This statement is a bit confusing and could lead newbies down the wrong road. It seems to indicate that you were going to spray paint the barrel and rub it back. Please clarify.
That's correct but along with the barrel I would also spray the wood with flat black paint like Mike Brooks does.
The barrel was treated with Ospho (mostly Phosphoric Acid) and rubbing it and the black paint back with steel wool should leave it with a well aged look.
I have done this using tempra (sp) paint and Oxpho Blue (Brownell's also high in Phosphoric Acid) and it turned out well. Never tried the flat black but want to. Trouble is getting up the nerve to try it on a finished gun!
Dennis