Barlein barrel through a borescope

[Rick2001]

Good morning.
That's what happens when outside is raining and I can't go shooting... I get bored and waste time on this kind of thing...
So out of curiosity, I used a borescope to have a look inside my new Barlein 20" barrel; I was looking in particular for copper fouling and in general for the amount of crap left in the rifling after cleaning.
It comes out that the barrel was pretty clean (maybe some residues in the gas port area, but nothing excessive), but going through the barrel I saw a lot of irregularities like the ones displayed below.
I never bothered to check the barrels of my other 10 rifles since they are not meant for precision shooting, so the question is if that is normal for a high-quality barrel or it is something I should worry about in terms of accuracy..... Will these scratches be leveled by bullets' residues in time?
Am I being unnecessarily paranoid?

[jasper2408]

I consider those marks defects but I may be expecting too much.

[Redraider]

How long is it going to take??

Redraider

[A5BLASTER]

How are the groups?

If its shooting like you want. Your making a mountain out of a mole hill. Forget about them and go enjoy the gun.

If it's not shooting to your wants and doing worse then what the manufacturer says it should, contact them and see about the next move.

Edit to add.

This is why I dont own a bore scope anymore and will never own one again.

[37L1]

Did you borescope the barrel before you shot it?

[Rick2001]

How are the groups?


If its shooting like you want. Your making a mountain out of a mole hill. Forget about them and go enjoy the gun.

If it's not shooting to your wants and doing worse then what the manufacturer says it should, contact them and see about the next move.

Edit to add.

This is why I dont own a bore scope anymore and will never own one again.

0.9 to 0.8 the best I ever achieved with reloads but in general I am about 1 to 1.2 Moa with commercials. The point is that IDK if the barrel is at its max potential or it is me that is not good enough... I don't know how to tell.

[Rick2001]

Did you borescope the barrel before you shot it?

Unfortunaty not.... I got the borescope from my wife as a father's day present two days ago.
But I don't know how I would be able to create that kind of scratches even if I wanted to.

[A5BLASTER]

0.9 to 0.8 the best I ever achieved with reloads but in general I am about 1 to 1.2 Moa with commercials. The point is that IDK if the barrel is at its max potential or it is me that is not good enough... I don't know how to tell.

Yea I wouldnt worry about the factory ammo groups. So just under moa is your average with this barrel. Nothing wrong with that but there could be some things that can be improved in the rifle. I'm thinking this is a ar grendel so could be some parts changed out could help get your groups down a bit smaller.

Could we get some details on the rifle itself?

Also do you know anyone who has shown to beable to lay down 1/2 moa groups? If so have them shoot it and see what it does for them.

How did your ladder work up go for your handloads? What's the sd/es numbers look like for your load? Could be your load needs to be tweaked are completely reworked.

What I'm getting at is, we have a bunch of variables to work through with you too come to a general idea that the barrel isn't performing.

[StoneHendge]

This is why I won't buy a bore scope. I'm going to leave all of my cans of worms unopened in the back of the cupboard where they belong.

[Lemonaid]

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of barrels? The bore cam knows!
I think the bore cam magnifies perceived problems/defects. Metal is not 100% homogeneous, it will have little irregularities no matter how fine the steel that show up under magnification. What should be more concerning are tool marks, broken or jagged lands as the throat transitions to full rifling, burrs on the crown and that sort of thing. Rick2001, email the barrel maker with the scope footage and see what they say.

[Double Naught Spy]

You know, a little copper fouling will fill those defects...

[LR1955]

0.9 to 0.8 the best I ever achieved with reloads but in general I am about 1 to 1.2 Moa with commercials. The point is that IDK if the barrel is at its max potential or it is me that is not good enough... I don't know how to tell.

Rick:

If you are focused on bore scoping a barrel to see how much carbon and copper are left after cleaning, I will contend that 90% of the issue is you and 10% is your gear.

Let me suggest you search out ranges that run NRA High Power matches and compete. Not F Class. High Power where you must deal with positions while shooting under time constraints and on targets that are uniform in dimensions so you can quantify precision and performance.

After shooting Over the Course for twenty or thirty matches, plus practicing at least once a week between matches, you will know pretty certainly if a problem is you or your gear. You will also know when to use a bore scope and what to look for when using one.

LR55

[Rick2001]

Rick:

If you are focused on bore scoping a barrel to see how much carbon and copper are left after cleaning, I will contend that 90% of the issue is you and 10% is your gear.

Let me suggest you search out ranges that run NRA High Power matches and compete. Not F Class. High Power where you must deal with positions while shooting under time constraints and on targets that are uniform in dimensions so you can quantify precision and performance.

After shooting Over the Course for twenty or thirty matches, plus practicing at least once a week between matches, you will know pretty certainly if a problem is you or your gear. You will also know when to use a bore scope and what to look for when using one.

LR55

Thanks I agree that the rifle will outshoot me for a very long time.
Honestly i checked with the borescope only because I got it as a gift and I was curious, i was not by any means trying to analyze the barrel in search for defects to excuse my poor skills. Obviously I was not expecting to see those marks in a so expensive barrel but as far as I have understood is pretty normal to see them at that magnification and they will not affect my groups... at least not more than my fundamental do.
Thanks

[BluntForceTrauma]

Since this question seems to come up quite a bit when guys borescope their barrels, I would have been curious to at least hear — without being argumentative — what the manufacturer says.

Mainly, however, I agree with StoneHendge that cans of worms should just be put with skeletons in closets.

[montana]

Since this question seems to come up quite a bit when guys borescope their barrels, I would have been curious to at least hear — without being argumentative — what the manufacturer says.

Mainly, however, I agree with StoneHendge that cans of worms should just be put with skeletons in closets.

I bore scoped a new BCM HFB and returned it promptly. They replaced it immediately, "without question" when I sent pictures of the bore with it. Ignorance is bliss, but not always prudent...Besides, "there is no better way to verify the gas block is perfectly aligned with the gas port" than using a bore scope.

[Bigs28]

Has anyone ever scoped a barrel and found it completely free of any mark, scratch, "defect", etc?

[montana]

Has anyone ever scoped a barrel and found it completely free of any mark, scratch, "defect", etc?

My Lilja barrels come close...Beautifully made...

[ricsmall]

Has anyone ever scoped a barrel and found it completely free of any mark, scratch, "defect", etc?

I’ve scoped around 60 and found probably 10 that had abundant minor defects, and the rest were pretty clean. Received one from a builder who is now out of business that was supposed to be a bartlein. Worst looking bartlein (if it was in fact) I’ve ever seen. Found some major defects in a friends barrel after trying to push a patch through before assembly and patch would barely come out of muzzle. I mainly use mine to monitor throat erosion on my long range rigs.

[Mesa1978]

In my experience, borescopes are good for gas port/block alignment and throat erosion monitoring, all else is purely for entertainment purposes. The shooting is all that matters.

[AK_Reloader]

OP,
I've scope Bbls for 30+ years.

Scope an Obermeyer or Border Bbl to witness perfection.

Scope a Bear Creek Arsenal Bbl & the minor inclusions that you've witnessed in your Bbl will be irrelevant.

I've thrown out mill bastard files that look better than the 2 Bear Creek Arsenal Bbls that I've scoped.

Both Bbls stripped jackets off prior to bullets exiting a 16" carbine Bbl.