I understand the concept of a pellet coming loose in the other barrel, and then being pushed against the barrel walls by the rest of the shot and gases after the trigger is pulled. What I don't understand is how in blazes a piece of lead, under any amount of pressure, results in a deformed piece of steel. Is the lead pellet somehow instantly hardened by the process, resulting in the anomaly of lead being able to compress steel? If anything, shouldn't the process result in a tiny lead pancake?

If that theory is valid, then after only firing one shell, pellets could be rolling out of the barrel. I've never witnessd that, and I load my AA's until they split

If I had a piece of soft steel to try this with I would do it right now. Take a piece of mild steel (1/16") and lay a piece or two of chilled shot on it and give it a good wack with a hammer and see what happens. Might make an interesting experinent. Just a sugestion.

This is off Merrington's web site. I would think a Barrel Smith with such qualifications might have seen a lot of damage in his training and career, and might be qualified to examine and determine the cause of damage to a barrel. Since I know of no other reason that would cause the damage I am excepting the shot theory.


Kirk started his career as a barrel filer at Churchill Ltd., in Birmingham, UK. After financial ills forced that famous company to fail and be sold, Kirk immigrated to the United States where he spent many years at Buckhorn in Dallas, TX – then set up the gunsmithing shop of Briley Barrels with Briley Manufacturing, in Houston, Texas. There, he became a renowned barrelmaker and multi-talented gunsmith, specializing in classic English double guns.

This is a mysterious and very interesting issue. I sure can't see how a lead pellet could deform a barrel wall but I guess something did it and what else could it be?

As for Area 51. I took off out of Vegas once and was headed somewhere that was on the other side of Area 51. I was cruising along at about 10ft off the desert and at 5miles out of Vegas the tower comes on with "Ahhh, little red plane headed NW out of Vegas, do you realize where you're headed?"..... of course I answered, "Ahhh, no, where??"...:whistle:... all the while wondering how the hell they could see me from 5 miles away! I turned around and diverted before the F-16's arrived....

I agree Richard it is hard to understand how a lead pellet could do this. Then again, I wonder how big of a piece of a fiber wad would it take to bulge a barrel? They say snow in a barrel will bulge a barrel, ( Here in AZ we have never seen snow, I hear its fluffy white stuff) LOL. Just rubbing it in, it was 81 F yesterday when I was out hunting.
I know that high speed projectiles when they strike a stationary object, even when it is soft can react quit unusual. I believe I recall seeing pictures of straw driven into a telephone pole during a tornado.

the only barrel damage I have non-anecdotal knowledge of was a Stevens hammer gun with snow in the fluid steel barrels. The shooter had gone muzzle first thru snow covered brush. He knew he had snow on the end of the gun but did not look inside. The fired tube had a single split for a short distance at the muzzle.

i would think that an escaped lead pellet would either roll out the muzzle or be resting on the crimp of the shell where it would either be pushed out with the rest of the load or flattened in the forcing cone. How would it be suspended half way down the barrel to be an impediment to the accelerating shot column?

just wondering

How about loads where the shot load is a hair above the end of the shotcup to begin with. It goes off and gets shoved down the barrel and at some point for whatever reason it gets under the advancing front edge of the cup and gets 'run over' by the wad and forced into the barrel???

One of my close friends had a row of pimples down the bottom of the bottom barrel of his Diana Grade Superposed Lightning Trap Gun. Happened while shooting singles. Sent the gun to Browning, they sent it to FN, and three years later it came back with new barrels?!? Never heard an explination.

When shooting singles one is supposed to have only one shell in the gun. Was that the case with your friend? If so the theory of recoil from the first shot dislodging pellets in the second barrel and being run over by the shot charge would not have been the case.