I appreciate your responses and advice. I will have to study up on the poured lead lapping. That sounds like the safest option. What do you suggest for barrel break in for something that is or appears to be in pretty machine rough condition? I used a hornady oal. gauge on it today, and pushing the case into the chamber left some serious scratches on the case. I'm pretty dissatisfied with this barrel. Even if it shoots light out but it's only good for a limited number of shots, that may be a pain in the arsenal to stop and clean, not even an option if I happen to be in a match. Of course I haven't been in one yet but that's the goal. We will certainly see. Rc20 - of course it would be nice to know from the get go if it's me shooting or something else that makes a rifle shoot like a shotgun. Be nice to know that the barrel wasn't an issue on a brand new $1200 gun.