I was in the process of re doing the crown on the Stevens 44 barrel. I decided I would center the bore so as to produce a better and more accurate crown.  I worried with it for over 2 hours and never did get the barrel centered at the same time the bore was centered. Either the bore was off center by .025 or the barrel itself was running eccentric by the same amount. So I opened the counter bore a huge amount so as to basically hide the eccentricity between the barrel and bore. 
Is this normal for things to be that far out of line??

It was almost a necessity to counterbore the muzzle due to the rust and wear in the fist 1/2 inch or so.  Only had a memory of rifling left.  I don't think I hurt it and in fact had to at least improve the looks if nothing else.

If you happen to have some guage pins I have found at times that the muzzle can be a bit larger than just a bit further back in the bore. And something you should also check before actually crowning the muzzle. Below is how I crown my own personal competitive barrels. And the reason for the polishing is to more clearly see if the lube star left is per-say exactly the same all around the muzzle. I also dial in the chamber end as well as the muzzle so when doing the crowing itself it becomes a third point of reference / perfectly in line with the front and back of the bore. I also like to do the 30 degree back bore to just beyond the bottom of the grooves as should be clearly seen using a self ground boring bar per-say and then checking for burrs. 


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Good thing you checked if not it would not shoot very well at all. I did a new blank for friend and I cut the recommended 11/2 off the muzzle end and it would not shoot. I had him bring back and sure enough the muzzle was still larger than the bore so I moved it back to where it got tight and then some and re-crowned it for him. Good lesson learned so now I always check first before doing the actual work.

Totally agree John and why my cleaning patch never leaves the bore but stops short of it. There are allot of abrasives left in the bore and primers can typically be the worst source of them all. If anyone hasn't just popped a primer by itself you might be amazed by how much fouling it actually leaves all of its own. I also never use a brush but wipe the bore clean the same one would do with a Babies behind. I also make my own patches from cozy flannel that I pickup by the yard at my local fabric store. As most know my 32-40 barrel had more than a 140,000 bullets down the bore when I set the ASSRA Bartllet record and never re-crowned prior too. Just had to breech seat the bullet further in to keep up with throat wear. It has now been retired to remain original to the rifle as I didn't want to set it back and one of the best shooting barrels I have had to date and a 15 twist Douglas XX. Some might actually consider it to be a hummer and a once in a lifetime chance of pure luck.