When I get a new rifle black powder or high power rifle,first thing I do is clean up the barrel with no less than 500 strokes of JB's paste and a patch on a jag,changing the patch and fresh JB's every hundred strokes.Then clean the barrel with bore cleaner then if its muzzleloader I pore boiling water down the barrel to remove all that and apply a good coat of bore butter ,When I go to the range I run several patches through the barrel to get out the bore butter and shoot.I think this has the same effect as shooting the patched balls,I think T/C talks about seasoning the barrel in their literature.
If you don't have a place to shoot or the range is a good ways from home like mine this is a good way to start.
I strive to find a load with one bullet to shoot as close of groups I can get with three shots,after that I play with different loads and bullets,with the same scope settings to see if I can find a better group.If I find one I can reset the scope if not I don't have to reset the scope for the best load I have found.
The reasoning for the three shot groups is that I have twice taken 2 deer at the same time,so I want the second and thrid to be as accurate as the first.

http://www.hunting-pictures.com/memb...ght&encore.jpg