Brux, Krieger, Lederer, Rock Creek for the win, service after the sale is a very, very important thing for me!
Button rifle barrels, Hart, Shilen, are smooth as glass, with great customer service.
On a budget, X-caliber button rifle barrels have been bug-hole accurate for me, minimum of half a dozen, 280 AI, 7 Rem mag, 28 Nosler, 6 XC, 6 BRX, 6 Dasher, 257 Weatherby, 308 Winchester with Palma chamber. Accuracy on all are 3/8" and smaller, with little copper fouling barely detectable with Montana Extreme Copper killer!
I am expecting 3/8" and smaller groups, three-shot groups, and multiple three-shot groups shot back to back, In the above, the 280 AI, 7 Rem Mags, and 257 AI shoot like custom Benchrest rigs the groups are so tiny.
You can bet your HAT that I pay very, very close attention to how a barrel looks in a bore scope prior to sending it off to have it chambered as it pays big dividends in accuracy and saving money in cleaning solvents, patches, brushes, not to mention the time wasted in cleaning.
We reload at the rifle range, and it is the norm to tune a hunting rifle to 1/4 MOA-3/8 MOA.
Factory barrels can look difficult, but proper cleaning can keep them up and running. Last week, I was tuning a Rem 700 long range in 25/06, and with R#25, 110g Accubonds, 1" at 500 printed time and time again. A thorough cleaning at 25-30 round intervals keeps the Rem 700 barrel running like a champ. The cleaning of these fire breathers is a science that starts with a great Teslong bore scope at the cleaning station.
There is a lot of fun for this old man trying to get the most from the least equipment with Benchrest load tuning techniques. Again, reloading at the rifle range, changing primers, changing seating depth, changing neck bushings, type of sizing required, all play their part in a load tune.
OP's barrel is a tomato stake unless you like an incredible job cleaning that takes the most serious cleaning methods known today that demands abrasives in the use. In the OP's barrel, none of the bore tec or wipe out products will do much for the amount of fouling that will accumulate in those deep cutter marks.
Increasing in intensity, JB, Montana Extreme Copper Cream, Flitz bore cleaner, and finally the most aggressive, Thurro Clean will be normal for that barrel used every 20 rounds with the bore being gold plated at 30 rounds.
Copper fouling will increase exponentially as the velocity exceeds 3400 fps, and the barrel may actually be serviceable at 2800fps or so, depending on the amount of bearing surface of the bullet used.
I would defer to Bill Larson on this issue as he has forgot more than I will ever know.
