Well it may be that the barrel was threaded a bit "loose" before your new smith even had it. I see no reason he would have done anything to the shank threads.
Maybe Pac-Nor will cop a guilty plea and fit this all for you. Might be worth a phone call.
Yesterday I tool the barrel to MOA Precision. Tom has some thread measuring equipment. He told me the threads are at least .007" under size. He wrote a nice letter to politely let them decide they messed up.
I called Pac-Nor to get their physical address so I could send it to them with a request letter and Tom's letter. The guy wanted to know why I needed the address. He seemed genuinely concerned and wanted to see it. I suggested they didn't need to thread and chamber it again because MOA volunteered to take care of it for me. Maybe I will actually get a replacement. Thanks again for the suggestion. I was going to toss it in the trash.
