Borescope

[fitch270]

Another toy arrived in the mail today, Teslong 45” flexible USB borescope. I ordered it directly from Teslong in California last Sunday night, they had it out Monday afternoon with 3 day USPS shipping and it made it on time. Not too shabby.

I’ve been monkeying around with it a bit the last hour. This one works with Windows and Android but not IOS so I had some help from my wife getting it set up. I’d have ordered one compatible with my phone but they are out of stock. Not really a big deal and I’ve been told this one will give better images.

Tried it out on a rifle quick and there’s going to be a bit of a learning curve involved. Unfortunately there isn’t much in the operator’s manual about tuning the thing so I’ll have to do a little digging on the net. It comes with three mirrors and some instruction on adjusting them for various bore sizes but gives no explanation what each is for. One is clearly marked different but I’m not sure about the other two.

Guess I’ll be scrubbing some bores out, will be a good rainy day project over the next few weeks. I’m going to be treating a few rifles with Dyna Bore Coat so I need to be sure I have the barrels cleaned down to bare steel. This thing will tell the tale plus let me know how a few of the older guns in the safe are holding up.



I’ve noticed I have a habit of buying gear this time of year, probably a result of cabin fever. It wasn’t as bad as usual from working so much OT the past few months but here we are. At least I got away cheap and it won’t take up much space, lol. Should be useful as well.


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[fitch270]

Working on getting rifle #4 cleaned, just about there but dang if this thing doesn’t show the truth about what goes on in there. At first look a bore might not seem bad, but run a patch of good copper solvent down it followed by a couple dry patches and it’s amazing how the freshly “polished”copper stands out even if the patches look clean.

[dewman]

Careful. Back years ago when I first got my borescope I would lend it out to guys who panicked when they saw their bores. Got carried away scrubbing and damaged throats and muzzles, wrecked their accuracy. Spare the rod or you'll spoil the barrel as they say 😉

[fitch270]

Careful. Back years ago when I first got my borescope I would lend it out to guys who panicked when they saw their bores. Got carried away scrubbing and damaged throats and muzzles, wrecked their accuracy. Spare the rod or you'll spoil the barrel as they say 😉

Yessir, read the same advice many times.

I’ve been letting the chemicals do most of the work, the copper solvents I bought are petroleum based and are safe to leave in the bore. The routine has been two wet patches one way and let sit, then run another wet patch followed by a couple dry ones and then run the scope for progress. It’s amazing how much copper can sit there and not show up on a dry patch. I did run some J-B on my .270 when I was getting down to the end and the patches didn’t seem to grab what was left. Seemed to work well.

Getting them down to bare steel for the Dyna Bore Coat. Can’t hurt trying the stuff, it will work out to about $5-$6 per rifle. I’m beginning to realize Barsness is filling the vacuum left by DEP’s limited influence of late. On the plus side John isn’t costing me near as much. 😎

[franchi20]

What type of port does the scope plug into? I'm curious about my bores but not tech savvy. An app or such needed?

[fitch270]

What type of port does the scope plug into? I'm curious about my bores but not tech savvy. An app or such needed?

This one will connect with both regular and mini USB ports. The male end has a swivel. There’s also an adapter but I haven’t needed to use it.

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You do need to download a free app which my wife took care of for me. It’s easier for her to just do this stuff than it is to “help” me.

$82 shipped and worth it to me.

[franchi20]

I checked them out on the interweb and now I'm bombarded with their ads popping up.

[fitch270]

Hmmm, I don’t recall that happening before I placed my order. Has happened with lots of other stuff though.

[FirstBubba]

Here recently, I've been getting a text that simply says, "STOP".
Nope.
I don't open it OR reply "STOP".

[jhjimbo]

Fitch, when you screw the mirror in or out it changes the focus. After focus is set, there should be a lock nut. Mirrors are 60deg angle. Also, when you get to be really clean, the mirror with the red band has anti-glare on the mirror. It's amazing how you thought your firearms were clean and then you take a look.
Dewman said about overcleaning and damaging the bore. I don't believe a bronze or nylon brush would ever damage a steel barrel. Moisture left in an unprotected bore would do more damage. I do almost all my cleaning with J-B. I am about half way through my rifles and then am going to take a clean one of my ones with a sparkling bore to the range, fire a known number of rounds, 10 or 15 and then examine bore to see amount of residue. Hope this helps. Jim

this one seems pretty clean WIN_20220131_22_47_30_Pro.jpg

[dewman]

C'mon guys, you know darn well know the bristles don't cause the damn damage. It's the tips and joints, which are steel, and the aggressive brushing some use (especially after several attempts still yield dirty patches) that causes the damage. I dug out the actual rod and brush that caused the damage, notice the shiny spot on the tip. If the brush doesn't spin freely down the bore it will unscrew from the rod and in this loosened condition gets canted and then all 3 (rod tip, brush tip, brush threaded fitting) can cause devastating harm. IMG_2762.jpg

[fitch270]

C'mon guys, you know darn well know the bristles don't cause the damn damage. It's the tips and joints, which are steel, and the aggressive brushing some use (especially after several attempts still yield dirty patches) that causes the damage. I dug out the actual rod and brush that caused the damage, notice the shiny spot on the tip. If the brush doesn't spin freely down the bore it will unscrew from the rod and in this loosened condition gets canted and then all 3 (rod tip, brush tip, brush threaded fitting) can cause devastating harm. IMG_2762.jpg

I think DEP mentioned in an article that crud stuck to the cleaning rod was a culprit as well. IIRC he only pushes a patch down one trip, no back and forth scrubbing and uses paper towels to wipe the rod off each time. Bore guide helps keep the rod centered but he goes by feel.

Oddly enough just last week I tossed out a bunch of bronze brushes that were made with steel windings for the centers. I have a set made with brass wire. Noticed the difference and it occurred to me that the steel wire could be trouble.


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I plan on picking up some nylon brushes and maybe some bore mops as well.

Edit; I also use a one piece stainless rod and keep it wiped down.

[jhjimbo]

I thought I better check my rods. The one I use most is Tetra Rod by ProGunsmith. The snakes only have bronze brushes. The brushes I have are steel center but the bristles are a lot wider than the fitting so the steel can not rub on steel and should be o.k. Most of my cleaning is with J-B and snakes.