dubber123 - that statement can be misleading. If you usee too aggressive of a grit you can make matters worse in as little as 10 or 15 shots. I use the LBT lapping compound because it has been throughly tested. Yes some individuals have use valve lapping compound and got wonderfull results from useing it. I am just not going to take a chance.
With a revolver I use 6 shots between each cleaning and inspecting (one for each chamber). Once I get done cleaning this Marlin I will use 5 rounds per inspection.
I have got most of the trash out of the barrel, but I am still getting what I think is a mix of carbon and bullet lube each time I use the bore bursh. Wet the barrel with bore cleaner (I use Montana Extreme) then run a bore brush down the barrel 10 times and follow with a wet patch - Black, normally 2 or 3 patches till no more black, repeat process. I did slug the barrel - it is .430 with 2 tight spots in the bore, I could push the slug past them with just a little force, so I am hoping that 15 to 20 shots will smooth them out - but we will see.
One of the tight spots is about 2 inches in front of the rear sight dove tail and you can see something on the right side of the barrel as you are looking at it from the muzzel. The wet patches use to bump against this spot so there was some build up of lead/carbon/bullet lube there. I don't feel it as much now as I did, but I can still see it witth a bore light.