Inexpensive borescope review

[Markopolo]

I thought I would review a inexpensive borescope...

I have been seeing these under 20 bucks all over the place, and beings as I have had mine for almost 2 years, I should review it. It is called the Android borescope. Cost, about 15 bucks...

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What comes in the box?

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You get a 3 meter long camera on a stiff cable with led lighting, a couple of USB adapters for use with a laptop or android powered phone or tablet, a funny looking wire spring thing for grabbing things down the drain, and a mirrored adaptor for looking sideways instead of straight on.

The camera fits nicely now a 22 cal barrel or larger, but will not fit down an .17 HMR.
Installation in a laptop is pretty straightforward. With the drivers coming on a mini-cd.

Once installed, you will find a new icon on your desktop.. plug in the camera into a USB port and click the icon and you are in business. There is a rotary dial on the side of the cable that allows you to control the brightness of the LED's, as well and a button that allows you to take snapshots of what you see on the screen.

FUnction..

I must admit, I wasn't expecting much for under 20 bucks. But my expections were shattered when I found a totally functional, easy to use borescope. With a bit of practice, I was taking pictures of my chambers, and my inner ear..lol here are some examples...

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Wanna see if you are engaging the lands on O.A.L. Just pop in your round, engage the safety, and you have this... 199152

Now, mind you, remember that this thing cost under 20 bucks, so I don't jump rope with it, or let the wife play with it, but it has held up for nearly 2 years already. I am sure that if I care for it, don't drop it or step on it, I should get a few more years out of it.. it does tend to get warm on the tip at full light power, but at full light power, there is a lot of glare so you rarely use the full power setting... but for getting a good idea of the inner working of your chamber or forcing cone, this thing works great... did I mention that it's waterproof? So when your wife drops her ring down the sink, you will be the hero when you strap on the spring tool and are able to get her ring back without redoing the plumbing... it's a win win no brainer. This is one of those tools, like a digital scale, that you resisted getting, but once gotten, you wonder how you survived without it...

do yourself a favor, grab one for 20 bucks... you won't be sorry

Marko

P.S. Please bear in mind, the pics in this review are pictures taken with my IPad of my laptop screen, and do not do the image quality justice. He real pic's are very useable, but not HD.

[wbrco]

Where are the pictures of your ear? 😅

Sent from my 2PS64 using Tapatalk

[Markopolo]

Now THAT is a bit personal, don't you think? :kidding::kidding:

I just knew that some wierdo would wanna see me without earplugs in...

[gtrpickr]

ive thought about getting one of those myself, glad to see a review of one.
Thanks

[endwrench]

Wow! Never knew it even existed. Will be picking one up soon. I can think of dozens of times I wished I had one.

Sent from my K011 using Tapatalk

[Bzcraig]

I got one and was surprised at how good I could see but was frustrated trying to keep the lens in the center of the bore so the image remained symmetrical. So I drilled a hole through the primer pocket, on an appropriate sized/modified piece of brass for the bore of the gun, just a touch big then wrapped a cleaning patch around the lens to keep the lens centered and it worked like a charm.

[gpidaho]

I bought a inexpensive endoscope on line for $14.99 and it hooked right up to my lap top. It also has the camera function. I'm not spending hundreds of dollars on a better scope. This one shows me what I need to see.Gp

[JBinMN]

Very Cool!
:)
Thanks for sharing the review!
:)

[rondog]

Ok, subscribed to this thread so I can find it again. Thanks! I NEED a borescope!

[2shot]

Wally World has these for $13.99 and free shipping. Want to see how much copper fouling you've got in a rifle? get one of these and start scrubbing. LOL

[HollowPoint]

For the ultra frugal and sickly among us, it looks like you might be able to save some money by giving yourself a colonoscopy as well. Just send the pics to you doctor for evaluation when you're done.

But seriously; this looks like a neat little gadget. I thought that the bulkier Harbor Freight offering was going to be the cheapest we could hope for. This Android Endoscope beats that hands down.

HollowPoint

[No Blue]

Before I bought mine, I researched the daylights out of the various offerings; and never did I see one with a right angle mirror attachment. This was about 2 years ago.

