Well I finally got my rifle back from the gunshop a couple of weeks ago, and tried it out at the range - I have to say that I'm very happy with the barrel.
Not only does it shoot well, the external appearance also polished up nicely. It turns out that the rough appearance was only on the surface - residue from the CNC machining process - which cleaned up very well with a bit of polishing using scotch bright.
The first groups were a little erratic, running at around 3/4'' to an inch for 5 shots at 50yds. But it soon settled down to 1/4'' to 1/2''
I'm hopeful that will further improve with shooting, and I suppose, finding the ammo it prefers.
