Best Rifle Borescopes

Top 5 Rifle Borescopes Reviewed

Teslong Rifle Borescope

If you’re looking for a dedicated rifle borescope instead of a more generalized tool, this is the pick for you. The main camera is small enough to fit within 0.2” wide barrels, so it’s great for a variety of weapons. At the same time, it features a 36-inch semirigid cable, enabling you to look at every facet of a barrel’s interior without having to strain.

In terms of connectivity, this kit comes with a cable and a piece of software that you can install on any modern laptop or desktop to view camera footage. It’s also compatible with Android smartphones or mobile devices, although Apple mobile device users are a bit left out.

To make things even better, the borescope comes with a detachable side view mirror. This allows you to see throat erosion in a barrel and even examine rifling wear and tear from new angles.

Video quality is pretty good across the board, so you should be able to see every detail you need to discern the quality of your rifle barrel’s interior.

The Bottom Line

All in all, it’s a relatively affordable and easy to use borescope that’ll work for the majority of rifle builds thanks to its slim cable size and semirigid flexibility. Pick it up if you have a particularly narrow barrel you need to inspect.

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Teslong Industrial Endoscope

Teslong also provides the market with a more general use borescope we feel would be another great fit for rifle users. There are a few key differences between this and the previous model. For one, the cable is sized at 0.3 inches, so it’ll work with barrels that are a little larger than the last. It also comes with a 16.5-foot flexible cable, allowing you to use this for both rifles and other investigative purposes.

The cable is totally waterproof, as it’s designed for pipe inspection and HVAC maintenance. But you can use this if a rifle barrel is oily or otherwise wet when you inspect it.

Furthermore, the borescope comes with a 4.5-inch IPS screen. This provides stunning video quality and runs off a lithium-ion battery that will last for a long time and can be easily recharged. The screen allows you to use the borescope anywhere you like instead of having to bring your laptop or another mobile device along. Thus, it’s a good choice for rifle maintenance or inspection in the field. This is doubly true because the entire kit comes with a carrying case, so everything can remain organized when it’s not in use.

The Bottom Line

We’d recommend this if you need a rifle borescope but are also interested in picking up a more universal tool you can use for a variety of home maintenance needs.

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Lyman Products Borecam Digital Borescope

This digital borescope comes with a monitor and a few different cables. It’s sized for .20 caliber and larger barrels, so it should fit with the majority of common rifle models. The borescope uses miniature camera technology and a rigid rod; this is perfect for stuffing down rifle barrels up to 20 inches long. Granted, this does exclude using this borescope with rifles with even longer barrels if you want to go all the way down.

Still, the rigid style of the borescope means that it should last for a long time and the cable won’t be exposed to any particulates or oil inside the barrel itself. The borescope rod is connected to a viewing screen use. The screen allows you to take photos of rifle barrels and export that data to standard SD cards. It’s also easy to charge with an attached charging unit.

The kit as a whole is a little pricey, but it comes with cleaning swabs and solution, international plug adapters, and even an SD card and an attached USB reader. So you get everything you need with one purchase.

The Bottom Line

This is a great borescope kit if you want everything in one package and if you want a solid rigid model that won’t bend or break too easily over time.

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Skybasic Industrial Endoscope

Skybasic’s HD borescope features a 16.5-foot cable and a 4.3 inch LCD screen. The cable is extremely flexible and can bend anywhere you like, making it great for both rifle barrel inspection and for other maintenance needs. Furthermore, the cable is waterproof and comes with six adjustable LED lights. This allows the cable to illuminate dark environments like a rifle barrel or the interior of an HVAC unit.

The observation screen has a battery that runs for about 3 to 4 hours at full charge. It also comes with a USB data cable so you can export your video data to a computer or a mobile device. Furthermore, the kit comes with several accessories like a hook, protective, magnet, and side mirror. All in all, inspecting any kind of cramped space easy with everything included in this pick.

The Bottom Line

There’s little to dislike with this borescope. It’s another great general use borescope that you can utilize for rifle barrel inspections and plenty of other tasks around the house or in your workshop.

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Depstech Wireless Endoscope

This Depstech wireless borescope comes with an 11.5-foot cable that’s fully flexible. Unlike the others on our list, though, this cable comes with a Wi-Fi connecting unit. This allows you to broadcast video data straight to your mobile device or computer. It works with both Android and iOS devices, or you can export it to standard tablets or other computers. The connection is easy to set up by downloading and installing a proprietary app, meaning there is an additional cable you need to plug in.