That mirror is exactly what you need to examine the chamber and bore, just looking up the bore doesn't have the same results....

[Markopolo]

Hey hollow point... good luck getting Obamacare to pay for that self done colonoscopy... if you wanna be creative, you can prolly have your prostrate exam done as well... . :violin:

[25ring]

Hey hollow point... good luck getting Obamacare to pay for that self done colonoscopy... if you wanna be creative, you can prolly have your prostrate exam done as well... . :violin:

Call the IRS they'll do it for free!

[2shot]

For those looking and not finding here's the Wally World link to the 5.5mm Android endoscope.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ktaxon-3-5M-5-5mm-6LED-Android-Endoscope-Waterproof-IP67-Borescope-Inspection-Camera/936760554

2shot

[Smoke4320]

2shot ....Thanks for the heads up ..
snagged one

[Grmps]

I use a bore scope plugged into a tablet and wire it to my progressive reloading press (get a bolt the size of the scope and put a couple wraps of wire around it then just slide the scope in the loops then wire it to a couple dies bent to look into the cases after filled with powder) to view the powder in the case before seating a bullet.

[No Blue]

2shot, thanks for the link. Ordered 2, one for a friend and mine. That's the first time I saw a 5.5mm diameter one. Mine was 7mm from last year, that worked for 2/3 of my guns. This small one will work on the 1/3, 22 caliber ones. Has the 60 degree side angle thang too. They're down to $12.99....Hurry, only 3 left.

[Speedo66]

Those won't work with an Apple phone, this one will. A little more expensive, has a wireless connection to the phone.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WIFI-6LED-8mm-IP67-Android-Endoscope-Borescope-Snake-Inspection-Camera-Scope-IOS-/172525456765?hash=item282b518d7d:g:d4gAAOSwdGFYyPc i

[rockrat]

WM is out of stock

[Harter66]

I ordered 2 from a primary vendor ...........very sad ........still waiting ........

[Plate plinker]

Call the IRS they'll do it for free!

Aint that the truth.

[JWT]

[QUOTE=Speedo66;4095678]Those won't work with an Apple phone, this one will. A little more expensive, has a wireless connection to the phone.

[url]http://www.ebay.com/itm/WIFI


Caution, this endoscope has an 8mm camera head. I've been looking around and the camera size ranges from about 5.5mm (.22") to 8mm (.32").

[sh00ter787]

Fantastic, didn't realize that these were usable, just ordered one :)

[UKShootist]

A word to the wise about borescopes in general. If you have a definite need for one then fine. But, if you have a rifle you love and it shoots accurately, then NEVER take a peek down the barrel with a decent borescope. The chances are it'll break your heart! One of my most accurate rifles, a Steyr Scout .223 that will still beat 1/2 MOA easily if I do my bit, has places down the barrel that look like the surface of the moon. This was from early days when nobody told me you never should store a rifle with the sound moderator still fitted.

[GhostHawk]

Mine is slightly different, has a 6mm camera, won't go down anything smaller than that. Has a 6 meter cord, which in my case mostly stays coiled up hanging on my old PC in the reloading room.

It came with a couple of little attachments which are still in the plastic bag taped to the mini cd with drivers. It has a LED Light adjustment wheel on the USB plug which is very nice. As some bores are mirror polished and if the light is too bright you miss stuff.

I paid 14$ for mine on evilbay and it has paid for itself several times over.

In less than 5 minutes it told me exactly what the problem was with my Mosin chambering some bullets and showed me when I had solved it. It revealed a 90 degree sharp angle right where the brass case ends. With lots of little lead stelagtites hanging from it. The edge looked square and sharp enough to cut. I I found a dowel, slotted the end, fit some 0000 steel wool into it and polished that square edge down to a radius'd one. Chamfered that square edge, giving me a bit more material that could slip into place, fill the grooves without binding up the bolt.

Hey presto, no more Mosin problems.

Showed me which guns where leading, which ones were not.

I don't use it a lot, but use it once a year and it pays for itself.

