Borescope?

[Tim N]

Hi All,
Going with the old saying "he who dies with the most toys wins"
Whats the best borescope to get and any attachments?
Also best place to buy?

[AlanF]

Tim,

I have the "budget" Hawkeye, which comes without an angled eye-piece, and focussing is possible but is a slow and exacting process. It suits me because I use only 7mm currently, so a fixed focus is fine, and I'm accustomed to positioning the barrel to enable looking straight down it. If you want the added functionality of the focussing/angled eyepiece version including a deluxe hard case then you pay about 50% more I think.

Hawkeye seem to be regarded as the best, but there is one major concern - they are very hard to get because of US export restrictions on anything which is seen as a military threat in the wrong hands, and apparently borescopes are. I bought mine through Sinclairs several years ago, but I'm told they no longer export them. I did read a post on this forum about an Asian manufactured bore scope with good availability, but not sure about its quality.

Alan

[DenisA]

Alan, I had heard the same rumors. I tried to order one out of Sinclairs/Brownells and the reason that they wouldn't ship was that apparently they won't ship batteries over sea's. Batteries come in the kit. I asked them to remove the batteries from the kit and they wouldn't do it.

I ended up ordering one out of Brunos. It took a couple of months to get due to their back log of orders at the time, but they had no issue exporting, batteries and all. No permits required.

I had an opportunity to use an angled eye piece recently at Belmont. It was FANTASTIC, very convenient for scoping barrels easily while they're still in the stock. I intend to buy one.

[KHGS]

Hi All,
Going with the old saying "he who dies with the most toys wins"
Whats the best borescope to get and any attachments?
Also best place to buy?

I have looked at a few options & I believe that the Hawkeye is the best. I have had one since 2001 & have looked at the internals of literally 1000's of barrels, so it has seen a LOT of use, it is the focusing hard case one. Cost a fortune at the time as the $ was worth 51c!!! But having said that I would not be without it. It has had one outer tube/mirror upgrade in that time which cost $120.00. The older mirrors were very fragile & badly affected by traces of oil.
A warning though, please remember buying a borescope is not a means of becoming an "expert" on barrel internal appearance, that takes years of experience. I once sold a blank barrel to a customer for future use, he subsequently bought a borescope & then inspected the blank barrel I sold him & consequently rejected it as he felt it was "faulty" due to what he saw thru the borescope. I took the barrel back & refunded his money. I consequently sold the barrel on to another customer who reported to me after several hundred rounds that it was one of the best barrels he had ever owned.
So this fits in with the "I have a lathe & a chambering reamer so I am a gunsmith" which I call it the "buy a tool & instantly become an expert" syndrome! Actually quite common.
Keith H.

[saum2]

TimN,
I might be interested in a borescope as well. if a reasonable priced one is available, freight might be halved. Time is not a real issue.
MidwayUSA have them in stock, basic @$699 US. Do they ship Internationally??
Geoff

[Tim N]

Hi Geoff,
I have already ordered one sorry.
I went with the 17'' angled eye piece one, couldn't justify the extra $600 for a 22'' model.

[Tim N]

Hi Keith,
Thanks for the advice, I will leave expert opinions to the experts and am happy to learn.
No doubt I will be asking questions once I have a look

[saum2]

Tim N, ordered from where??
Geoff

[Tim N]

Hi Geoff,
Ordered from Bruno's shooters supply.