[JohnKSa]

The next round fired but failed to eject. I field stripped the gun and the fired shell fell out.

Ok, at this point there's a problem beyond just a failure to eject. There should be no need to field strip a gun to eject a fired cartridge. It sounds like the extractor was missing or broken or there was some other serious problem with the gun. If the cartridge just fell out upon field stripping, it should have been possible to just open the slide and shake the cartridge out.

I made sure the barrel was clear and unobstructed, replaced the magazine and loaded the slide and fired the next round. This round did not go off “it was a dud”. I field stripped the gun again removed a complete round. The barrel was totally clear, no obstruction was noted.

Two failures in a row is a serious red light. Especially since, once again, the shell didn't extract and you had to field strip the gun to get the unfired cartridge out of the gun. For future reference, it is never advisable to disassemble a loaded firearm. A better method would have been to lock the slide open and use something to get under the rim of the cartridge and remove it via the ejection port.

I would be very interested to see the primer on this dud round. The only thing I can figure is that the slide didn't fully go into battery (either due to some deformation of the barrel, or more likely because there was something in the chamber--possibly unburned powder--that prevented the shell from completely chambering) and that's why the round didn't fire. I'm not sure why it wouldn't extract/eject given that Beretta didn't mention replacing the extractor.

I replaced the magazine and reloaded and fired the pistol and again no shell eject. I fielded stripped the gun again and discovered that the shell was still in the barrel of the gun and it was pushed backward. I could not remove it at the range but I did note that the round had fired.

So in this case, it sounds like the shell was jammed in the chamber after firing. That suggests an overpressure event. It would be very interesting to get a look at that fired cartridge.

...discovered that the barrel would not fit back into the slide.

That is symptomatic of a barrel that has been bulged by firing it with an obstruction in the bore.

Without seeing the gun, going simply from the symptoms you list, here's the most plausible explanation:

1. The fifth round you fired was a squib and the bullet lodged in the barrel.

2. The sixth round failed to fully chamber and the gun failed to go fully into battery for some reason.

3. The seventh round chambered and when it fired, it cleared the obstruction, deforming/bulging the barrel and resulting in an overpressure event that jammed the empty cartridge in the chamber. I'll bet that neither of these bullets hit the target, or if they did, they hit way off center from the first 4 shots you fired.

4. When you got home, you were able to remove the empty cartridge and knock the barrel out of the slide but the bulge from firing the gun with the squib bullet in the bore prevented you from reassembling the gun.