This is done alot to the mosin m38s like you have on the way , if accuracy went bad on a rifle during refurb they would counter bore the barrel , basically they start at the muzzle and open it up some and smooth it out a little bit down the bore so that your rifling stops about an inch or so from the muzzle , the bore is smooth where it was counter bored, it's kind of like giving it a new crown without chopping off any barrel , I hope I described that well enough , I have 2 m38s , one with a counter bore and one without , frankly the one without has better accuracy but I wouldn't let that stop me from getting one that had been counter bored , I don't consider it bad , it IS supposed to make the gun shoot better
