The days of peering down the muzzle to gauge the fitness of a gun bore are over. The Lyman Borecam Pro gives you an inside look at your firetube.
How the Borecam Pro Gives You The Inside Edge:
- Scope tube is 24-inches long, enough to inspect most rifles.
- The device is wireless, making it much more manageable.
- Capable of recording video and saving still images.
- Produces images at 720p in both cases.
- Fits barrels .20-caliber and larger.
There’s a great scene in Major League when the team finds out their pitcher with the rocket launcher for an arm is almost blind. They fit him with a pair of glasses, and the coach comments, “Seeing’s the most important thing.” Looking at the hideous frames he’s wearing, one of the other players replies, “It’s not that important.”
We used to peer down bores and as long as we saw daylight from the other end and a shiny surface, we called it good. Little did we know. Now, perhaps, we can know too much. A rifle that otherwise shoots excellent groups might show up at the gunsmith with a request to re-barrel it, saying, “The bore is too rough.”
The important thing to remember is actual performance. If your rifle shoots good groups (however you define them) and doesn’t foul quickly, does it matter how smooth your bore’s surface is?
Not really.
But if you find that your accuracy is starting to suffer or that you once could shoot all day long with little or no accuracy loss, and now after 100 rounds, your groups open up. It’s time to investigate.
Borecam Pro Gives You A Peek
Lyman to the rescue with the Borecam Pro. Usually, a borescope means optics, lenses, mirrors and some sort of light source—all piped down a barrel. That can be tough when you’re trying to inspect an AR barrel. Lyman originally had the Borecam, which was a borescope with a digital camera built-in and wired to a monitor. It worked, but it wasn’t ideal. Keeping the wire from getting tangled, or just dragging the monitor screen around, was a hassle. The Borecam has a 20-inch reach, which was a bit limiting.
So, for the Borecam Pro, Lyman moved on up. First, they made the scope tube 24-inches long. You can now look at the throat of a barrel going down from the muzzle. That saves the work of weaseling the scope over a stock, into a receiver, and past all the internals just to get to the chamber.
And then, they made it wireless. You can port the image to your phone or tablet, and as a result you can easily send it on to wherever you decide. Also, without wires involved, you can mount the phone or tablet (iOS or Android) in a spot that’s easy to see, and not have to worry about the wires moving the screen all over the bench as you push, pull or rotate the scope.
You can record video and save still images—all at 720p resolution. The Borecam Pro fits down barrels of 20 caliber or larger, so that leaves out the various 17s—but any .22 LR or larger bore is fair game.
The Borecam Pro has a USB charging port in the handle, so you can charge it up as your first step and have it ready once you get the firearm disassembled, the bore cleaned (or not, if you want to see the horror), and clamped in your work rack or bench vise. The charging indicator light goes on when you start charging and then turns off when it reaches full charge. The power switch also controls the power of the bore light, allowing you to adjust the light to the level you need.
I wish I had access to something like this back when I was gunsmithing, to show customers what was what. But then again, back in the 1980s, this level of technology would’ve been akin to magic. Now, it’s just a bit over $300.
Considering the cost of a new barrel—which you might avoid spending if you have a Borecam Pro—it sounds like a smart investment.
For more information on the Borecam Pro, please visit lymanproducts.com.
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