Hudon River auger chute pellets binding. What is this ragged stuff?

Hello

Just working on a 4 year old Hudson River Sarnac insert. Really throws out great heat but pellet jamming seems to have always been an issue. Now the auger motor is worn down. So I removed the auger cover. The top cover is fine except there was a big blob of factory silicon at the top poking in the chute because of the larger than normal gap. I took out the hammer and with a little tapping closed the gap so it can be sealed with a little silicon. The auger itself is nice shinny stainless steel and looks good except the set screw head stripped and needs to be drilled out. To top it off the allen wrench broke off too. LOL

Anyway, looking at the bottom half of the auger flight chute in the pic below, what is that jagged stuff? Is it a factory coating? This may be a good case of smoothing it out with a wire wheel or grinding wheel and using the dry molly spray.

Do any of you Hudson river owners have it? See yellow arrows. Looks like an ocean wave! LOL
It can be easily seen by removing the auger cover.

Tooling marks?

No, the wave part definitely sticks out, like clay on metal.

Pellet crud from pellets made from recycled construction debris?

Can you scrap it off with the blade of a putty knife?

Poor metal from China fabricated into stove parts in Canada?

I tried scraping it off and no it is stuck solid. So I took out my wire wheel and beveled it in. Then put dry moly spray on it. Do you have anything like that on the inside of your chute Smokey?

Nope.

But I never expect metal to always be smooth.

Depends upon the grade and use it is being put to as to whether it makes a difference.

So I'm now going with #3 above, your mileage may vary.