Haha, praise Lord Shmooze, my other T97 serial 3xx had a very tiny nick in it, even smaller than my 600 serial., in between the lands. Must have been because I asked for a KJV to be included with my order.
This makes me wonder, I think it's almost impossible to see the groove looking down the barrel or bore, I wonder if any other gas operated gun has this issue, but their owners just have not looked? I don't know, just posing the thought. I have never removed the gas tube on any of my ARs, not looked down the gas tport on any of the 858s I sold to old Mike in Canmore. Same goes with my SKSs (it's been a while, but can you even see down the gas port?).
Another thought, why are some posters so over dramatic about corrosion? Who is shooting corrosive .223 anyways? Most of the 858s in country are not chrome lined, and everyone runs corrosive ammo through them. I sold to Mike in Canmore an 858 with a horribly pitted chamber. I'll have to ask old Mike about the barrel, because I never looked very closely to see if it was pitted - I just shot it and ran a tone of seafoam deep creep through it. Besides leaving small bulges in the brass, it was a monster shooter - reliable and accurate.
I am curious what will happen if the chrome lining starts flaking off what will happen. How bad will it affect accuracy? After a while, will it flake off to the point where it stops and if so, does it really matter - it may well be the sights need adjustment and that's the end of it. I don't know - just thinking some on here are treating this as if it were the... Worst... Possible... Thing! (Y'all are lucky I'm on my phone, since that's a pony joke and when I get back to my desk I'll be putting up an image macro). Personally, I think all that matters is how it shoots, which personally after about 200 rounds, I am very satisfied with.
While it sucks, I thought the real benefits to chrome lining was resistance to primer residue from corrosive ammo (not a problem with .223) and barrel longevity under sustained, automatic fire (also not a problem).
While personally, I like the fact that the T97 is built off a platform intended to be a light machine gun, I just don't see myself personally running 600 rounds per minute through mine.