omgb
05-03-2006, 08:47 PM
Dick Trenk over on BPCR MSN went to considerable trouble to bring to market an affordable bore scope. Delivered to the door, it went for something like $46.00. I ordered one as soon as he began taking orders about a month and a half ago. It came today and after I gave it a trial, I posted the following message over on BPCR MSN: I recieved my budget bore scope today. It came nicely packaged and in good shape. It also seems to have a one year warranty on workmanship but not on lens fogging due to oil or dirt getting into the scope. That's a key point. The scope is completely open on one end and dirt and oil will get into it if you don't store it in the box and tube in which it comes. So, caveot emptor!
The construction is pretty simple. It's a brass tube, much like a common brass drop tube. One end has a turned eye piece into which has been inserted a lense. This eyepiece cannot be dissasembled so don't get dirt or oil into the tube. You'll be sorry if you do as the tool will be rendered useless with repair being a distant probability. Operation is straight foreword. The focal point is fixed about four or five inches beyond the end of the tube. To use it, one finds a source of illumination such as a diffused light just beyond an open breech. The scope is then inserted into the muzzle and rotated/slowly withdrawn while you carefully examin the bore. On my Pedersoli Sharps the results were dissapointing. The scope cannot see much to either side so a close examination of the lands and grooves tends to be more two dimensional than three. Surface dirt and pits will show up to be sure but you are not going to see much down in the grooves in any 45 caliber gun. Funny thing, the Pedersoli bore is so highly polished that the mirror effect makes getting a good image pretty tricky. I guess that says a lot for Pedersoli.
Now when I used it on my Lyman Great Plains ML in 50 caliber, it was a whole other ball game. I dropped a bore light down the barrel and inserted the scope. I could move it slightly side to side and wow, could I ever see those grooves and lands. I don't know who Lyman buys their barrels from but whomever it is needs to sharpen their cutters. I saw tool marks ahoy. No pits though so I do feel good about that. Next, I used it on my Zouave. Again, I could move the scope around laterally and that gave me some depth of field and a very good 3D picture of the bore. In the case of my Zouave, it was smooth as silk with clearly defined grooves and lands and a nice smooth valley with matching flats. I also used it to check out the chamber of my P17 Enfield. Again, it does this well as the tool can be rocked from side to side slightly.
OK, so the bottom line, would I buy this tool again knowing what I know now? The answer is maybe. For 50 cal and above it is excellent. For 45 caliber it's marginal. The deal is though, there is nothing even remotely better than this tool unless one spends maybe 10 or 20 times the amount I paid for this unit. That being said, it seems to me that the scope is still over-priced for what one gets. Maybe I'm all wet here though but if it is ChiCom made, there has got to be one heck of a markup on it. Neither the scope nor the box are marked as to country of origin but the paper and ink on the box have a definate 3rd world look that just shouts Asia.
I applaud Dick for his efforts at bringing this to fruition. There is a clearly a need for something like this and it works pretty well; the exceptions noted above not withstanding. Still, if it compells another importer to make something better at an affordable price, that will be even better. So on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a top notch tool, I'd rate this one a 6.5-7, with it becoming an 8 or 8.5 when 50 cal and above is considered.
R J Talley
The construction is pretty simple. It's a brass tube, much like a common brass drop tube. One end has a turned eye piece into which has been inserted a lense. This eyepiece cannot be dissasembled so don't get dirt or oil into the tube. You'll be sorry if you do as the tool will be rendered useless with repair being a distant probability. Operation is straight foreword. The focal point is fixed about four or five inches beyond the end of the tube. To use it, one finds a source of illumination such as a diffused light just beyond an open breech. The scope is then inserted into the muzzle and rotated/slowly withdrawn while you carefully examin the bore. On my Pedersoli Sharps the results were dissapointing. The scope cannot see much to either side so a close examination of the lands and grooves tends to be more two dimensional than three. Surface dirt and pits will show up to be sure but you are not going to see much down in the grooves in any 45 caliber gun. Funny thing, the Pedersoli bore is so highly polished that the mirror effect makes getting a good image pretty tricky. I guess that says a lot for Pedersoli.
Now when I used it on my Lyman Great Plains ML in 50 caliber, it was a whole other ball game. I dropped a bore light down the barrel and inserted the scope. I could move it slightly side to side and wow, could I ever see those grooves and lands. I don't know who Lyman buys their barrels from but whomever it is needs to sharpen their cutters. I saw tool marks ahoy. No pits though so I do feel good about that. Next, I used it on my Zouave. Again, I could move the scope around laterally and that gave me some depth of field and a very good 3D picture of the bore. In the case of my Zouave, it was smooth as silk with clearly defined grooves and lands and a nice smooth valley with matching flats. I also used it to check out the chamber of my P17 Enfield. Again, it does this well as the tool can be rocked from side to side slightly.
OK, so the bottom line, would I buy this tool again knowing what I know now? The answer is maybe. For 50 cal and above it is excellent. For 45 caliber it's marginal. The deal is though, there is nothing even remotely better than this tool unless one spends maybe 10 or 20 times the amount I paid for this unit. That being said, it seems to me that the scope is still over-priced for what one gets. Maybe I'm all wet here though but if it is ChiCom made, there has got to be one heck of a markup on it. Neither the scope nor the box are marked as to country of origin but the paper and ink on the box have a definate 3rd world look that just shouts Asia.
I applaud Dick for his efforts at bringing this to fruition. There is a clearly a need for something like this and it works pretty well; the exceptions noted above not withstanding. Still, if it compells another importer to make something better at an affordable price, that will be even better. So on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being a top notch tool, I'd rate this one a 6.5-7, with it becoming an 8 or 8.5 when 50 cal and above is considered.
R J Talley