What's a good scope to inspect gun bores?

[wichta5003]

I'm looking to buy a bore scope (is that what they're called?). Something that will let me inspect the bores of 9mm, .223/5.56, & 12 gauge firearms.

What prompted me to ask is I'm always wondering if my current gun cleaning practices could be improved or not. I mostly use Hoppe's Elite bore cleaner because it seems to remove copper better than my Ballistol or the old Hoppe's #9.

But there's nothing like an actual visual inspection - so I'd like to acquire a decent bore scope to see for myself how whatever cleaner is performing.

Recommendations, gents? Comments?

 

[JFrank]

Teslong

 

[wichta5003]

Teslong

Looks like a good product, just what I'm after. Prices are not bad either.
Thanks.

 

[Dale Alan]

Another vote for Teslong , can't go wrong for the price . This pic taken with 50 dollar rig , you can dial them in much better than this pic shows.

 

[JFrank]

Yes
They seem to be all the rage' I personally do not own any type of scope and trying to avoid conjectural input on products etc without personal experience however I have heard from close friends regarding Teslong so I figured...WTH..

 

[wichta5003]

Another vote for Teslong , can't go wrong for the price . This pic taken with 50 dollar rig , you can dial them in much better than this pic shows.


View attachment 1009489

Good pic - sounds like you can get good pics. I was going to ask about the quality of the optics, but your pic seems sharp & clean to me. What bore caliber is that picture from, just out of curiosity?
The one I'm looking at right now is https://teslong.com/collections/rif...i-fi-26inch-rigid-rifle-borescope-new-release
The camera & snake is 5mm thick = 0.196", which will allow room to spare down a .223/5.56 barrel.
The short ones for pistol are so cheap I may as well pick one of those up just to dedicate to my Glocks...

 

[wichta5003]

Yes
They seem to be all the rage' I personally do not own any type of scope and trying to avoid conjectural input on products etc without personal experience however I have heard from close friends regarding Teslong so I figured...WTH..

SPJim, I'm glad you did speak up, even without personal experience. If you've heard from close friends, that counts for something, I think.

 

[wichta5003]

Just thinkin'... what would be cool is to post before-after pictures of filthy barrels. I tend to clean too often, but lately I've been feeling lazy.

 

[JFrank]

Just thinkin'... what would be cool is to post before-after pictures of filthy barrels. I tend to clean too often, but lately I've been feeling lazy.

There's plenty of that on forums these days unfortunately dirty barrels can shoot great and presumably burnt out barrels have won National Br competition s.
They are still pretty cool...

 

[herrwalther]

I also have a Teslong scope. For $45 it is affordable enough for anyone to get. The important thing to remember about using a bore scope is "if it isn't broke, don't fix it." Many barrels that shoot fine will look damaged or dirty with a bore scope. So unless the firearm is doing something it shouldn't, a bore scope is mostly just for curiosity sake.

Fun scope story, I can save videos and pictures from my borescope that customers sometime ask for. Most who ask just want to see how good their cleaning routine is. A customer was reviewing the video of a rifle he had me scope and wanted to bring it back in right away. Customer thought he saw a crack in his barrel. It was actually pet hair.

 

[wichta5003]

Update - I just got one of the 26" Teslong rigid rifle borescope. THIS ONE. It's simple to operate, and I inspected the bores on both of my .223/5.56 AR-15's. Turns out my cleaning routine is good, which is what I wanted to know.
Couple of things I noticed, the focus is less than ideal. Very out of focus. I guess on a bore just a few thousandths bigger than the scope, the focal length is too short. But, it was just marginally good enough to see I had clean metal.
Another thing I noticed is I tried it without the mirror thing, so the scope was looking straight down the barrel. That was very cool, and the image was sharper.
Also, after a while I noticed that the threaded tip of the scope had a very tiny threaded collar screwed onto it. So the mirror thing screwed down on top of the tiny collar. The collar is so tiny I almost missed it!

 

[HowieG]

Update - I just got one of the 26" Teslong rigid rifle borescope. THIS ONE. It's simple to operate, and I inspected the bores on both of my .223/5.56 AR-15's. Turns out my cleaning routine is good, which is what I wanted to know.
Couple of things I noticed, the focus is less than ideal. Very out of focus. I guess on a bore just a few thousandths bigger than the scope, the focal length is too short. But, it was just marginally good enough to see I had clean metal.
Another thing I noticed is I tried it without the mirror thing, so the scope was looking straight down the barrel. That was very cool, and the image was sharper.
Also, after a while I noticed that the threaded tip of the scope had a very tiny threaded collar screwed onto it. So the mirror thing screwed down on top of the tiny collar. The collar is so tiny I almost missed it!

And you use that collar to adjust the mirror to set focus according to videos I have watched. I am getting ready to buy the same scope.

 

[wichta5003]

And you use that collar to adjust the mirror to set focus according to videos I have watched. I am getting ready to buy the same scope.

That's interesting. I tried using the mirror with and without the collar, and the image seemed blurry both ways. I think I'm doing something wrong. Would you please reply with a link to the videos you watched?
My observations are only from my first attempt to use it, so obviously I have some learning to do.

 

[HowieG]

That's interesting. I tried using the mirror with and without the collar, and the image seemed blurry both ways. I think I'm doing something wrong. Would you please reply with a link to the videos you watched?
My observations are only from my first attempt to use it, so obviously I have some learning to do.

Sure, here you go. TESLONG USB Borescopes for Rifle and Pistol (NTG100P and NTG100H) - YouTube

If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, the mirror adjustment part starts at about 6:18.

 

[wichta5003]

Sure, here you go. TESLONG USB Borescopes for Rifle and Pistol (NTG100P and NTG100H) - YouTube

If you don't feel like watching the whole thing, the mirror adjustment part starts at about 6:18.

Thank you very much!

 

[HowieG]

Thank you very much!

De nada, amigo.

 

[wichta5003]

De nada, amigo.

After watching bits of the video you referenced, and also one or two others, I realized how simple it is to get a clear image from the Teslong borescope. All that is needed is to use the little collar as a kind of lock-nut underneath the mirror. I was able to get a crystal-clear image of my rifle's barrel!