John, In fact, these are the lightest barrels that I have ever done, only .440" at the muzzles. I am taking every possible step to get this rifle as light as possible. I have even skeletonized the Leupold QRW rings that it will wear, pic below. This actually shaved 1/2 ounce.

I tend to agree with Daryl re the Partitions. I'm only loading to 2200 fps, a very mild load.

Shotgunlover,

The finish that you see is exactly as I received the monoblock. The machine work was done with EDM wire-cutting. They applied some type of finish, that looks just like phosphating, afterwards to prevent corrosion. That is the matte look that you see.