Twas I, you are in reference to. And I do prefer it, but I have seen things so misaligned that it sometimes takes extraordinary measures like the case you mentioned. I once spent better than 2 hours lapping on a set of Ruger rings (you would have thought I could have found something better to do). I finally resorted to 200 grit, so I might as well have used a reamer for the rough-out work.
One thing I do like about lapping is that on harder kicking guns, you can increase surface contact just enough to prevent scope slippage.
