Is this wear normal for an 870 barrel?

[Wallabing]

The locking recess area on my 18" barrel has many worn areas (bare metal showing), and scratch marks from the bolt moving back and forth. Is this something I should worry about?

[RoscoeC]

No. A blued, or in fact, even a parkerized finish is pretty delicate when it comes to metal to metal contact. You cannot expect to use the gun and not get wear marks. The biggest issue with the vast majority of shotguns is that they don't have enough of them.