I guess to say I didn’t clean it for that many rounds is a little bit of a stretch, but really all I ever did was pull a bore snake through it randomly. I’ve been lead to believe by many on this forum and others that bore snakes are useless, hence my saying I rarely clean it.
I'm not an advocate for bore snakes.
Not because they aren't useful, just that most of the people using them don't know or just don't bother to use them properly.
I recently picked up a Model 721 Remington that bubba had put into the wrong stock etc. He claimed it shot 12 inch groups at 100yds and no matter how much he cleaned it with a ''bore snake'' accuracy didn't get any better, so the bore must be worn out.
I put that rifle into a proper stock, made for the barrel profile with the rear sight ring about half way down and it didn't shoot any better.
The bore looked fine, until I took a close looke at the muzzle, which was rounded and polished but not from good machining.
The bore was worn from a ''bore snake'' or surplus "pull through'' type cleaning device.
After counter boring appx .020in oversize I put it all back into the proper stock and took it to the range. Now it shoots honest 1.5 moa groups with off the shelf ammo.
This isn't the first rifle I've come across with muzzle wear caused by ''pull through'' type cleaning systems, including bore snakes.
If they are utilized properly they are just fine, this includes pulling them straight out of the bore and cleaning them properly after use. In the end, they're more trouble and effort than they're worth.
This is just IMHO of course.
Tiriaq, I had close to a half dozen take off .17 barrels that were in similar condition to those you mentioned.
I gave them to a fellow that wanted to get into the barrel making business, to re bore and rifled.
If the Tikka hadn't shot acceptably with the first couple of loads, I would have pulled the barrel and used it to build something else.
I got lucky with finding brass and bullets at reasonable prices and seeing as a set of dies was included with the rifle, it was a no brainer to just shoot it.