What am I seeing in my barrel?

[P7M13]

I haven't heard too many accounts of chemical soaking action working very well on carbon.

For really nasty carbon, try kerosene. If you're really anal about it, as I suspect you are, you can use an old Sonicare brush head, modified to fit the chamber. I use mine on some pistol parts and cleaning bolts. It's a nasty, messy process, so do outside and wear proper PPE.
Also beware, kerosene can remove bluing, so only use it on stainless.

I'm not too worried about the cross hatches in the Tikka or the drill marks in the savage. So long as they shoot as well as I need then it's all good!!
I just got the borescope because I wanted to learn what is going on in there. I hope to not cause myself any unnecessary stress and anxiety!

I wouldn't even worry about the muzzle pitting. There's a lot more going on on an Axis rifle that would cause the occasional flyer.
I usually go hundreds of rounds between cleanings, when either the chamber mouth looks dirty, or I see gray carbon start to form on the crown.

 

[Greyfox]

Using a bore scope on a Savage, Ruger, or other factory rifles, particularly when compared to a custom barrel can be a traumatic experience. Having run 1000 -2000 rounds each through Savages(and Rugers which are not much different) used for competition and hunting, I must admit that while cleaning may be a chore compared to a custom, sustained accuracy(sub .5MOA) and low ES were generally unaffected. I learned to live with residual copper and carbon remaining in the bore, and rarely, seeing a lilly white patch. The aberrations shown by the OP are actually quite normal, if not better then the ones I have owned. I used the BoreTech products(Eliminator, Copper, and Carbon removers). Nylon brushes and patches). Let you accuracy and ES dictate the performance, and cleaning requirements of your rifle. The longer cleaning time, and a perfect bore are part of the trade offs associated with the lower cost of a factory rifle. IMO.

 

[jeb405]

I too am a relatively recent user of a Teslong. Seeing all sorts of things I never expected and since I did not have it when my guns were new, not sure what has happened due to my usage and cleaning and what was there as new. I have a Wilson SS 223 heavy varmint barrel in an AR. Saw what looked like what a friend of mine referred to as goobers. Learned it is corrosion that apparently is not unheard of particularly in SS barrels, kind of counterintuitive. Both the Wilson and my Freedom Arms revolver show chatter marks but also shoot great, I have shot under an inch at 100 yards with the FA. I knew I might drive myself crazy seeing things always there before but really appreciate threads like this to help in the education, I'm kind of surprised there is not more info readily available of what images are really showing.

 

[nicholasjohn]

I have had rifles that shot well and the bores look really nasty through the borescope - nasty enough to make me wonder how they could group so well when they looked like they should be removed and replaced. The only thing that I have seen that always made a barrel shoot badly is a bad crown. When scoping a barrel, I don't assume that something I see is going to affect accuracy, since there are so many other variables in the equation - known and unknown. The carbon ring is the great unknown for me.

 

[26Reload]

Correct or wrong I will throw this out...
It seems to me that the carbon ring could be the biggest culprit of bad shooting of a centerfire or mzldr rifle....
Centerfire carbon ring affect the pressures of the bullet at the throat...
Mzldr carbon rings can affect just in front of the loaded bullet..but also depending upon powder I have had rings form within 4" of the muzzle....
No matter which...they are all tough to clean...

 

[browndcm]

not

Get a sako or a browning no problems out of the box

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

Borescopes can keep you up at night, if you let them. I'm not sure the Teslong is the best or worst thing that has happened to the shooting public in the last 10 years. Time will tell. One thing it has done is show me the vast difference between the best and worst in barrel-making, high-dollar customs vs. low dollar factory. However, as most of us probably know, what you see is not always what you get. The Savage bore pictured could likely benefit from Nathan Foster's poly pad treatment before resorting to fire-lapping.

 

[arch408]

Yes...it does work...just don't shove it it there,with the side mirror...and not all the way....
Audiologist said my ears were really clean...so I had to check...
Great view of eardrum.....havent shoved it up the nose...someone else can do that.....

And we wonder why kids shove things up their noses!!!!!!!

 

[arch408]

Sometimes I wish that I had never bought a borescope. I am almost convinced that if you have a gun that shoots good, don't scope the barrel! You might not like what you see. Just accept our good fortune and keep up your current cleaning procedure. Only scope barrels that don't shoot well. Even then, you may not be able to fix them based on what you see.

 

[DCAN]

Borescopes can keep you up at night, if you let them. I'm not sure the Teslong is the best or worst thing that has happened to the shooting public in the last 10 years. Time will tell. One thing it has done is show me the vast difference between the best and worst in barrel-making, high-dollar customs vs. low dollar factory. However, as most of us probably know, what you see is not always what you get. The Savage bore pictured could likely benefit from Nathan Foster's poly pad treatment before resorting to fire-lapping.

I second the Nathan Foster pad treatment. It has helped on a couple of my rifles. I was thinking of investing in a borescope, however, after reading all the posts, I'm back to wondering if ignorance really is bliss....

 

[nicholasjohn]

Sometimes I wish that I had never bought a borescope. I am almost convinced that if you have a gun that shoots good, don't scope the barrel! You might not like what you see. Just accept our good fortune and keep up your current cleaning procedure. Only scope barrels that don't shoot well. Even then, you may not be able to fix them based on what you see.

That sounds like excellent advice, Sir. My brother, who is a retired radiologist, is quite fond of this quote " If you go looking for trouble, you will surely find it." My interpretation of this line is that if you know you have a problem, deal with it. A borescope is an excellent tool for diagnosing your problem. If you DON'T have a problem, don't create one by rooting around in a barrel that shoots just fine.

I got a borescope years ago, from Gradient Lens company. I scoped everything I could think of, including cartridge cases. ( It's great for looking for fracture lines that indicate incipient case head separation - which I have never found - burrs around flash-holes, etc.) Well, I found out pretty quickly that there's a lot of stuff to look at in guns & barrels that is not a problem. I try very hard not to make more work for myself, or get too curious about something and go down yet another rabbit-hole.

 

[arch408]

That sounds like excellent advice, Sir. My brother, who is a retired radiologist, is quite fond of this quote " If you go looking for trouble, you will surely find it." My interpretation of this line is that if you know you have a problem, deal with it. A borescope is an excellent tool for diagnosing your problem. If you DON'T have a problem, don't create one by rooting around in a barrel that shoots just fine.

I got a borescope years ago, from Gradient Lens company. I scoped everything I could think of, including cartridge cases. ( It's great for looking for fracture lines that indicate incipient case head separation - which I have never found - burrs around flash-holes, etc.) Well, I found out pretty quickly that there's a lot of stuff to look at in guns & barrels that is not a problem. I try very hard not to make more work for myself, or get too curious about something and go down yet another rabbit-hole.

Thank you.

 

[26Reload]

And we wonder why kids shove things up their noses!!!!!!!

I was looking for all the bells and whistles causing all the chimes and ringing...
Didn't see any.....but it's still there....

 

[rustyshackleford]

So bear in mind this barrel shoots these groups