16 gauge barrel seems crooked

[stuart cee dub]

 Good morning all ,
 I need some advise .
Gathering together parts for a 16 gauge fowler ,I noticed something odd in the barrel which I had made some years ago .
Looking down the barrel with the breech plug removed , I noticed, about half way down instead of nice even concentric rings there seems to be an oval shaped reflection when viewing it pointed at a single light source .
When I turn the barrel the reflection moves with the barrel and is area specific .I'm thinking the barrel has  a crook in it.
Is that what I'm seeing? and if so does anyone straighten barrels?
Sending it back to the original maker is not a realistic option anymore .And it's not something I want to attempt myself.  
Suggestions ?  

[FlintFan]

I would build and shoot it first.  Straightening a barrel is not too big of a deal, but you might find out it doesn't actually need it. 

[rich pierce]

So long as its not dented you should be fine. You might run a tight patch down it and check that.

[grabenkater]

Stretch a piece of dental floss through it and see if it's bent.

[Ky-Flinter]

With the oval reflection, I wonder if the barrel has been compressed into an oval shape at that spot?

-Ron

[stuart cee dub]

 Good idea on the dental floss .As is the patch .I might feel it as well .
I have read that  this was the old way of checking straightness.
How does one go about making the string  taunt ? Is there a method ? Otherwise I'll widget something up
 I'll caliper the outside to see if it's out of round too .
There are no dents obvious to the eye.
I just  hate to spend the time making a gun around mystery barrel.
It may shoot just fine ,or not .But I would rather check on things before it becomes a bigger issue .
 

[jerrywh]

 I have a barrel straightening press that I use. Let me tell you this first. Unless a barrel is bent to extreme it will shoot where ever the last 6" is pointing. Otherwise it has to be bad enough to deform the bullet. I just straightened a shotgun barrel for a friend about 30 days ago. He tried to
it by bending it in a trailer hitch.  When he got done it shot 20" low at 20 yards.
 You don't have to draw a thread or wire down the inside of the barrel. Just tape a thread or wire across the middle of the  muzzle. What you want to see is the shadow of the string in the bore. If the shadow is straight the barrel is also. Old time barrel straighteners looked at the bore with the barrel pointed at the edge of a window pane. The edge of the widow made a shadow down the bore. They watched the shadow.  That is only one way but the most commonly used in the late 1800's

[BOB HILL]

If you want to check it with a taunt string, tie the ends to a bowed stick after dropping it through the barrel. You will now have a straight edge, the string, inside the barrel......... Bob
,

[stuart cee dub]

I tried the string trick ,it does have a slight bend .It will probably throw the ball High right if I'm reading it right.

[Daryl]

  Old time barrel straighteners looked at the bore with the barrel pointed at the edge of a window pane. The edge of the widow made a shadow down the bore. They watched the shadow.  That is only one way but the most commonly used in the late 1800's

Les Bauska had his barrel straightening machine aligned with the window. After some brief instruction, I straightened a pile of barrels in very little time using this machine - summer 1975.