Borescopes

[montana_charlie]

I would like to hear comments from those of you who own borescopes, regularly use someone else's borescope, or have used them in the past.

I am not interested in owning one of the premuim scopes, but I would like to be able to peer into a barrel. I would most like to hear a comparison between a Hawkeye-class scope and (say) a ProVision unit like the PV-636.

CM

[waksupi]

Charlie, we have one we use at work all the time. I really can't say if they are beneficial or not. You can pick up on obvious problems with them, but I have seen some real sewer pipes I swore would not shoot, come in for re-stocking, that would shoot under an inch.
What do you hope to find out with one?

[Doughty]

Charlie

I have a Hawkeye. It's a well made piece of equipment. However, there is a learning curve on how to use it, and then even more on interpeting what you do see. I think every time you use it and then corralate that to how the gun shoots you become better at estimating how well a barrel will shoot. Really just agreeing with what Wakupi said.

[montana_charlie]

What do you hope to find out with one?
Besides just going in to rubberneck, I am hoping to be able to see lead deposits...if any exist.

As it is now, I will clean my 45/90 with water, and the patches come out clean after three or four.
During that, I may pull a few lead fragments...maybe not.

But, I've been fooled before.
So, I rig up a 'tight' patch and drive it through the bore. Almost invariably that will pull some lead that did not come out during the regular cleaning.
If I get some with the tight patch, I keep at it until no more appears.

I would like to be able to go in there...after the initial cleaning...and see where the lead is actually hanging out.

Inspecting the bore (or anything else closer than two feet) with the naked eye is no longer one of my talents. My eye won't change focus that finely, any more. I need something (like a borescope) that will do the focusing for me as the distance changes.

CM

[MtGun44]

I use a friend's Hawkeye frequently. It is the only way you will actually know what
is going on in the barrel. Looking down the bore provides only minimal info, and
you will misinterpret the actual bore condition - they look better than they actually
are. No experience with the other one.

Bill

[montana_charlie]

Well, it's obvious that the Hawkeye is a good tool for bore inspection. But, I think everybody knows that. Frankly, I won't spend the thousand-plus dollars that they want for a Hawkeye.

Has nobody used a ProVision scope for anything...not even looking inside walls or engines?
CM

[Bass Ackward]

We have a Hawkeye. We use it for reasons involved in retail and custom work. We turn a lot of barrels away that may be excellent shooters. But a man paying for a custom rifle, deserves one that looks sound as well as it shoots.

I would caution against a scope for determining "leading" until you get used to it.

It will show you leading. It will show you leading when you pride yourself on not having any. :grin: So it will show you leading that isn't leading that simply looks horrible and will make you sick.

But if most folks actually saw what was up their tubes, there would be a flood of guns on the market.

1. Don't ask questions that you might not like the answer to.

2. Don't look up a pipe that you already bought.

[MtGun44]

No need to spend more than about $700-775 not $1000. Still a lot of
money, no argument.

Bill

[exblaster]

Charlie I have and use the V O series scope and it works very well. I bought it for the same reason you stated, eyes won't focus close any more. I can see copper and lead deposits in bores as small as .200 but you need the angel adapter for larger than about .300. It comes with the scope. This is a flexible shaft model so it uses glass fiber in the shaft . So you must be careful not to kink the shaft, it is the only problem I have had using it. I hope this helps.

Exblaster

[45 2.1]

1. Don't ask questions that you might not like the answer to.
2. Don't look up a pipe that you already bought.



Ain't that the truth................... If you get one or the use of one, do look up every bore on the place to see just how awfull some of those expensive name barrels look. that way you won't retch when you see your own stuff. It makes you wonder how barrels do as good as they do.

[montana_charlie]

Thanks for that comment, exblaster.
I am not familiar with the VO series, as I have been concentrating on the PV636. But I will do some knocking around on the ProVision site to see what they have to say about the VO hole-looker-in-ers.
CM

[STP22]

I have 2 sources to borrow Hawkeye borescopes, both with the angled eyepieces. The first time I peered into the bores of my handguns and rifles, it was was a shocking experience. The bores that I thought were free of copper fouling were in fact not.
When I scoped my 1903`s, my notebooks on each had to be "updated" to include the verbage, frosted, and the degree of same. Fortunately, the worst of these will still hold MOA @ 100yds with cast. The one I tried at an F-Class match with moly coated bullets back in 2003, tossed it`s share of misses. A follow up inspection showed a plausible cause... but then again it may have been recoil fatigue, as I had never tried 175gr SMK`s with an iron sighted WW1 1903 at that distance before using a sling. Can you say recoil fatigue??[smilie=1:
Peering into the bores of a dedicated CB rifle or handgun I see varying degrees of lead fouling from one visit to the range to the next. It has been hard to draw any iron clad conclusions about what I`ve seen so far.

[NSP64]

A friend at work got a flexable shaft borescope off the Snap-on truck. He paid $300.00US It came with an angle adapter and has a built in 3" color screen. He said I can borrow it for this comming weekend. It uses 4aa bats. and should fit .30 cal and up.:drinks: It also comes with a cable to hook to vcr/tv

[carpetman]

Go to Wal Mart and get a fiber optics attachment that hooks onto a mini mag flashlight. Afterall,you aint gonna be doing surgery on the barrel. Now if giving it a colonostomy or something you might need a high dollar rig.

[montana_charlie]

Go to Wal Mart and get a fiber optics attachment that hooks onto a mini mag flashlight.
I have one of those. It is useful in some ways and useless in others.
Placed in the muzzle with me looking in through the chamber, the bore is so bright my eye is dazzled by the reflections.

Pointed into the chamber with me looking past it (like looking ahead with a flashlight), there is not enough light to show much.

In any case, all it can do is illuminate the bore. That doesn't address my focal ability (or lack of it), no matter how well-lighted the surface is.
CM