Inexpensive bore scope

[PhilC]

Read about this on another forum and decided for $50 I'd take a chance on one. Arrived yesterday, plugged into USB port on my laptop and in business.

Some pocket camera pics of images displayed on my laptop. First two are of the leade and bore in my 62yr old 110


6304

6303

Chatter marks in my 12FV factory barrel

6305

There's a long thread about this bore scope here (https://forum.snipershide.com/threads/gamer-changer-teslong-bore-scope-finally-a-quality-reasonably-priced-bore-scope.6953362/page-10#post-7978287). I registered there to access 22 Creedmoor data and classifieds. New posts to the 22CM topic referenced this bore scope so I checked the topic. After reading it, decided for $50 I really didn't have anything to lose.

I have NO affiliation with the company whatsoever, just sharing my own experience. These bore scopes were available on Amazon (where I ordered mine) but out of stock last I checked. Can get direct from manufacturer for same $49.99 but shipping will be different - https://www.teslong.com/

[celltech]

Read that forum post and took a chance on the scope. WOW....for the money I don't think you can touch it. I just spent the last 2 hours looking at all my barrels, very fascinating. Some of my best shooting savages have chatter marks that look like ladder rungs...go figure. All of my x-calibers are nice and smooth. On my ARs you can clearly see the gas ports and any erosion present. Highly recommended.

[PhilC]

It's a heck of lot better than I anticipated and one heck of a good deal. One thing I learned is there are 2 versions, the early version comes in a small zippered case (what I have), DO NOT store the camera cable in it, store it like a cleaning rod fully outstretched. The second version is shipped in a larger, thin cardboard case as reported by someone on another forum I frequent.

[J.Baker]

Sounds like the same one Accurate Shooter did a write-up on last week. Definitely better quality than the first gen Lyman Bore-cam I picked up a few years ago. Apparently Lyman released a new version with higher quality camera, but it's still a stand alone unit and from the photo's I saw it's still not as clear as this one. I also like how this setup plugs right into a computer (or Android phone with USBc adapter) so no batteries are needed.

[celltech]

It is the same as the one Accurate Shooter wrote about. Mine came with the cheap box (no carrying case) that has instructions to not tightly wind the cable. I am going to hang mine from some coat hanger wire I bent into a hook and attached to some shelving by my cleaning rods. The USB plug has a built in combo USB-A/Micro plug and comes with an adapter for USB-C.

Has been interesting to look at various barrels and see the "damages" from button rifling..I guess? Several have small pits that almost look like tear marks as the button was pulled through, although they all shoot fine. I have some Howas that I believe are hammer forged. They are smoother looking but still have some sort of occasional chatter marks that go all the way around, but nothing as consistent as the Savage marks.

[JeepsAndGuns]

It does look to be a little more clear than my lyman. Pretty good price too.
However my lyman is still working fine. Now if it ever craps out, I will most likely look into one of these.

[tiny68]

Mine is arriving tomorrow. Saw one demo. Looks like a heck of a deal. Tim

[Texas10]

6401

This is a pic of my Shilen Match 6BR barrel through my new Teslong endoscope camera. I tried to post a short video but the file was too large.

There are a number of these types of cuts or scratches at random intervals in the barrel, which shoots quite well, BTW. They run around the inner circumference of the bore.

I don't know enough about how barrels are drilled and rifled to figure out how these can occur, the cut going through the land and the groove.

Any comments?

[celltech]

I believe a Shilen is button rifled and those are chatter marks from the button being pulled through. I think they lap the Select Match barrels and its likely those would get polished out. But compared to the marks from an OEM Savage barrel those are minimal.

For what it's worth my X-Caliber barrels are button rifled and lapped...and are totally smooth. My Howa barrels are hammer forged, not lapped, and have marks similar to yours at various places, although they are somewhat wavy and not perfect little grooves. All my Savage barrels are chattered to hell but shoot just fine.

[J.Baker]

6401

This is a pic of my Shilen Match 6BR barrel through my new Teslong endoscope camera. I tried to post a short video but the file was too large.

There are a number of these types of cuts or scratches at random intervals in the barrel, which shoots quite well, BTW. They run around the inner circumference of the bore.

I don't know enough about how barrels are drilled and rifled to figure out how these can occur, the cut going through the land and the groove.

Any comments?

If you want to post a video, you'll need to upload it elsewhere (youtube for example) and then link to it. Allowing members to upload video's directly would cause our bandwidth and storage to skyrocket and drive up the cost of our hosting even more.

That's no chatter mark. I would guess a chip or something got momentarily caught up in the flutes of the drill or finish reamer since it's only showing on the lands. Might be worth sending that pic off to Shilen, they might replace it for you. Then again, if it's a shooter and not causing any problems I wouldn't worry about it.

That's the problem with these cheap bore scopes being readily available these days - now everyone can easily see what their bore looks like and if it's not perfect they freak out. Bores have had chatter and imperfections since the invention of rifling and the vast majority of them still shot better than the nut behind the trigger could.

[Texas10]

If you look closely, you can see the cuts go through both the lands and the grooves. The video shows it better, but is visible in this still photo. Some go completely around, and some are sections of arc and not complete.

I could understand a cut like this being into the lands OR the grooves, but not both as the drilling of the minor diameter and the cutting of the grooves are two separate operations, as far as my manufacturing experience can decipher. And they definitely aren't chatter marks, of which very slight evidence of such are visible elsewhere, and of course, in my factory barrels.

I appreciate the comments, and don't intend to hijack the thread, just interesting details revealed by the new camera.

[jpx2rk]

Has anyone devised a way to keep the lens portion "locked" in place(and the focal position) on their Teslong? Mine wants to come loose as I slide it in and out. I'm thinking maybe some scotch tape trimmed down so it can be adjusted for different size bores??

[Texas10]

There should be a jam nut under the mirror accessory. This allows adjustment without coming loose. Sounds like you're missing the jam nut, or it's screwed down tight against the camera head and yes, it might be hard to see that it's there.

[jpx2rk]

Jam nut is there and aware of it, still comes loose.

[celltech]

Jam nut is there and aware of it, still comes loose.

Small dab of purple loctite?

[PhilC]

Being as small as it is, the jam nut is challenging to use. I had similar situation so I adjusted to the focal length I liked best then turned the mirror and jam nut into each other and that worked.

[JeepsAndGuns]

Well I ended up getting one. I downloaded the app on my phone and tested it out.
Holy cow it is like going from VHS on a CRT TV, to blu-ray on a HDTV. Blows my lyman out of the water. I am very impressed with the picture quality for the price. I doubt you could get much clearer.
I too am having issues with the mirror moving, I did not know about the jam nut, I will have to see if mine is on there when I get home. Otherwise I was thinking about using a little pipe tape.
Gonna keep my old lyman as a spare/backup.