Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Teslong Borescope disappointment but

not with the scope. I recently bought one now that they have one that works with an iPad. The first bore that I checked was my most accurate rifle, a Remington 700 Classic chambered in 250 Savage, and look what I found. Most of the pitting is in a small area about 12” from the muzzle. The barrel has always felt kind of strange whenever I push a patch through it!! I sure would like to know what caused the pitting, looks more like a meltdown. I bought the rifle NIB, so I’m a little shocked, especially since the rifle consistently puts 100 grain Ballistic Tips into a 1/2” or better using IMR 4895 or H414. I guess a pristine bore isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Those look more link deposits than pits, they also look crystalline... so they could be growing from deposits in pits.

I would JB bore paste them and then look again.

Don't shoot the donor and don't examine your good shooting rifles with a bore scope! RJ

Looks like Carbon Buildup

I always heard what to do with a half minute rifle. Don't F... with it! The only thing I'd do with that rifle is just keep shooting it. If it goes south later then you could bore paste it.

Also, barrels can shoot good with pits and maybe damage as long as the throat and the muzzle crown are ok. But if the throat is eroding or the rifling is chipped at the crown it can really throw it in a kink.

Don't feel too bad.I recently picked up a 1989 Ruger 77 tang safety 338 Win Mag.The rifle looked almost brand new,trigger was horrible at around 6-7lbs,which I adjusted down to around 3lbs or so.Stock was unmolested,so I left as is.I had heard that some of the barrels were bad during that time period.Bore scoping the barrel revealed it hadn't been shot much,I'd bet no more than a box,no erosion at all,but the bore had numerous tool marks across the lands and grooves and about 1"-2" down the barrel it looked horribly pitted.I'm really not sure it is rust pits though,it's all the way around the barrel about 1" down the barrel from where the bullet tip of a loaded round is chambered in the rifle.It's ugly.I really felt disappointed after I bore scoped it and didn't expect it to shoot too well.I made up a few loads for it to kinda get a feel for the rifle.I loaded up some 200gr Accubonds for the test loads.Anyway I was surprised the rifle does shoot fairly well.I checked the velocities with my Magnetospeed.I had loaded 70.0grs of Big Game-3056fps.With Accurate 4350,72.0grs-3008fps,73.0grs-3054fps.All three loads shot just under an inch at a 100yds.I had two of the Big Game loads left and shot them at 200yds and they were 1" apart.Just goes to show you you cannot tell how well a barrel will shoot by looking down the barrel.Here is some bore photos.

I don't think that barrel left RUgers Factory in that shape.

The rest of the barrel looks bad too.Not pitted but deep scratches throughout the bore.I believe Wilson may have been making barrels for Ruger at that time.But hey,as long as it shoots well,I'm gonna shoot it as is.

Somebody needs to write a folk song about the foibles of owning a borescope.

It probably is a Wilson barrel, I think the previous owner didn't know how to take care of a gun.

It’s probably going to foul like crazy, but might shoot ok.

Lapping (real lapping not just JB bore paste) by a smith that knows how to lap will help it quite a bit.... Then I’d ultra-bore coat it to try to cut down on the fouling, provided it shot well.

Remember it’s the cut of the grooves, and tightness of the bore where it contacts that matters - holes don’t contact so as long as the edges are gone and it grips the bullet right, then it’s just how bad it will foul.

I shot it about 15 times.I"m going to check it again to see what kind of copper it left in the barrel.Before I shot it,I cleaned it and the barrel was really clean,just a tiny streak near the muzzle

I really could care less about what my rifle bores look like. All I care about is what shows up on paper and more importantly the field. The main reason I haven’t spent the money.
GreggH

I guess I shouldn’t worry about it as long as it shoots like this 😁

I wouldn't worry about it a bit so long as it shoots good. Years ago I had a Rem. 788 in .222 with a bore that was lightly pitted from end to end and it shot sub MOA groups for years.

Looks like it may be a candidate for bore-coat.I've never used it before,but after 16 rounds down the tube it appears to be a copper collector,especially after the bullet contact the pitted area.I know Dyna-coat has been highly praised on here.Would it help on this?

Leave it be.It shoots great!

One thing - never switch types of bullets ... once copper is there, it hates different types of copper and will foul more so