White marks/scratches in new barrel

[Bidwell]

Got a howa superlite 308. Was using the borescope before shooting for the first time and noticed some white scratch-like marks. Only appeard on one rifling. Looks superficial and not to worried about it but was just curious to see if anyone has seen this before. Tooling marks or maybe even some fouling left over from test shots by howa?

 

[Bidwell]

Got a howa superlite 308. Was using the borescope before shooting for the first time and noticed some white scratch-like marks. Only appeard on one rifling. Looks superficial and not to worried about it but was just curious to see if anyone has seen this before. Tooling marks or maybe even some fouling left over from test shots by howa? View attachment 828688

Ran a mop through it and the marks appear more copper in color now

 

[ODB]

Oh man... beware the borescope... nothing has done more to mitigate the accuracy of a shooter or to cast doubt on the quality of a rifle than the lowly borescope...

it's like sausage-making and politics...better to enjoy the outcome than details...

 

[Bidwell]

Oh man... beware the borescope... nothing has done more to mitigate the accuracy of a shooter or to cast doubt on the quality of a rifle than the lowly borescope...

it's like sausage-making and politics...better to enjoy the outcome than details...

Ha, yeah I know. It's good advice. But pandoras box has been opened. Just curious to see what they area

 

[Dawg In Montana]

I know nothing about Howas but that is why many folks follow the prescribed break in of shoot, clean, etc after only a few rounds, to smooth some of those out, or why it may shoot to a different POI for the first couple of shots after being cleaned.

if it shoots well, don’t worry about it at all.

 

[TaperPin]

Its always made me wonder why jacket fouling isn’t the same all through the bore. What is it about those small areas that is so much different? Lol

A lot of barrels will have scratches on the rifling since that was the original surface when the blank was first drilled before the rifling - either drill scratches going round and round, or other scratches from chips being dragged across the surface.

Savage barrels are really known to have a lot of tooling marks. Remington used to finish the chamber in rifles with a reamer that was turned by a long thin shaft through the bore, so the bolt in the receiver could be used directly against the reamer - as soon as the bolt could drop it was done. The tops of the rifling were at the mercy of the operator and how clean he kept those pull through reamers.

 

[Bidwell]

Its always made me wonder why jacket fouling isn’t the same all through the bore. What is it about those small areas that is so much different? Lol

A lot of barrels will have scratches on the rifling since that was the original surface when the blank was first drilled before the rifling - either drill scratches going round and round, or other scratches from chips being dragged across the surface.

Savage barrels are really known to have a lot of tooling marks. Remington used to finish the chamber in rifles with a reamer that was turned by a long thin shaft through the bore, so the bolt in the receiver could be used directly against the reamer - as soon as the bolt could drop it was done. The tops of the rifling were at the mercy of the operator and how clean he kept those pull through reamers.

Marks seem to be gone after a break in process! I've never done one of these but Howa recommended it. Tedious process. Did seem to shoot better after about round 12. The first few shots were pretty ugly, but that sounds normal for this rifle.