Not a metallurgist either, but I have been known to confuse them.
Residual stress is a funny thing with metal, and will do weird stuff. Can be good, like the beneficial residual stress left after shot peening, or it can be bad, like after insufficient stress relief after cold work, such as button rifling. The old timers in my industry showed me stuff that won't be found in any text book.
I heard for years how some folks pooh-pooh break in, but now I am leaning more toward breaking in. I've noted recently Pac-nor and Krieger are both advocating break-in, if for no other reason than to get the barrel smoothed before the fouling starts to collect unevenly. There's a couple of new barrels here that will get some extra attention.
But so far all the Shiloh's gotten has been patches soaked in cold water, dry patches, and Ballistol at the end of the day. It seems to be steadily improving.
