News Shooting Shotgun

What does ‘engine turned rib’ mean on English shotguns?

I keep coming across the expression 'engine turned rib' when I look at adverts for some second-hand English shotguns - particularly boxlocks. What does it mean?

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ENGLISH SHOTGUNS
Mike George
All ‘engine turning’ means is ‘produced by machine’.

Engine turning can produce many forms of pattern, from the coarse lines which might be used on a rib to that pattern of tiny, shiny circles you sometimes find on bright parts ? often on rifle bolts or on the barrel cheeks and lumps of O/Us.

The coarse pattern found on a blacked rib is to prevent sun glare, while the tiny circle pattern is more than cosmetic ? it retains a very small amount of oil.