Thin Rust Patches Inside Bore of X-Bolt

Discussion in 'Browning X-Bolt Rifle' started by DDJ, Mar 7, 2021.

  1. DDJ

    DDJ Copper BB

    I just purchased 10 months old X-Bolt Stalker (22in barrel chambered in 308 Win) that has never been fired. Rifle is paired with Vortex Viper HS-T scope. I purchased them both from a co-worker, who got them new and never used them (he even gave me the original receipt of purchase from May 2020). The rifle was all the time sitting in its original box. This evening I was preparing the rifle for a range tomorrow, and upon a careful inspection I noticed a couple of very thin rust patches (about 5mm long) inside the bore at the muzzle area. I tried to take pictures, but the rust spots are deep enough that they are not showing in the pictures (I might try with a different lens). Should I worry about this, and would Browning take care of the problem if I contacted them. My guess is that the barrel should be replaced. I have a nice collection of bolt and lever action rifles and 357 Mag revolvers, and I was very excited about the X-bolt. Now I am a little bit down after seeing these two rust spots. Any advice would be appreciated.
  2. DDJ

    DDJ Copper BB

    Finally I was able to get a decent picture of the rust spot. There are two spots like this that I can see, but there night be more inside, but one would need a scope camera to inspect. X-Bolt.jpg
  3. DDJ

    DDJ Copper BB

    I took the rifle to a shooting range, popped about 40 rounds (very accurate rifle and about 1 MOA groups at 100 yards, but considering that this is my first scope ever, I am super happy and I will quickly get under 1 MOA with Winchester 308 Win match-grade ammo). Thus yesterday the rifle lost "virginity", and it the process those "rust-like" lines are gone. I got home from the range, cleaned the rifle including the bore with nylon brash and road, and did very slight bore lubing with very thin gun oil (I always keep my bores slightly lubed, but before I head to a range I pass bore snake through the bore). Afterwards, I could not see any rust-like lines and the bore looks pristine. Someone on another forum suggested that what I saw were not rust-lines, but slight copper lines and they got removed by projectiles.

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