To those T97NSR owners with a barrel "gouge"

[airtruck63chev]

im thinking the kid on the drill press was using the far side of the barrel as the drill stop.. im curious on what realistically can be done about it.
what could they do to fix? new barrel.. doubt it, replace rifle.. doubt it again but i guess for the hard core people that want to return it they may have a case.
what would people be happy with? i guess that would depend on every owner and if the mark affected accuracy , if it did affect accuracy kinda makes the rifle worth nothing other than a wall hanger and even then im thinkin its too ugly to hang on the wall if it does not affect accuracy and maybe affects life of barrel (ie: # of rounds) maybe offer factory scope or credit towards replacement barrel down the road? wonder what people would be happy with... hard one, not alot of happy people in this world :P

[pig_man]

Yep! PM sent.

[Jambo]

I'm not going to worry too much about it, good luck to NS finding a solution and will wait to heard final determination..

Looks like I have the gouge, too. PM sent. However, my impression is that the gouge may be a non-issue, given that the standard gas port hole causes no harm for autoloading rifles. However, I'd like to hear or read the opinion of an expert gunsmith on the matter.

I see that Luckygunner.com did a 10K round torture test on some 16in chrome-lined barrels to check for differential wear caused by steel jacketed vs copper jacketed ammo and has published their results on the net. There is a photo of a cutaway of the gas port for the barrel which fired 10k of Federal copper-jacketed rounds and, while accuracy remained good with rifling standing up relatively well, there is substantial flame-cutting of the gas port. This is apparently part of the normal wear process. I think that the barrel gouge on the T97 may wear in the same manner without impact to the performance of the rifle. If that's true, I'd like to read it in an expert's report or summary.

[schlehofer]

I cannot send PM. SN# 13001334 With gouge. Moderate size right on top of the land. Still shoots good but id take a spare barrel if they are being offered.

[Fretman]

You nearly made me choke to death laughing! Good one!

that poor little chinese boy that was drilling the holes is gonna get killed cuz of you guys!!! THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!

[Fretman]

Flexibility could be an issue!

I haven't even looked at my gas hole yet.

[Mean Steak]

I've only fired about 60 rounds out of mine. There is no gouge in mine however there is a small nick.
My question is there a gouge in nonfired T97's ?

[Battlerifleelitist]

I was going to make a remark on over penetration of the gas hole , but looks like someone already rammed that one through

Best post on CGN of the year vote.

[spi]

I doubt that anyone is importing or selling these rifles out of the kindness of their heart and a desire for a better gun market in Canada. The markup at each level of distribution will be a geometric progression.

[jdman]

so has NS replied to anyone who has sent in the serial number?