I was just getting ready to ask you that question, Thanks
Accuracy And Bore Scopes
- Thread starter ButterBean
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cohunt
Well-Known Member
so far I have 2 rifles that it has helped me with: concrete proof, nope--even if I had 2 sets of targets would you believe me? it would still be my word on what those targets were--before/after/with/wiithout/ 100y, 1000 yd/etc--- this is the internet after all.
in 1 case I have a "new" old stock rem mountain 700 in 30-06, it wasnt shooting really well (about 1.5moa) and I thought it was because of the light weight and the pencil profile barrel-- after the bore scope I saw it had LOTS of copper fouling in the bore (it has low round count on it but appears to be copper fouling faster than my other barrels), so I cleaned the snot out of it till there was no visual copper left, then re-shot my 1.5 moa load and came out with 3/4-7/8 moa --so I guess you could say it cut my group size almost in 1/2
2nd one was just for information and did not increase my accuracy--its my old arisaka rifle (on another thread) -- it shoots like crud so I scoped it to see if there was a lot of throat wear fire-cracking, copper build up, pitting or what ever that could be affecting the accuracy --- what I found was the bore is almost smooth inside, especially near the muzzle--I had no prior reference point to know that the accuracy has decreased so it was nice to know that it would be a waste of time to try to reload for it to see if I could get any accuracy out of it (this easily saved me more than the $50 it cost in dies/brass/bullets/powder)
on my other rifles, I can watch to see how much copper builds up in each bore, and I can watch for any carbon ring build up (if it matters) -- I did see 2 of my rifles with a carbon ring starting to form-- the others have no trace of a ring --good or bad, not sure but at least I can keep track of it to see if copper build up or carbon build up is affecting my accuracy
I feel it gives you a baseline to observe changes to see if they affect your accuracy, or pressure
The other reason I bought it is so I can scope a used barrel to see if there appears to be excessive wear--- I don't feel you can tell if a barrel will be accurate by just looking at it though as some rifles that shoot well, just look like crud
Is it 100% necessary? NOPE- is it a useful tool? YES in my eyes
You could loosely compare it to a leak-down and compression gauge used for an automotive engine-- do you need one to tell if your horsepower and performance has decreased? nope, does it help to diagnose exactly what is going on inside the engine that is causing your problems? yes in my eyes
in 1 case I have a "new" old stock rem mountain 700 in 30-06, it wasnt shooting really well (about 1.5moa) and I thought it was because of the light weight and the pencil profile barrel-- after the bore scope I saw it had LOTS of copper fouling in the bore (it has low round count on it but appears to be copper fouling faster than my other barrels), so I cleaned the snot out of it till there was no visual copper left, then re-shot my 1.5 moa load and came out with 3/4-7/8 moa --so I guess you could say it cut my group size almost in 1/2
2nd one was just for information and did not increase my accuracy--its my old arisaka rifle (on another thread) -- it shoots like crud so I scoped it to see if there was a lot of throat wear fire-cracking, copper build up, pitting or what ever that could be affecting the accuracy --- what I found was the bore is almost smooth inside, especially near the muzzle--I had no prior reference point to know that the accuracy has decreased so it was nice to know that it would be a waste of time to try to reload for it to see if I could get any accuracy out of it (this easily saved me more than the $50 it cost in dies/brass/bullets/powder)
on my other rifles, I can watch to see how much copper builds up in each bore, and I can watch for any carbon ring build up (if it matters) -- I did see 2 of my rifles with a carbon ring starting to form-- the others have no trace of a ring --good or bad, not sure but at least I can keep track of it to see if copper build up or carbon build up is affecting my accuracy
I feel it gives you a baseline to observe changes to see if they affect your accuracy, or pressure
The other reason I bought it is so I can scope a used barrel to see if there appears to be excessive wear--- I don't feel you can tell if a barrel will be accurate by just looking at it though as some rifles that shoot well, just look like crud
Is it 100% necessary? NOPE- is it a useful tool? YES in my eyes
You could loosely compare it to a leak-down and compression gauge used for an automotive engine-- do you need one to tell if your horsepower and performance has decreased? nope, does it help to diagnose exactly what is going on inside the engine that is causing your problems? yes in my eyes
Thank You,that's exactly what i was looking for
couesaddict
Well-Known Member
A borescope has improved my accuracy. I've had a little stainless fluted Remington 700 223 I bought used for probably 10-15 years. Shot factory stuff out of it in the beginning and it wasn't impressive. Got sidetracked and didn't do much with it for a long time. Finally decided to dial a load in for it and it was one of the most frustrating rifles I've owned. Bought a teslong a while back and took a look. The throat isn't concentric to the bore. No freebore on one side and gobs on the other. Decided to do a budget rebuild so I got a bugnut barrel setup from bugholes in 223ai and it's shooting better with a thrown together fireform load than it ever did with all of my tuning.
