I enjoy playing with my firearms and reloading like most of you on the Campfire. And always trying to improve accuracy out of my guns by playing with different handloads and so forth. Even though I clean my barrels with solvent , brushes and patches I've always wondered if I got every last bit of fouling out of the barrel. Now a days you can buy a bore scope, so my question is,,, would the lyman bore scope be ok for a gun nut like me or would I be wise to save up for the Gradient Hawkeye? Would the Hawkeye be that much better? Or is there another scope on the market that I don't know about. Thanks in advance. RRM

I have a Lyman and it works great.Before that I used my Brothers Hawkeye.To me it is not worth the extra money.

I’ve had a Lyman for about a year and it really does let you see if the bore is squeaky clean.

I have a pair of Hawkeye's with extra bright lights ( souped up Mini Maglites will do about as well but maybe with some color shift) and a right angle eyepiece. I'd surely suggest trying a second edition Lyman especially on sale and expect no reason to move up.

I've been using the Lyman digital borescope for a couple of years and I think it was a good buy. If I ever get to use a more expensive or sophisticated borescope, I may not think so highly of it but ignorance is bliss---at least in this case.

I’ve got three optical borescopes and the Lyman digital borecam.

I haven’t used the optical scopes in over a year. The Lyman is just too handy.

I'm glad I read this thread. I just ordered a Lyman borescope from Brownells for $178.

Thank you all for helping me make a decision on a bore scope. Sounds like one is in the near future for me. Thanks. RRM

I've had a Hawkeye a long time and am very satisfied with it. If the cheaper scopes work as well, go with a cheaper scope, but I would at least look at a Hawkeye for comparison before I bought anything.

Thanks, guys. You just cost me some money!

Helpful crowd we ALL are, huh?

Roger that! BTW, if anyone else wants one , Brownells has a sale price and free shipping.

Mr gaget I am, tell me what will a bore scope tell me? I'm one of many that doesn't keep his bore squeeky clean as my rifles seem to shoot better with a little seasoning . Thanks!

The one thing a bore-scope won't reveal is whether the barrel will be accurate.

It does work very well for seeing how well various cleaning products work, and the amount of throat erosion (if any). I also use mine when shooting bore-lapping bullets to smooth an erosion-roughened throat, to see when the rough portion has disappeared, and the make sure the bore's clean of ALL fouling when installing Dyna Bore Coat.

Shortly after I bought my Lyman I used it to examine the bore of a Model 70 HV I had purchased some time before. I worked on loads for that rifle for months, occasionally seeing something that encouraged me to go off in a direction that would be just another dead end. When I saw the bore up close for the first time, I knew why it wouldn't shoot---it looked as though someone had pounded a ball bearing through it and smashed some of the lands. A new (used) barrel from GPC fixed it right up and is now a pretty good shooter. The same story with a Ruger 77V in .220 Swift I had swapped for about eight years ago. MOA was achievable, but I thought it should shoot closer to a half inch. It turned out the bore was pitted from breech to muzzle, but I sure couldn't tell by just gazing down the bore. That one now has a PacNor on it and is shooting acceptably. In fact I'm going to fire a few more seating depth tests next time out to see if I have been in the right place or can tighten it up a bit more.

I've also found that my Model 70 Classic in .25-06 has a checkered bore about three inches ahead of the chamber, but it's still shooting very well. When it goes south, I'll know why, but for now I'm happy with it.

A borescope isn't going to make a rifle shoot any better, but I think it's pretty handy to have around. Glad I bought it.

RiverRider,

Good post!

The only minor comment is I've seen plenty of abysmal-looking bores shoot really well.

yes my hawkeye bore scope works well,but here`s a funny short story I purchased a brand new savage 300 win short mag s.s. and bedded the barrel right away and redid the trigger too. gun shoots 3/4 inch moa at 100 yards all day long, gun cost me around $400.00 a few years ago. now when I looked down the barrel of this Savage rifle man it looked ruff and that was even before I shot the rifle but this rifle does shoot well. now my dear friend wanted I better rifle in a 300 win.short mag so he purchased a Kimber rifle for over $800.00 and the bore looked super nice too new but the gun after and before being bedded shot terrible 1 1/2 - 2 1/2 groups ,friend paid twice as much as I did and ended up with a terrible rifle,and he was not happy . so sometimes even looking down the barrel tell s you little except if its burned out, >Mule deer is right it will never tell you what barrel is more accurate but those dang cheap Savage rifles are some real fool`ers. good luck,Pete53

I had a Lyman for a brief time and it worked well enough but I got to wondering,
If the bore has imperfections, what can I do about it?
If it shot well enough for me and I could clean it well enough or Dyna Bore Coat it and keep it shooting well, what difference could I make to the function of the rifle by looking at the bore?

