Source for mint M96 barrels ?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Funny thing is witt that none too perfect bore it will shoot the 160 Hornadys into 1.5 " (5) @100, even after 20 shots. After shooting, I give it three Wipe Out runs and the last patch is almost as nasty as the first.

So do you want to shoot it, or sit there and admire the bore? You seem to have a good-shooting barrel. Why pull up the plant to see if the roots are growing? Shoot...clean...shoot...clean...shoot...get the idea?
But...

...After shooting, I give it three Wipe Out runs and the last patch is almost as nasty as the first.

...I think you're being mean on the "clean". You don't have to clean until the patch is spotless, but it should at least look much lighter than the first one!
Better make that: Shoot...clean...oil...clean again a couple of days later...shoot...etc.etc.

Just make sure to ALWAYS clean from the breech end. It only takes a couple of seconds to remove the bolt, but the muzzle crown will remain crisp.
BTW, if it is NOT crisp, having it freshened up is often the most cost-effective single improvement you can make on an old milsurp.

---------- Post added at 09:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 PM ----------

You can't pay those stock discs much attention. All they really tell you is the condition of the bore at the last inspection, which was most likely long before it hit the surplus market. It is also known that they are sometimes swapped out in the attempt to fool an unknowing potential buyer into believing the bore may be in better condition than it really is.

Excellent advice. I would put it even more drastically. All that a stock disc with a "1" stamped on it tells you , is that it has a "1" stamped on it.

---------- Post added at 09:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:36 PM ----------

It has a code 2 bore and does not shoot as well as any of the many 38/84/96-38/96s I have owned over now 5 decades.

So how was your eyesight way back then? And how is it now? Your rifle performs as well as any advanced teenager can expect with open sights.