Could be anything. Wouldn't be surprised if they did replace the barrel. When you rescope the bore, don't be surprised if you find chatter marks again. The pitting would be bad, but the chatter marks are par for the course with Savage but they are still normally shooters.
Something to try before sending it back again is get the barrel good and dirty. Just shoot it without any break in cleaning. Almost every factory Savage barrel I have had shoots best when its full of copper and fouling. On my hunting barrels I only clean them after that hunting season is over just to preserve them for next year. Then just before the next year's season I go to the range and dirty them up again and recheck zero and don't touch them again til after the season. Too much cleaning can be your accuracy enemy with a factory Savage barrel. Just something to think about.
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