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A borescope is one of the pieces of precision/advance equipment that I don't have. Any advice on using them, both in terms of which one to get and whether they are worth the investment.

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Not a writer but a gunsmith... - I have both a Teslong & a Hawkeye.

For fine work I use the Hawkeye (over a grand), and I use the Teslong to take pictures for people more than anything else.

So if you are machining I would say you want the Hawkeye, but for general fun of he mill inspection stuff he 50 dollar Teslong is fine

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I'll second the Teslong as a good general purpose scope. Whether they are worth the information they give you is sort of up to each person. I used mine to check all of my rifles and handguns but have only used it occasionally after that. They are good to check the effectiveness of your bore cleaning but can frighten you with the condition of the throat. But as MD and others have noted, the barrel condition does not always relate to the accuracy.

I had the $50 flexible model but went to the slightly more expensive 26" rigid one at $80, and prefer the rigid one. You can buy different size mirrors for the end cap to fit different bore sizes. I can see how that is useful but you can also screw the supplied .20 caliber mirror in and to get better focus on larger bores.

The Teslong plugs into the USB port of your computer or laptop and one thing I learned is to plug it in and let the computer recognize it before starting the software. You'll hear that "ba-bonk" noise when it recognizes it in the port. If you start the software first it won't find the scope and will throw an error.

Here are some pictures of a Ruger SP101 bore I took a couple of weeks ago which illustrate the view detail, this is with the .20 caliber mirror in the .357 bore. And yes, I've returned this revolver to Ruger...

[Linked Image]

[Linked Image]



They're also good for checking ear hair but don't tell the manufacturer...



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Yikes !!

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Lyman's model has been great for me. Was very impressed with the quality for the price. Quick and simple to use, comes with a digital viewing screen.

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Originally Posted by Spotshooter
Not a writer but a gunsmith... - I have both a Teslong & a Hawkeye.

For fine work I use the Hawkeye (over a grand), and I use the Teslong to take pictures for people more than anything else.

So if you are machining I would say you want the Hawkeye, but for general fun of he mill inspection stuff he 50 dollar Teslong is fine


This^^^^


Will also note that when most shooters buy borescope, they're often disappointed with the insides of their rifle barrels--partly because of how often there's relatively little correlation between how a bore looks, and how well it shoots. But there are plenty of other uses that make them worthwhile.


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I have a Hawkeye that I was able to write off as a business expense. I use it for a number of tasks and it has paid for itself. In addition, I really like the 90-degree eyepiece.

However, it is possible to know too much... I let a really nice Cooper 223 AI go as the bore looked ugly. As MD pointed out there is relatively little correlation between how it looks/shoots, and yes it shot great.

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I got a Teslong last year for Christmas, I now spend at least twice as much time cleaning various barrels!

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Originally Posted by croz2173
Lyman's model has been great for me. Was very impressed with the quality for the price. Quick and simple to use, comes with a digital viewing screen.

Not only a screen but you can put an SD card in it and take pic's, I've been very pleased as well

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Originally Posted by boatanchor
Originally Posted by croz2173
Lyman's model has been great for me. Was very impressed with the quality for the price. Quick and simple to use, comes with a digital viewing screen.

Not only a screen but you can put an SD card in it and take pic's, I've been very pleased as well


This can be quite helpful when when you need so show/share something with others. I have a new 300 WM and somewhere after 100 yds, a pit showed up in the chamber which is causing a protruding dimple on the brass. Was able to show the pics to the the gunsmith. The jury is still out as this just happened.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Originally Posted by Spotshooter
Not a writer but a gunsmith... - I have both a Teslong & a Hawkeye.

For fine work I use the Hawkeye (over a grand), and I use the Teslong to take pictures for people more than anything else.

So if you are machining I would say you want the Hawkeye, but for general fun of he mill inspection stuff he 50 dollar Teslong is fine


This^^^^


Will also note that when most shooters buy borescope, they're often disappointed with the insides of their rifle barrels--partly because of how often there's relatively little correlation between how a bore looks, and how well it shoots. But there are plenty of other uses that make them worthwhile.


I'm not a gunsmith, nor a writer, just an avid shooter.

I have a Teslong, and for how I use it, I love it, checking throat wear, barrels for rust and corrosion, gas port erosion, and finish quality of barrels and the 3 bore of BCG's.

So far, few barrels have really surprised me, for the most part, I got what I paid for in terms of the quality of the internal finish qualities.

IMO for the vast majority of us, the Teslong is a good investment and all that we will need.


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Originally Posted by Jim in Idaho




They're also good for checking ear hair but don't tell the manufacturer...



Those are good pics! I haven't tried to take photos with my Teslong yet. You know if you let those bodacious chatter marks fill up with copper, that bore will be plumb smooth.....

As an added note, please don't post any pics of your ear hair.

Just saying..........


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As another added note, I have a 243 with about 1200 rnds down the tube. The first 3-4" of the bbl doesn't just look like alligator skin, it looks like 100 year old alligator skin. But it still shoots well. I just keep moving the bullet further out as the throat erodes........


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utah708 Offline OP
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Thanks for the advice. It saved me a bunch of time in narrowing my search, and in deciding if I want one at all.

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I have the Teslong which is currently $45 on that jungle website. It is an excellent tool to have at the gun bench. It has helped me streamline my cleaning techniques. I highly recommend.


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I've been borrowing a buddy's Hawkeye the last few years to check my guns, and it really is a precision instrument. It does have it limitations though, being 17" long and rigid it could only be used from the bore end on most autoloaders and lever action rifles. Last summer I noticed how stupid cheap the Teslong had gotten and ordered a semi rigid one long enough to view the whole barrel and chamber of any rifle I own from either end. Even with the wireless setup to allow me to use my I-Phone and the set of different size mirrors it wasn't much over $150. I'm very pleased with it, and agree that what a barrel looks like doesn't necessarily correspond with how it shoots.

I bought a Ruger No 1 in 22 Hornet last spring. Beautiful gun, but didn't shoot for chit which was probably why the guy sold it. Four and five inch groups at 100 yards. I got the Teslong shortly afterwards and it showed that the bore was heavily leaded. It took several days of heavy effort to get it clean, but well worth it. Out chronographing a load recently and only had a target set at 50 yards, but shot a 9/16" ten shot group.


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I have the Lyman and the Tesalong, the Lyman screen doesn't show anywhere near the image quality that the Tesalong does on an iPhone/Ipad.


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Originally Posted by Jim in Idaho


They're also good for checking ear hair but don't tell the manufacturer...



To say nothing about colons.


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