Sounds more like a scratch left over from a steel or tungsten pellet that worked it's way through a shot cup. The fact it starts at the forcing cone is a tell tale sign. It really doesn't sound like a crack, but anything is possible I guess.
I wonder if somehow a non-tox pellet got dropped into a shell by accident? A light weight target wad wouldn't offer any protection to the barrel if that was the case.
Just a guess.
__________________
“Nitro cracking in woodcock cover has something about it as respectable as a village church bell.”~Gordon Macquarrie
|