I like to shoot a variety of rifles and cartridges but a bore scope didn't change anything for me and it was returned.

If I was buying some collectible rifles, I'd like to be able to check the barrel out to see if it's shot out but that's not me.

Hawkeye.....I see everything I need to....don't know why an advrage shooter would need one...but if you collect old guns it will pay for itself...especially old lever guns and 22s....I have taken mine to gunshows and it can be some leverage when a guy says it's got a pristine e bore...guess what....most are pitted or sewer pipes...some are better than expected...helps selling guns too to look a throat.

Guy brought a Hawkeye to a gun show, set up a table charging 5 bucks to borescope barrels. He pretty much got run out of the place by used gun dealers.....

For the average guy that doesn't shoot a huge amount (me), it seems like a rather pricey tool. For many of us, it would probably be a good thing for a group investment.

What grain bullet?

At this point, I wasn't going to bother saying anything...

The price is getting close to being a practical buy for us loonies. But a less than perfect bore may become a psychological detriment as you blame "the bore" for any bad groups.

How about $165 bucks from Brownells??

I'd call that practical:

https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-...borecam-digital-borescope-prod81507.aspx

I bought a Hawkeye borescope around 15 years ago, because not being able to really see inside one of the essential areas of a rifle was really frustrating.

In the past year sent my Hawkeye back to Gradient to be upgraded to their latest-and-greatest. This is sort of like the compulsion to "upgrade" binoculars to the latest ED versions, but hey, I freely admit to being obsessive/compulsive.

The upgrade was noticeable, but more noticeable was my frustration during the couple weeks I spent without a borescope. Hadn't really realized until then how much I "depended" on one!

This isn't a suggestion that rifle loonies "need" a borescope, any more than they "need" the latest, greatest rifle, chambered for the latest, greatest cartridge. As somebody once observed, "Need has nothing to do with it."

If a guy has three or four rifles and they all shoot to satisfaction, it's not a real need, IMO, but WANT is justification enough. For my own purposes, it's something I needed and that became readily apparent once I began using it. When you're in acquisition mode like I have been over the last twenty years you might well end up with something that disappoints and frustrates. I could have just sold those two rifles but I'm too stubborn to accept defeat often enough. I scoped the bore of the last acquisition before I agreed to the swap. And it's a shooter!

This ^^^.

Grabbed one a couple of weeks ago after discussing it with another 'Fire member. My only wish is that it was adaptable to DC, or could use batteries. Doing so would make it a little more 'portable'. None the less, it's a great addition and a great tool - albeit not a Hawkeye.

MD, I hear you on that! I had an acquaintance a couple towns up the road in Wisconsin who had a Hawkeye borescope that I was able to persuade to let me use from time to time... it was using that device that convinced me I need to use Dyna Bore Coat on a lot more barrels! But I've resisted pulling the trigger on one for myself for some time. I was able to put off the decision by avoiding purchases of rifles that might have "issues", and by trading/selling off my "problem" rifles for several years.

Fast forward to now, when I'm looking at several rifle projects, and my "need" for a bore scope has jumped up considerably. So I'm relieved to find that the Lyman digital borescope is as good as it is, and as affordable. I ordered one from Brownell's last week, should be here any day.

Now, I just have to keep beating down the little voice in the back of my head that's nagging me to buy a PressureTrace system. But I suspect I will lose that battle, sooner rather than later. It's become apparent to me that there are 3 "indispensible" measuring tools that a true Rifle Looney can't do without: a chronograph, a borescope, and a pressure-measuring device.

Great. Got two outa three and now I'll be obsessing over a pressure trace for the next three months, or until I buy one. I think I know how this ends.

RR, if you don't go to their website and don't read the articles, you might be able to hold off the inevitable a bit longer...

Got a link that I shouldn't look at?

https://www.shootingsoftware.com/pressure.htm

https://www.shootingsoftware.com/pressure.htm

I have always used my gunsmith's bore scope, but for $174.95 it's time for me to have my own. should be on the doorstep Friday !!!!

OK, my Lyman bore scope arrived. I have enjoyed looking at the bore of a few barrels. But a large extent, I don't know what I am looking at. Is there a reference or link somewhere on the interweb that shows various "conditions" of barrels. Perhaps a comparison of new versus used vs shot out? TIA