Hey fellas,

I got a new ruger 338 african in with a couple scratches on the top of the barrel, where the writing is.  Im going to talk to the customer to see if he wants to ship it to ruger, attempt to cover the scratch, or just live with the scratch.  My question is, what might be available to fill a very light scratch to somewhat match the factory finish.  A sharpie marker filled the scratch, but looks shiny in the light.

Thanks.

Thanks for reading.  I used my amazing touch up pen gunsmithing skills to color in the scratches, and im going to seal it from the elements somehow.

Ruger African, you say...
Heck, I'd personally take a hammer and a sharpened railroad spike, make four big, deep "fang" marks halfway through the forend wood mear the scratch, pour a little blood into them, let it dry real good and make up a really big lie!

Sorry, can't help you with a serious answer, except that it appears from the photo that the metal has a bead-blasted appearance prior to finishing, and the scratch probably altered that texture. Consequently. I don't think you'll be able to match iit perfectly.  Doesn't really look that bad though. I'd dab it lightly with a touch-up cold blue pen or something like that, trying to avoid the surrounding metal. Keep it a bit oily to protect from rust.