[Smoke4320]

Got mine yesterday .. Got around to trying it this morning ..
Awesome tool for my older sealed suppressors .. Now I know when I need to clean and actual condition of the baffles ..
No more guessing .. Money WELL spent

[Markopolo]

I knew that folks would jump on this if word got out... most of the time mine stays coiled up attached to the mini laptop in the reloading room, but when ya need one, a mirror and a bore light just won't do...

[kywoodwrkr]

What is the diameter of the angled adapter?
Looks like it screws onto something, or does it screw into the light/lens attachment?
Thanks.

[Smoke4320]

It slotted and slides down the cord and then over the end of camera
at least on mine anyway .. There are numerous versions of this around

Its makes a wonderful way to check condition of suppressor baffles

[Reverend Al]

I just ordered one from Amazon.ca for $12.99 Canadian shipped!

:-)

[Harter66]

After a long wait . I got my 5.5 mm unit it will just slip in the Savage 223 it won't talk to my tablet ....... My Moto X has the USC port instead of a USB mini ........so I have to find a double female USB coupling . It works ok there . The angle mirror looks like it slips over the head and should fit in a 30 cal .

I'm happy with it . It's certainly not the worst $20 I ever spent .

[Houndog]

BEWARE of the Wal Mart vendor!!!! I ordered one from them and they promptly billed my credit card, but NEVER shipped the bore scope nor will they answer my emails. I even contacted Wal Mart and they won't respond to their inquiries about my order either.

[Markopolo]

I use eBay... seems to be pretty easy resolution to issues..

[Hinnerk]

I know that the angle mirror attachment is worthless in a rifle bore because of the long focus of the camera but has anyone tried fabricating an attachment that puts the mirror out at the correct location?

[Harter66]

I tried the angle mirror in a 45 cal . Mine threads on and it's about 3 turns short of a clear look there . A length of thin wall tubing to move it out another 1/4" like a drinking straw would be the ticket . Actually a retrofit of the mirror attachment by extension would do the job.

[Rick Hodges]

I just got the Ebay version, waiting on the adapter for my cell phone. Delivery was 3 days.....

[Harter66]

I just got the Ebay version, waiting on the adapter for my cell phone. Delivery was 3 days.....

It is on/off/on/off with my USB micro type C Moto Z but works well with Ms S7 . I have a micro to C adapter from an electronics supply house and an adapter gifted from the phone department at Best Buy . Same results with both adapters . Mostly it shows device not connected .

[ulav8r]

Just got one from BangGood, $6.66 w/free shipping. Works with my laptop, not my phone or tablet. Image is just barely useable.

[Hinnerk]

I order one each of SKU 162928001 ($9.41) and SKU 215788401 ($7.43) shipped free from China from GearBest.com. Both are 2m. One is 5.5mm and one is 7mm. Actual diameter of housing is .217" and .290", respectively. Work slowly in Android but fine with Linux laptop. You need to chase the camera head with a patch and dowel to reflect enough light back toward the camera. I still have not rigged up a right angle mirror. Focus is about 2 inches so a mirror needs to be out about that far from the camera. The "mirror" that comes with the units would mount too close to the camera to work optimally in a rifle bore. Also, the mirror material is of poor optical quality.

I am not disappointed for the price.

[Hinnerk]

Experimenting with the 5.5mm 2M "Android and PC Endoscope" mentioned earlier, the head slides into a 1/4" brass tubing (.014" wall thickness) which can be taped to the right angle view adapter. The endoscope, however, has such a long focus that the image obtained in this way uses only a small portion of the camera view and resolution is poor when viewing the surface of the rifle bore. Fortunately, I remembered that I had a box full of optics that I picked up once at the flea market. Included in there were some convex lenses mounted in brass tubing. The diameter fit nicely inside the 1/4" tubing and when situated between the camera head and the mirror, the distance was perfect (or nearly so) to focus on the rifle bore. Here are some sample photos taken with this setup and using guvcview on a Linux laptop. Much better resolution. Could be nicer with the optic cleaned and with a better mirror. Images are in the bore of my SMLE No.1 MkIII. You pretty much can't see any of these features without the aid of that added lens.

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