USB Borescopes

[JWT]

Has anyone ever tried a USB style borescope/endoscope for barrel inspection?

[Cap'n Morgan]

We have one at work, it works very well, and they will no doubt be the bane of expensive optic bore scopes, but you'll need a 45 degree angled mirror tip to inspect rifling properly.

[N21911S]

I have one from Amazon. It's a 5.5mm head dia and only looks forward, meaning like what the Cap'n says above you need to be able to look at 45 or 90 degrees to the axis of the bore. Even with a mirror mine would not be able to focus that close. I really wish it would work but it just doesn't focus close enough.

[Hannibal]

If you are expecting the same results from a $15-$25 endoscope that you would get from an $800-$1200 borescope set, then you are wasting your time and money.

They are better than nothing, but worth about their cost.

[Artful]

I have one it works well, focus is ok but you need a reflector to look at the sides properly - take cylindrical metal rod and cut at 45 deg and buff to mirror finish and you find the proper distance to hold from the end to get good focus.

It would be nicer of someone made a kit of clear plastic rods cut at an angle and aluminized the bevel in the common calibers (.22, .24, .25, .27, .30, .32, .35, .40, .44, .45).
If you get one make sure of the diameter - mine will fit inside a .224 barrel but not 22 mag or 22 LR.

[Moleman-]

Make sure whichever one you get also is compatible with your phone. I got one off of ebay that "works with android phones".....Just not mine apparently, it works, just whenever it feels like it. Picture isn't crystal clear, but it works well enough to see some pitting in a .50ML barrel wasn't near as bad as what it looks like looking down the bore.

[GhostHawk]

Love mine, paid 14$ for it, it came with an angled mirror and a few other things that I have yet to use.

In my opinion it is great for spotting problems. Take a nice new factory load, chamber it, slide the camera in. If something on the barrel is shaving/scraping a bullet as it is chambered it shows up instantly. If there is leading in the grooves that shows up. As you come down the line the bore goes from shiny silver to lead gray in patch's and streaks.

For what they cost IMO I won't ever be without one again.

[Morgan61]

Paid $20 for mine at Amazon. Works surprisingly well the money I spent.
It's clarity depends on which computer I use it on. It has good image when viewed on my laptop but rather poor when I use it with my older desktop computer. Probably depends on the video driver.

[repeat]

Has anyone used this one before?
The person that has one has moved away but his has very good focus ability and can see extremely well.
Are they worth it?
http://larrywillis.com/

[Harter66]

The cheap ones seen on FB do ok and will let you see stuff but this one needs 1.25 " to make good clear pictures .

It works great with Ms S7 but not so much with the Moto Z .
Our computer lacks the drivers or software for an external camera so no go there either . The ellipsis tablet is Android phone based and also doesn't run it . Still frames below from a 5.5 mm . It came with a USB micro primary cable , USB micro to USB adapter , 45° mirror adapter and 2 hooks . The 45° mirror may be long enough for a good look at a 45 cal bbl .
For my needs at this point it'll do .

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[cuzinbruce]

I read this thread a couple days ago and ordered one. $9.00, 5.5mm and has the mirror attachment. Not here yet but I am interested to try it. If it isn't any good, not much lost. I will post how it works out.

[Eldon]

Buy the Lyman one, not as cheap but works great.

[repeat]

Has anyone tried the Lyman borescope?
I'm tempted but will have to hear others experiences with it before I can bring myself to get one.
Some place on the internet has them on sale for right at 200.00.
Are they worth it?

[Hannibal]

My avatar was taken with an endoscope. Make a cool photo, doesn't tell you squat.

I threw the endoscope in the trash and bought a Lyman. Still nothing like a Hawkeye, but at least now I can see things that are useful instead of just 'different perspectives' of the same ol' same ol'.

[cuzinbruce]

I posted earlier that I had ordered one on eBay. It came in a few days later, no problem. $9 delivered. It is the 5.5mm diameter one. Came with an adapter to connect to computer's USB port. Also a couple attachments and a mini-DVD. Works fine right out of the box. The laptop recognized it right away. Click on Camera in the start menu and there it is (This with Windows 10) I haven't used the mini-DVD. Unfortunately just about useless for evaluating the condition of a gun's bore. Minimum distance for focus is most of the problem. 4 cm to infinity is the range that is in focus. 5.5mm will not fit down the barrel of a .22LR. Larger bores are OK. Light adjusts, turn the little wheel. Just click on camera icon in the view on laptop and it records the picture to the laptop. But nothing of any use so far. That is my experience.

[Oily]

Bought one on Amazon 3 weeks ago after reading reviews on this subject.Don't remember brand right now but wow, the images of my bores are pretty darn clear and if I take a (picture) of a certain spot it is really clear and definitive. Have never seen images from anything else but this endoscope is a really useful tool to see leading and imperfections in my barrels. With the included 90 degree adapter you can focus on trouble spots or as in my case throats on older military rifles, which it does a pretty good job of doing. Not perfect in any sense but darn clear for $13. The computer and software you have will make a difference in the speed that it will focus or stay engaged in travelling down your bore but if you go slow you can get a good not great look at your bore and if you see a problem you can stop and take a (picture) and this is much clearer than the video feed. Being able to see the throat on these old rifles is a great thing and will help you alot in your process. Not perfect in any sense but for $13 perfect for me as I have never seen the throat,bore or trigger engagement surfaces on my firearms until now.And as a bonus you can look under the couch without getting up!