The camera provides video quality up to 2 megapixels and in several resolutions. The cable is also waterproof and has six adjustable LED lights, making it suitable for investigating very dark areas. Rifle barrels are particularly easy to check out thanks to all these aspects.

The Bottom Line

All in all, it’s another phenomenal all-use borescope that you can enjoy for your rifle barrel maintenance or for other jobs. The Wi-Fi connectivity, so long as it works properly, is easier to use than even many cables with attached monitors.

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What Is a Borescope?

Whenever you purchase a used rifle, or even if you want to double-check the quality of a new platform, you should have a borescope on hand. That’s because it’s essential that you examine the bore of any rifle you plan to fire, especially if you use the rifle frequently.

The “bore” is the inside of a rifle barrel. The interior of a barrel can dramatically impact how accurate the weapon is, how long it can be expected to last, and whether or not there’s any corrosion that will impact performance. However, a rifle’s bore can be difficult to see with the naked eye.

That’s where a borescope comes in. These useful tools are essentially small cameras attached to wires that you can feed into a rifle’s barrel. They transmit an image to a control module so you can see rust or other damage spots or can otherwise examine the integrity of a rifle’s barrel.

But these tools can also be useful for other tasks, like inspecting the insides of vents or crevices inside walls. In short, borescopes are handy things to have around for all kinds of purposes.

What to Look For in a Great Rifle Borescope

Finding a great borescope means identifying a tool that’s more than just a camera and a screen. Consider the following factors and you’ll be more likely to grab a tool that’s ideal for your needs.

Flexibility

First off, consider how flexible a given borescope is. Some borescopes have relatively rigid cables and cameras, meaning that they can’t move around very well inside a confined space. They’re mostly good for moving back and forth instead of from side to side. Naturally, this is fine for rifle maintenance needs – after all, a rifle barrel is just a single, long tube! More rigid borescopes also tend to be cheaper, which is a plus.

However, other rifle borescopes are a bit more flexible. They have cables that allow them to wind to the left and right or up and down. These can be a bit better if you have a bigger (or wider) rifle barrel or if you want to tilt the camera a bit to get a better look at a particular piece of debris or corrosion spot.

Beyond rifles, flexible borescopes can also be used for a variety of home improvement tasks. For instance, you can use a flexible borescope to check out the inside of your kitchen sink pipes pretty easily.

Video Projection

Secondly, think about how video is projected via the borescope camera. While all of them will have a camera attached to the end of the cable, not every borescope comes with a camera interface.

In fact, some come with Wi-Fi functionality. This means they can wirelessly connect to a mobile device like a tablet or smartphone. As a result, you can wirelessly see what the borescope picks up on whatever device you please. These borescopes usually come with a proprietary app you can download at your convenience.

Others will have monitors or tiny screens attached to the cable itself. These are sometimes a bit cheaper, and sometimes a bit more expensive. It depends on the size and quality of the screen itself.

Then there are borescopes that have cables that simply plug into a computer screen or another type of monitor. They provide a pretty stable video connection due to the hardwired nature of their design. The only downside here is that they require you to supply a separate monitor device, but that shouldn’t be too much trouble for most people these days.

There’s no right or wrong answer here. Just think about which style of video projection you might prefer.

Cable Length

Different borescopes will come with different cable lengths, of course. Longer cables are usually unnecessary for rifle borescope needs, as the majority of these tools will have plenty of length for standard rifle barrels. Still, double-check just so you don’t accidentally pick up a borescope that can’t reach the end of your rifle’s barrel.

Alternatively, you can get a borescope that has some extra length if you want to use the tool for other work or investigation around the house.

Waterproofing

Finally, some borescopes come with waterproof cameras, allowing you to use them in watery environments without worrying about frying the electronic components. This is a great bonus and it also means you’ll be able to use the borescope for the home maintenance things we suggested earlier.

This isn’t necessarily a needed aspect for any rifle borescope, but it’s still something to think about, particularly if you have two top borescopes you need to choose between.

Conclusion

All in all, any of the above rifle borescopes will be a great choice for most reloaders or firearm enthusiasts. They each have their advantages and disadvantages, so let us know which one you prefer or if you’ve used one of the kits in the past! Good luck and thanks for reading!