Howdy Redfireftr, and et al.,
For what it is worth, all of my new in box pistols have all had signs of the actions being cycled. There are a couple of points to consider. First, most major and custom manufactures are inclined to function fire everything they produce. The amount that each fires during the function testing varies.
Second, depending on your municipality, they may require the presence of a fired casing from the each unit sold within that jurisdiction. Again requiring the new unit to be cycled.
As to the subjective assessment of noticeable, I would suggest you examine some other new weapons from other retailers and assess how they appear. If time and motivation permit have a look at some of the other samples from friends and acquaintances to see the amount of wear on theirs.
I've got an example just to illustrate another data point for you. I was hosting a shooting session for a friend as he was interested in a particular model pistol. It just happened to be one that I owned, so I made time to let him have a go at it. Well he shot mine a few times, left the range, purchased the gun, returned to the range with his new on and compared the two pistols. He examined them both in great detail to see the differences. He did ask my estimate of rounds launched through mine. The answer of many thousands, completely surprised him. I use mine for monthly competitions and the amount of wear compared to the new was was very close.
All firearms are machines, if they are designed and produced well, they will also wear well. Obviously there are other factors to minimize changes due to fair wear and tear.
If aesthetics are important then you could always keep some cold blue solution handy to address any touch up issues that might be cause for concern. I've found through my gun smithing efforts that the cold blue pen, looks just like a sharpie pen, works really well for touch ups. Much easier to use than the larger jar with the brush.
Hope this helps. Good luck! Happy Holidays!
Cheers!
