Looking at those images, some of that gunk does appear to be raised, so maybe it is lead and bullet lubricant.more images, check out the band where the rifling stops and the ported area starts. this is after overnight soaking and an afternoon of scrubbing...
Ive heard old timers talk about a test to tell if a barrel is worn out. Take a cartridge of the caliber the gun is chambered in, and put the bullet in the muzzle. If it fits tightly, or stops just before the casing touches the crown,... the barrel has life left. If it flops around or is easy to insert and remove,... its worn out. Not exactly scientific, but a decent field test. In my case, once the crud is clean, I can see the blueing and fit the casing up to the line. This makes me believe, past the line, on the way out, has zero effect on the bullet leaving the muzzle. Plus I see no rifling in that section.
Lots of good ideas there, but why not on the crown? or outside of the barrel.... those two spots look new, or at least age appropriate. The rest of the rifling looks fine also... Corporate says this is what the model is called: M&P 380Shield Ported PC EZ. Made Aug.2020. Say that five times fast!.... I also sent the images to S&W, I think they may be stunned, confused like everyone here,... cause have not seen a reply.
Hey Gang,... those of you still following the saga of the pitted barrel... must be riveted by now!. Another tech at S&W looked at the images and also said, it was lead build up that often happens on ported barrels. Recommended "Kleenbore Lead Away:", to remove. Maybe someone has used it,... review time! Plus, and this is the kicker,... there is a recall on this gun. It falls in the date range during covid,(mid year of 2020) of a bad batch of hammers with cracks that could release from the sear and go into full auto mode, sometimes without touching the trigger.... so its gotta go in anyway. Thanks to all that commented, and Ill post on progress at a future date....
I scraped off industrial epoxy that was easier to remove than this crud at the end of this barrel. I truly believe this pistol has not been maintained since it was new.... the wear is very minor otherwise.And it's only a few years old. Something smells about how this gun was treated.
I totally agree, but the funny thing is ,.... I spoke to SW yesterday and they said,... well, it was at the end of the time frame, ... so You can send it in if you want to or not. Surprising!... I would think the Company would encourage a user, if there was ANY chance of that condition....If it needs to go to the mother ship, I would send it in for the recall with the barrel. I would be super surprised if they didn't replace the barrel. Can't imagine they would send it back with that barrel.
why try to fix it if they will replace it, if it comes back with the same barrel you can try to FIX it then.
At last,.... the answer was right there all along!... Good one!Perhaps some corrosive Eastern Bloc surplus 380 that had been sitting around for a long time?
Almost looks like lead, does it scratch with a scribe or chip off?
It's hard to tell from the photo, but I suspect clang444 is correct. Soak the muzzle in some cleaning solvent for a few days and go at it with some copper Chore Boy wrapped around a bore brush.
You can find it online, at Walmart or at many grocers...Please tell me about the Copper Chore Boy product.////
Gun cleaning tool,... kitchen scrubber,... Copper wool product?...