Bore Scope, did it change your opinion on rifle barrels

[droptine]

I bought a bore scope a while back. Although it did seem to be an aid in telling the level of copper foul, your patches will tell you if its clean or not if using a good bore cleaner.

What a bore scope did tell me, was the reason a barrel may not shot or why a barrel may shoot good. With that said I am sure I have barrels that look like a million dollars and still my not shoot 5. moa and others that look like crap and shoot lights out.

I was working with a gun I orginally bought for the action. Decided to see if it would shoot, well it didnt. I swapped scopes, different loads but it was all over the place. Buddy of mine said you need a bore scope so I bought one. Did having a bore scope enlighten my mind. Also told me the rifle I was trying to make shoot had the throat shot out.

Another thing it I've gained from a bore scope is how good some factory barrels look. I have a 550 CZ 375 H&H that looks really good. Same for a Factory Win take off barrel a buddy of mine gave me. Both shoot really good.

Looking at the two rifles Douglas barrels I have, its pretty obvious they are not lapped, or at least look that way to me. One shoots decent, the other maybe shoots 1.5-2 inch groups. Compared to a Shilen the douglas barrels aren't even close. Some of the Shilens I looked at have not been shot so not sure of the outcome. But my guess they will shoot.

Last thing I was able to glean was the crown. Before I was looking at crowns using a light and magnifing glass, looking at a crown with a bore scope is much better picture for me.

A Wi Fi bore scope that connects to an iPad is a handy tool. Wish I would have bough one years back. Best 100 bucks I've spent on Amazon in a while.

Thanks Billy

 

[FEENIX]

No!

 

[xsn10s]

Shooting them is my determining factor on barrels. A borescope can help detrimine why a barrel might have issues. But the final verdict is made on how it shoots.

 

[droptine]

Shooting them is my determining factor on barrels. A borescope can help detrimine why a barrel might have issues. But the final verdict is made on how it shoots.

I agree, got to take them to the range.

 

[QuietTexan]

It's didn't change my opinion on rifles that shoot, but it changed my opinions on things like cleaning, trimming, chamber reamers, and the "quality" or lack thereof in certain factory rifles.

 

[Mikecr]

You cannot tell if a barrel will be a good shooter or not with a borescope.
The only thing I use mine for is cleaning.

 

[BillLarson]

When I bought a Hawkeye Borescope...15 yrs ago for over 700$...a friend told me not to use it on any gun I was proud of.
They are indispensable for checking cleanliness,inspecting throat wear and overall barrel condition...Not to mention looking at new barrels BEFORE machining them.i have sent 3 barrels back for inclusions....exchanged with no questions asked.
It takes a very good and trained eye to spot problems and defects in a barrel.

 

[Muddyboots]

I have used my Teslong maybe 2-3 times on a bore. Maybe 100+ on all sorts of weird things totally unrelated to firearms. Though few times on checking brass.

 

[justinp61]

Several years ago, I bought a Savage mdl 16 in 260 Remington. I messed with it for over two years and couldn't make it shoot. It didn't like factory ammo or reloads, no matter what bullet or powder I tried. An acquaintance of mine had a borescope so I took it to him to check out. The rifling had long drag marks with balls of stainless steel at the end of them, it's a wonder the jackets weren't pulling off. I called Savage and explained what I had been through and what the bore scope found. They had me send the rifle back and they rebarreled it at no charge. The new barrel was only slightly better, LOL.

After that I bought a Teslong bore scope and replaced the second factory barrel with a Shaw copper mine edition that has hatchet cut rifling. Even after 100 rounds it still copper fouls after only a few shots.

I've bought two Shilen Select SS Match barrels this year, one in 22-250 and the other in 260 Remington. Both looked great with the bore scope and both shoot very well. Very little copper fouling from the start and by 20 rounds virtually no copper in the bores.

I have since bought a wireless Teslong bore scope that I use with my phone or tablet, it's great. The main thing I use it for is checking to see how clean my barrels are, and it's been handy in the shop too.

