I bought a barrel from a reputable compnay through Brownells  and when I received it and looked down the bore it was obvious that the drill for the gas port had been dull and suffered a bit of 'blowout' when it came through into the bore.

I am going to hit it with a brass brush and see if they are just some loose chips that need to be broken free, but I guess the real question is will this cause a problem short term or long term?

I guess I could return the barrel, but I already returned the first one I got (this is #2) becuase the FSB was so crooked the gun was out of windage and still shooting 6" right at 25 meters.  This particular barrel is now out of stock and it could be months before they get another one in.  I ordered through Brownells who is very good about returns, it just is a pain in the ass to deal with in general.

Anyhow, is this going to be a problem with reliability/accuracy, etc?

The general rule of thumb is if you can drop a closely sized drill bit down from the chamber and it "knocks off" the offending burr then it won't cause any degradation in accuracy to follow it up by shooting it smooth from there on out. I'd try that before I sent it back.

Very standard thing to have that burr in there, just that some barrel makers knock it out before it gets to you, others don't. Just shoot it out.  Unless you have a brass squib rod, I wouldn't try to knock it out as you could damage the bore or get something else stuck in there.  

Noting to worry about.

Sounds good. I figured 2-3 rounds down the barrel would take care of it, just wanted to make sure.

Quoted: Quoted: Sounds good. I figured 2-3 rounds down the barrel would take care of it, just wanted to make sure. If it takes more than 1 round, you have serious problems.

I figured if it was that serious of a problem I would only get 1 round off and then wonder why my barrel looked like a banana peel.

If there is still a burr after that it will be going back for a refund.  Tired of screwing aroudn with what should be a no-brainer build.

So Randall I take it you have seen this/experienced this issue before, and that it shouldn't actually be an issue?

I shot it today and it worked just fine- the barrel seems a little heavier gassed than some of the other AR's I have, but that may also be related to being a 16" lightweight barrel.

Groups were nice and tight, just about the best groups I have shot, especially considering it was cold and drixzzling freezing rain at the range.  So it is safe to say that it doesn't affect accuracy.

Quoted: Quoted: I shot it today and it worked just fine- the barrel seems a little heavier gassed than some of the other AR's I have, but that may also be related to being a 16" lightweight barrel. My 16" LW barrel is the same way.  It "feels" like it has more gas simply because of inertia... less weight = more felt recoil.  However, it is a bit more "gassed" than my other 16" carbines - because it cycles ANY ammo... even when bone dry and dirty as hell.  It is the most reliable thing I have ever seen.

Soudns exactly the same as mine.  The bolt hold open lockup is "positive" to say the least.

I actually bought this barrel with the intent of doing an XM177E2 build, but hell, it shoots so good I think I'll just leave it as-is and once I run it through the wringer to prove it is 100% I'll have my new SHTF carbine.