Starting the new year off clean

[LAGS]

Like always I do an Annual gun cleaning session.
I clean all my guns once a year weather they have been used or not.
( I have a lot of Safe Queens )
This year is starting off as a nightmare.
Last year I bought a better Bore Scope.
Now when I look at the barrels I cleaned last year and never shot were a big surprise.
Looking at them with a bore light , they looked perfect.
But now when I inspected them with the Bore Scope a lot of issues came up.
None of the issues are killers , but things just show up now.
Like fine rust or patina , copper fouling and just spots in the rifling that were not completely cleaned.
So rather than just swabbing the bores with Hoppes #9 , I am letting a couple soak overnight with Ammonia in the bore to get out copper fouling or on a couple I carefully cleaned them with Vinegar and Hydrogen Peroxide to get missed fine rust and patina out.
On a couple of barrels I also polished them with JB Bore Bright or Mag Wheel Polish.
I don't think that all this work is going to make a big difference in the way they shoot.
But it is going to make me feel a lot better that I know they will not be going downhill being stored all year.
To me,
This bore scope is well worth the investment.

[Hannibal]

I also discovered that my cleaning efforts weren't as effective as I thought when I started using a borescope. I also have found a definitive reason why a couple of barrels would not shoot consistently and identified several chambers that were not cut concentric to the bore. A couple of those were from very well respected companies that should not be letting things like that leave their facility, but it happened never the less. I was able to return them unfired for replacement when I sent in photos of the problem.
It has also proven invaluable to be able to look and see which solvents and cleaning methods are truly effective and which ones are a waste of money and time.
Many folks don't have good things to say about borescopes, but I'll never be without one again.

[LAGS]

The Bore Scope I use to use was one of those scopes that I mostly used to inspect plumbing or to find small parts that I dropped in my engine compartment when working on my cars.
The one I have now hooks to my phone
And I can take pictures of the bore for future reference.

[Electrod47]

About Bore Scopes. I was never one of those guys that had to be in the room when any of my sons were born. I stayed in the waiting room, Thank you.
For the average Joe, some things are better off, unseen. You'll sleep better.

[BK7saum]

I would not let ammonia based cleaner sit in the bore longer than 15 or 20 minutes. The ammonia wiill etch and frost the bore.

[elmacgyver0]

About Bore Scopes. I was never one of those guys that had to be in the room when any of my sons were born. I stayed in the waiting room, Thank you.
For the average Joe, some things are better off, unseen. You'll sleep better.

Kind of what I was thinking.

[Hannibal]

For those still skeptical about borescopes, how else would something like this ever be found definitively?

That's a large section of land that is just simply missing from a factory .223 barrel. Unexplained fliers now explained.

[Hannibal]

Borescopes can now be purchased that work with your cell phone. Thinking about buying a used rifle? Take it with you to the gun shop. If they don't want you to have a look then I'd recommend against buying it.

[Hannibal]

About Bore Scopes. I was never one of those guys that had to be in the room when any of my sons were born. I stayed in the waiting room, Thank you.
For the average Joe, some things are better off, unseen. You'll sleep better.

I was right there with all 3 of mine. One was stillborn. I sleep just fine. Had I not been there ......

[LAGS]

So far I have not had issues with letting the bore be soaked in Ammonia.
The bores that I have to let them soak overnight are generally the minor pitted ones like Sewer Pipe Mosins .That is the reason there is so much copper fouling.
But using Bore Bright will restore the metal so the flat areas are smooth and bright again.
But yes , I do not let very good bores soak for very long.
The same goes for soaking the bore with Vinegar to remove Rust.
And be careful.
The vinegar will remove the bluing if it gets on the outside of the gun

[MrWolf]

I was right there with all 3 of mine. One was stillborn. I sleep just fine. Had I not been there ......

Both of mine. Emergency C section that they tried telling me I couldn't go into the operating room - tried as in no way in hell was I not going (daughter) and cut the cord on my son.

[Geezer in NH]

Bore scopes are ruining more barrels that anything before. Mostly by newbs IMHO

[Hannibal]

Bore scopes are ruining more barrels that anything before. Mostly by newbs IMHO

I'd like to hear your explanation of how visually inspecting anything is going to ruin it.

[BK7saum]

I'd like to hear your explanation of how visually inspecting anything is going to ruin it.

I am sure because it leads to additional cleaning/damage that is unnecessary or other modifications to the barrel that really do not need addressing, but because they are visible most newbs want to "fix" the issue that really isn't.

[Hannibal]

That is not part of the inspection process. A borescope is a tool and requires the user to know how to use it. There is a lack of available information because visually inspecting a bore required the use of a borescope that until fairly recently was prohibitively expensive.
Problems created by improper/ineffective cleaning practices and misdirected attempts at gunsmithing have existed since firearms became commonly available. That is the problem.

[LAGS]

Well , so far , the barrels that I inspected with the bore scope.
80% we're clean and no issues.
The other 20% did need a little more care.
But none of the barrels have any major issues.
I have only finished cleaning less than half of the guns that I have.
But when done , I will feel so much better when I take them out shooting.

[uscra112]

I would not let ammonia based cleaner sit in the bore longer than 15 or 20 minutes. The ammonia wiill etch and frost the bore.

Double dittos!

[uscra112]

Bore scopes are ruining more barrels that anything before. Mostly by newbs IMHO

As a machine tool builder I once worked with said of our newly purchased laser interferometer: "This thing tells thing we didn't know we didn't want to know."

[waksupi]

Many people don't know what they are seeing when they DO use a bore scope. This past summer at a shoot, some guys were checking out a barrel on a used gun with a bore scope to see what condition it was in. To them, it looked perfect. Having been a barrel inspector for three companies in the past, I looked at it, and saw right away it was frosted from end to end. They hadn't seen it, until I pointed it out. I told the guy to shoot it, see how accurate it was, and then make a judgement on if he wanted to buy.

[missionary5155]

We have a 1873 (3rd Model 32-20) that has interrupted rifling, huge pits and flat ugly to look through.
But we have lost count how many ground hogs, racoons, garden raiders, and tree rats that ol' workhorse has thwacked in the last 30 years we have owned it.