I used to believe in this (and bore paste) but after reading Mr. McMillan's comments, I'm rethinking this a bit.
I remember seeing pictures of barrel steel on the microscopic level of what I presume to be an
unlapped barrel. It looked sorta like
^^^^^^^^^
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It made sense to me at the time that a bullet passing by at 1000f/s or more would leave some of itself imbedded in these valleys and roll the top of the peaks over, being sealed up more as firing progressed. In the pic it looked something like a rip-curl wave as viewed from the side.. Later, after the peak had been mushed over, covering the valley, it looked like a cut away view of a Hot-Pocket snack.
In the essay that accompanied the pictures, it was described that these pockets would be filled with fouling and cleaning chemical residue (evil Hot-Pocket) being the result of not undertaking barrel seasoning. Not seasoning would bring doom upon the barrel..
Rapid fouling would ensue, shortening the life and accuracy of the barrel (perhaps the shooter too..oh nooo!).
The one thing that didn't enter my mental picture at the time was twist.
I'd think that while passing by this peak and starting to roll it over, it would also be getting shear force applied and tearing at the top of the peak.
No Evil Hot-Pocket. Maybe something that looks like stippling or checkering (microscopically of course).
Maybe a real-life scientist type will do a comprehensive experiment and put the GREAT DEBATE to rest.
In the interim, I think I'm going to tone down my "seasoning" procedure a bit (1shot/season x3, 3shot/season x3, 5shot/season x3, after that, go with the opposing wisdom and 'just shoot the darn thing')
The Outers Foul-Out system would be cool for seasoning. I guess it would take a good while though.
Maybe it would make life simpler to just get lapped barrels..
Heck, I dunno