I have both an old Zeiss and a new Hawkeye and wouldn't part with either one. There's no substitute for looking right at what you can otherwise observe only indirectly, by secondary indications.

When I got the Hawkeye, a friend brought over about a dozen guns to 'scope with it. One of these -- a Ruger revolver -- had a problem that would never have been detected by any other means, and my friend was able to get it solved. (The rear end of each land was like a cliff, with an abrupt vertical face at the top of each land -- the forcing cone was incompletely ramped.)

If you can manage the cost, get yourself a bore scope. I highly recommend the Hawkeye. And be sure to get also the 90� tip for it, which allows you to look perpendicularly at bore surfaces (BTW, whenever a writer recommends a Hawkeye, don't assume that he got it as a freebie -- he bought it. Gradient -- the importer -- doesn't give 'em to anybody.)

A TIP: In addition to the axial lighting that the Hawkeye normally provides, use also some arrangement that provides good cross-lighting. The Hawkeye's light strikes the viewed surface parallel with the line of sight and reflects directly back into the optical fiber that carries the image back to your eye. A bright light shone down the bore -- parallel to the bore axis, perpendicular to the angle of view through the 90� tip -- shows the surface texture that isn't as clear by the Hawkeye's built-in light.


"Good enough" isn't.

Always take your responsibilities seriously but never yourself.