Having looked at dozens of guns in Holt's auctions with such a description, I can say that the MAJORITY are where bad bents or bulges have been lifted/knocked down and the barrel has been draw filed or abrasive polished to take out all the remaining witness marks.
Yes, the barrels will need refinishing and yes, be very careful about wall thickness.
The usual rational in these cases is that the gun is pretty much un-shootable, and therefore unsaleable, with the dent/bulge but the vendor doesn't want to cough for a complete re-black/brown so a minimum job is done by their resident gunsmith or the gunsmith submitting the gun for auction.

Last edited by Toby Barclay; 08/12/20 02:48 PM.