, it doesn't need to be perfect like a rifle, but if one wants good shot patterns, rough bores and tight or loose spots, most often nullify this possibility. A couple of years back, I used this company's barrel on a gun that I engraved extensively. The barrel got a fairly large amount of decorating around the breech, rear sight, and muzzle. I did make a visual inspection before building, but did not check for tight spots. This was my nicest work to date. Guess what? TIGHT SPOT! Even after a long session of lead lapping, this gun will only do three inch groups at 50yrds, which was an improvment over the five inch groups we got before lapping. Even if the maker would change it out, I am out a lot of work. The only practical answer for this one is to have a liner installed, which will cost more than the barrel originally did. I guess that I am rambling, but I am sick and tired of paying good money for poor goods. For my next customer on my list, I will try a Rice barrel. The methods used to make his are much superior to the those used by most, although if they are not properly inspected, things still can go wrong.
///send it back and explain, let the owner deal with the manufacturer.
