Mono bullets were mentioned, but I don't know how that plays into all of this. Somewhere in one of these strings, somebody said that J. J. mentioned that he thought that monos had been fired in it. I think that has to mean that he sees evidence of overstressed rifling on the outside of the barrels, as this is the only evidence that monos leave behind. So, with stuffed chambers and overstressed rifling, maybe he figures the barrels aren't worth saving, or are too unsafe to try.
BTW, the original string on this rifle over at AR back in January seems to indicate that this gun has post-1925 marks. If so, the existing barrels are almost certainly shoe-lump, not chopper. ------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------- "Serious rifles have two barrels, everything else just burns gunpowder."