Shiloh Rifle Forums

Just thought I’d share some photos of the bores of my BPCR rifles including a Stevens 44 .22LR, Shiloh Sharps 1874 .40-65 & a Browning 1885 .45-70. The Stevens is vintage 1935. The dark flecks are most likely carbon. The Sharps bore displays a few light cutter marks & some light carbon next to the lands. The Badger barrel on the Browning was absolutely perfect throughout the length, polished to perfection with zero cutter marks. Ernie Stallman produced extremely nice barrels when Badger Barrels was up & running. When a shooting friend of mine bought his Browning BPCR he had it shipped to a gunsmith (builder of precision bench rest rifles). When he checked the bore his exact words were: “That is the finest looking bore I’ve ever seen on a factory rifle”.

I haven't shot the Browning .45-70 much, preferring the less recoil of the Sharps .40-65

Wayne

Stevens 44


Shiloh Sharps .40-65


Browning .45-70

Wayne,
Who's Borescope are you using?
I trust my Hawkeye.

45bpcr

Sure glad I have a few of Ernie`s barrels left!

I don’t worry much about bore scoping unless I am having an issue.

Poor accuracy or issues with excessive leading or cleaning issues.

If it shoots well, why bother.


Kenny Wasserburger

I love this kind of stuff! Geeking out I call it.

45bpcr wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 1:51 pm Wayne,
Who's Borescope are you using?
I trust my Hawkeye.
45bpcr

Teslong's 26" stainless rod version. I had a Hawkeye which is certainly top of the line but would have cost a bunch of bucks to upgrade to take photos or videos. The Testlong plugs into the USB port in my desktop PC or a smart phone. Very nice for the price.

Wayne

Kenny Wasserburger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:31 pm I don’t worry much about bore scoping unless I am having an issue.
Poor accuracy or issues with excessive leading or cleaning issues.
If it shoots well, why bother.
Kenny Wasserburger

Kenny, I generally agree with you but I like to keep tabs on any leading & carbon fouling before it builds up to the point of affecting accuracy. The Teslong borescope is very quick & easy to use. And if carbon or leading is identified the borescope displays when sufficient cleaning has removed it. I tend to use it more with smokeless rifles and handguns. For example, I put 200 rounds of jacketed bullets through my 7.62x39 AR15. After cleaning it the patches came out white & looked great visually. But the borescope indicated the chrome bore was coated with carbon & required approximately 1000 passes of bore paste & carbon remover to get it all out.

Wayne

TexasMac wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:14 pm

Kenny Wasserburger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:31 pm I don’t worry much about bore scoping unless I am having an issue.
Poor accuracy or issues with excessive leading or cleaning issues.
If it shoots well, why bother.
Kenny Wasserburger

Kenny, I generally agree with you but I like to keep tabs on any leading & carbon fouling before it builds up to the point of affecting accuracy. The Teslong borescope is very quick & easy to use. And if carbon or leading is identified the borescope displays when sufficient cleaning has removed it. I tend to use it more with smokeless rifles and handguns. For example, I put 200 rounds of jacketed bullets through my 7.62x39 AR15. After cleaning it the patches came out white & looked great visually. But the borescope indicated the chrome bore was coated with carbon & required approximately 1000 passes of bore paste & carbon remover to get it all out.

Wayne

Ouch,

I use Butch’s BP Bore Shine to clean and Mpro7 to wipe with for that very reason carbon build up, so many don’t think it’s an issue. But I know better. Have you ever tried GM Top Cylinder cleaner it will cut carbon real well.

Kenny

Kenny Wasserburger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:21 pm

TexasMac wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 4:14 pm

Kenny Wasserburger wrote: ↑Thu Mar 09, 2023 2:31 pm I don’t worry much about bore scoping unless I am having an issue.
Poor accuracy or issues with excessive leading or cleaning issues.
If it shoots well, why bother.
Kenny Wasserburger

Kenny, I generally agree with you but I like to keep tabs on any leading & carbon fouling before it builds up to the point of affecting accuracy. The Teslong borescope is very quick & easy to use. And if carbon or leading is identified the borescope displays when sufficient cleaning has removed it. I tend to use it more with smokeless rifles and handguns. For example, I put 200 rounds of jacketed bullets through my 7.62x39 AR15. After cleaning it the patches came out white & looked great visually. But the borescope indicated the chrome bore was coated with carbon & required approximately 1000 passes of bore paste & carbon remover to get it all out.
Wayne

Ouch,
I use Butch’s BP Bore Shine to clean and Mpro7 to wipe with for that very reason carbon build up, so many don’t think it’s an issue. But I know better. Have you ever tried GM Top Cylinder cleaner it will cut carbon real well.
Kenny

The GM Top Cylinder cleaner sounds like a great recommendation. I'll try it. I've used top cylinder cleaner in my younger years (many years ago) when overhauling engines but never thought about it for bore carbon removal.

Wayne