Savage 12BVSS
Well-Known Member
Its another tool plain and simple, has not having one kept me from shooting accurate? No, does it let you see if your cleaning procedure is doing its job, Yes. Checking out used barrels? Yes for sure. Will I buy one at some point, Probably....... but its not at the top of my want list. There will always be a latest gotta have gun tech tool on the market........I take comfort in the fact a lot of better shooters than I'll ever be made it without such tools not too far in the past. 
You can use a bore scope for many things, example: Has anyone else used it to check "case length", with a chambered case...very useful tool!
I am solidly with Bean on this. My rifle shoots .25 MOA in the wind so my next purchase will be a Kestrel. I will bet that the MOA vs $ spent for that will be better than a bore scope. If my rifle accuracy goes south I will have my gunsmith look at the barrel, he knows what he is seeing ( I would have virtually no idea). I do ultrasound on human hearts and with a lot of work know exactly what I am looking at. Having a Bore scope is a lot different than knowing exactly what you are seeing. Those that enjoy owning and using a borescope, more power to you. I would rather reload, shoot, hunt and figure out my new thermal scope than start a new project that doesn't really interest me. Not trying to start a word war here but this seems like a very optional accessory to me.
This will lead to a new rabbit hole of "You can't really see what you need with the $50 dollar scope you need the $350 model and my new illustrated book"......
This will lead to a new rabbit hole of "You can't really see what you need with the $50 dollar scope you need the $350 model and my new illustrated book"......
Mikecr
Well-Known Member
Wish my Hawkeye cost only $50...
Just helps me confirm bores are in fact -clean. I don't think you can really know otherwise.
Just helps me confirm bores are in fact -clean. I don't think you can really know otherwise.
Exactly, So far we have two post with accuracy improvements and both were cleaning related, and while I can see where the bore scope helped I still IMO think it could have been cured by reading patches but maybe not and I appreciate their honesty about it and I could not had said it better myself about having a bore scope, If you have one by all means use it and enjoy it but I would have thought by now with all the talk of Ignorance and plateaued learning curves I would have seen a lot more Improved accuracy claims. I'm a 1/2 to 3/4 minute shooter and my rigs will shoot better than I am so here's how I feel about the whole thing, as long as everything I have is shooting to my potential consistently, I don't care what the bore looks like
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I've had a Hawkeye for a couple of years. It's helped me identify carbon rings and my progress in trying to remove. I've used it to look into cases fireformed with COW to look for stuck COW that needs to be removed. As posted above, you can use it to see neck length on a chambered (empty) case. They are useful for a number things for sure.
If one were to use a borescope to see bore condition (i.e. - firecracking) in order to identify a worn out barrel you'll spend way too much money on barrels. I've got barrels with firecracking 7" down the bore and they still shoot lights out. If I believed the borescope that would be a 5 MOA gun. LOL
If one were to use a borescope to see bore condition (i.e. - firecracking) in order to identify a worn out barrel you'll spend way too much money on barrels. I've got barrels with firecracking 7" down the bore and they still shoot lights out. If I believed the borescope that would be a 5 MOA gun. LOL
" If I believed the borescope that would be a 5 MOA gun. LOL"
This is kinda what I'm getting at, Thanks for the input
milo-2
Well-Known Member
I will buy you a Teslong if you delete this post. Pm your address, get some first hand knowledge.
I appreciate the offer but I'll pass,
On Bscopes..I do own one. I purchased it after a situation of a poor performing bbl. it was a new custom bbl in 7mm-08. It had 100 rounds down the tube and the groups were opening up the more I shot it. I was visitomg with my smith and he scoped the bbl. low and behold one land was like it was delaminating. Poor steel in that area and it must have had porosity issues.
I also use it if I'm considering a used purchase. Nice to know if the prior owner used a wire brush to clean!
Just my pennies worth
I also use it if I'm considering a used purchase. Nice to know if the prior owner used a wire brush to clean!
Just my pennies worth