 

[jrock]

No. Its certainly another tool in the box. It usually gets pulled out to check for bore damage or to assist in stubborn barrel cleaning jobs. However, even if a barrel has some "defects", the barrel may still shoot well.
If a barrel doesn't shoot, a bore scope won't make it shoot better.

 

[gareyg]

I have a nice Gradient Lens Hawkeye and a Teslong. Get the Teslong. They provide interesting info but of course are not conclusive regarding accuracy. I also find myself using it for other things than bores. For example I trouble-shot and found a hairline plumbing leak through a tiny hole punched through drywall. +1 for looking for tiny burrs on crowns as well. Throat erosion, and so on. A Teslong or similar is too inexpensive not to have in the toolbox. I'm an engineer and feel I have to see factual evidence with my own eyes (for example that all the copper is really gone), you may not have that affliction (;

 

[skipglo]

I have used my Teslong maybe 2-3 times on a bore. Maybe 100+ on all sorts of weird things totally unrelated to firearms. Though few times on checking brass.

Hmmmmm....doing your own COLONOSCOPY...would certainly be less Invasive! Good thinking Muddy! Just one question...do you use Vaseline or Remington Bore Cleaner?

 

[Greyfox]

I have owned a Lyman Bore Scope for several years. I have definitely seen a distinct visual difference between custom barrels and various factory barrels. It's been much more difficult to connect visual differences to performance. Some of the worst looking barrels have performed admirably. I will say that a couple of my Remington R5 Milspec barrels(308 and 300WM) had a finish quality that was as good as my best custom barrels. The performance, ease of cleaning, accurate round count was comparable as well. My primary use of my bore scope is to use it to check fire cracking in the throat/lands "in addition" to changes in BTO with a standard(known measurement) bullet. This seems to correlate and tie to barrel burn-out with actual loss of accuracy or an early indicator that it may not be long before it goes. This has proven useful with my heavy use competition rifles as well as a periodic(annual) check with my LRH rifles.

 

[shinbone]

I have a Wi-Fi version of a Teslong. It has paid for itself many times over.

In the last couple of years, I have bought two "premium" factory rifles from two different well recognized manufacturers. And in each case, the Teslong showed that the chambers' throat had been cut crooked.

While it's true that "maybe" each gun would've shot great with a crooked throat, I highly doubt it. And, the Teslong alerted me to the barrel defect without investing the time and expense of futilely attempting to work up loads. In each case, I was able to send photos of the crooked throat to the manufacturer. The photographic proof, plus the fact that the barrels had never been shot, put me in a great position to convince the manufacturers to replace the barrels under warranty. One manufacturer was highly resistant to doing a replacement, and it was the threat of posting the photos with the maker's name on the internet that finally led them to agree to the replacement. The other manufacturer had a reputation for extremely poor customer service, but quickly replaced the barrel without a whimper, most likely due to the photos. I am not mentioning any names because each manufacture finally made it right in the end. My guess is that each rifle maker sourced their barrels from the same barrel maker, who was doing crap work because he thought no one would ever see it. The Teslong chopped that BS manufacturing strategy off at the knees.

The two photos below are from the same rifle barrel with the camera in the same spot. The first photo of the throat shows the land starts right at the end of the case mouth, i.e. there's no freebore on that side of the chamber. The second photo is taken 180 degrees opposite, and shows substantial freebore before the land starts.





I also use the bore scope when buying used rifles. More than once I have seen significant fire cracking on a gun being sold as "hardly ever fired." And, even if the used gun is a demonstrated tack driver, it is helpful to know where the barrel is in its life cycle when determining value.

In some ways, these inexpensive bore scopes are a game changer because now pretty much anyone can directly inspect a barrel maker's work, and, sellers can't misrepresent a barrel's condition. No more hiding behind the fact that it is hard to see the surface of the bore. It's true that a borescope is not as a magic device. But it is a very helpful tool to have on hand.

JMHO