Thanks Chet!

I have been giving this some though, but did not want to post until I was able to test my theory. Well here goes anyway...

Maybe the powder is not dropping all the way to the bottom of the barrel. Then as I push ball and patch down, the powder granules are getting wedged in between the rifling and the ball/patch. Basically acting like a door jam, the wedged powder is what is causing the resistance. What I have also noticed is that the resistance while running the ball/patch down the barrel is not even. That is at some parts it is really tough and then it will be easy. Almost as if the barrel has widened, which I do not think is the case.

I haven't had a chance to test this theory, was planning on doing that later in the week and reporting back. After pouring the powder, I am going to run just a patch down first. The idea is to make sure all the powder gets pushed down first and then run the ball/patch to see if I encounter as much resistance.

Details to follow...