When to cut your losses on an HRA.....

I bought a "cheap" ($500) HRA 5.73mil range with a 10-66 SA barrel with sharp
rifling, showing 1/4in on the old bullet test. 7 SA trigger group, PB oprod, 17 SA bolt, beat up wood and unmarked on all the other parts.....
I traded even on an HRA trigger group, spent $100 each on the HRA bolt and HRA oprod.
I had the correct marked stock that needed wood repair for a tight lockup.
I looked for the go/no go gauges but the CMP had a long wait.... and I couldn't wait any longer so I took her to the range and at 200yards I got a tight group, but I also got problems..... the empty rounds would sometimes jam in the chamber but the bolt would cycle tearing the brass off at the extractor.
I took her to the Eastern games but was to excited with my new '45 garand to wait for the armorer to do more then glance at her, he said either a frosted chamber or a bad chamber..... mz was a little under 1.
I got my gauges today..... and it closed on the no go and did have a little frosting in the chamber needing removing.....
So my "Question" after my long winded explanation, do I spend the extra for a new barrel?-find a good HRA barrel?- hope to find a decent smith thats cheap? ........or just sell the dang thing? Kind of a what would you do question? thanks!

At least try polishing the chamber first. That is a problem that is also common to a lot of commercial autoloading rifles, in that the chambers never get thoroughly cleaned. The fired brass almost looks like it has been sanded when it comes out of the chamber, but polishing virtually always cures the problem. If the chamber is pitted, then you can rebarrel.

I have an $80 "shooter special" SKS that would stick cases. After verifying the chamber was rough (rust and pitting) I taped a piece of emory paper to a cleaning rod, chucked in drill, spun it until the red dust flew out of it and tried shooting again. Runs like a raped ape now. One of my most reliable weapons and actually quite accurate for a commie rifle. Maybe a little harsh for a Garand but point is you can probably buff the chamber and make it run. If you have a thou or two of headspace before going too long out of spec you could kiss it with a pull-through reamer.

Like I said before, it does close on the no go gauge. I tried 000 steel wool on a 45cal brush, then a light polishing compound and still came home with more of these...:
https://www.milsurps.com/images/imported/deleted.gif

I will replace the barrel or sell it..............

I sent you a PM about this rifle.
JimL