I pulled off the 30-06 barrel today in preparation to true the action and install a light Palma 8x57 barrel for a fun project I’ve been wanting to do for a while now.

When I broke the barrel nut loose, I noticed a bunch of tiny little round objects come out of the threads. I was able to get the action off the barrel tenon no problem but the nut locked up hard half way off. Needless to say I’m a bit perplexed by what this could be. Feels metallic but I didn’t try to get them to stick to a magnet. Almost looks like fine spherical gunpowder, but like extra fine.

Any ideas? Thanks.