A few range sessions ago I was running some "odds and ends" old ammo through my Beretta 92 .22LR conversion slide when I had a malfunction. I chambered a new round and it fired resulting in an abnormal amount of "blow back" to the face. The pistol kept chugging along and I didn't pay much attention to it. Yesterday I decided the pistol deserved a cleaning. As I was cleaning the barrel I noticed what appeared to be a bunch of lead about half way down but after some good scrubbing with a wire bore brush it just wouldn't come clean. That's when I took a closer look and noticed that the rifling seems warped at that section. Recalling my "malfunction" a few weeks prior made me wonder if the malfunction was caused by a squib round I did not detect and the next round I fired pushed the squib out, bulged my barrel, and gave me a face full of crud? I think I can feel a bulge close to where the line is and the barrel is not perfectly straight at the point so I see no other possibility.
Below are some photos to illustrate:
So my questions for the hive mind are:
1) Is this in fact a bulged barrel or is it some sort of manufacturing technique or defect?
2) If it is a bulged barrel and most likely my fault, would Beretta "hook me up" or am I on the hook for another barrel?
3) Is it even a big deal or something to worry about? The pistol's accuracy and reliability seem unaffected by the suspected damage and I would figure that by the time the bullet reached the suspect area of the barrel, it has already begun it's spinning and is unlikely to really be affected. Maybe a little more gas might slip around? There is plenty of thick barrel material surrounding the bore since it is the dimensions of a 9mm barrel with a .22LR bore - I seriously doubt the barrel is structurally compromised. Am I missing something?