walt_l,
Welcome to the forum and glad to read that you had fun at the range!
Many of us have commented that the barrel grooves seem to stay 'dirty' after cleaning. It just seems to be related to how the rifling is machined into the bore. Doesn't seem to hurt anything except my anal need to get things squeaky - clean!
Here's how I handle re-installation of the recoil spring:
For compressing the recoil spring. I've turned to a cheap piece of plastic ruler. The kind you find in a kindergartner's drawing set. Just trim the width until it's narrow enough to fit inside the slide, then saw a slot in the middle of what's left. Slot width equals the diameter of the recoil rod. You can make three tools from one six inch ruler.
When you go to install the recoil assembly and cup, stand it on end press down with your thumb until you can slide the tool between the end of the rod and the cup. Position the recoil assembly between the slide and the barrel lug, pull the tool out, and you're done.
Hope this helps,
Steve