doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Endoscope of 142 yr old Damascus barrels

This view courtesy of a DEPSTECH WiFi endoscope.



Looking for those pits...here is the only one I could find of any size, R barrel, 6� from breech face, first the straightaway view:

Note �pinholes� farther down the tube.

Then add the substandard 90 mirror, looks a little worse:



Down to the muzzle:



It was difficult to obtain an in focus shot or a view of the barrels, especially through the 90� Attachment. Perhaps spending a little bit more on the next level of quality up would -yield better results. To my eye they appear satisfactory. What say the experts?

Perhaps needs a bit better resolution but it did pick up the one pit? I think it would help with muzzleloaders and examining rifle chambers and bores. I wonder if it could be used to help zero a rifle scope? You know one shot and adjust? They are only about $40. right?

Old Damascus looks pretty good. Makes one ask how much it was used considering black powder ?

>100 y/o barrels that clean certainly suggest previous honing. What was Mr. Merrington's opinon regarding the bore and wall thickness?

Unfortunately the resolution of the larger pit is inadequate to provide any opinion. $38 units are reliably reassuring if the bores are clean or only with tiny pits; less so if a larger pit is found, esp. 6" from the breech

This inexpensive tool provides excellent definition out to about 10"
https://4570products.info/Clearview-Brass-Bore-Scope-16.htm

Of course the depth of the pit is in the eye of the examiner, and Kirk Merrington would be an expert examiner.

With the low level of clarity I can't see any benefit, or knowledge gained using the scope over just carefully viewing with the naked eye. What am I missing?

I feel the same way about an endoscope in general. Perhaps it can show you more in person but reprinted pictures are a bit fuzzy. Still interesting attempt to use technology.

I thought my eyes were pretty good.
I was wrong, and missed alot.



$1000 technology is better than $40. But the Clearview scope ($23 + shipping) allows much more distinct (and sometimes frightening) detail than does my eye from 10" away.

This endoscope is pretty neat in that it hooks up to your iPhone via WiFi. The pictures posted were exactly the resolution visible on the phone screen. Compared to the naked eye, it was an improvement. For example, the large pit @6" with the naked eye looked no bigger than what turned out to be little pinholes elsewhere. At least a premonition of something larger was apparent with this el-cheapo endoscope. However, I could never achieve satisfactory focus with the 90 degree attachment for a close look.

Mr. Merrington measured the min walls at .027L and .025R. Bores are proofed for BP @.740 (1974) and measure as such. Mr. Merrington believed they were honed and reproofed at the same time.

Actually guns which were only shot with Black Powder often fared better than those used with smokeless. When many switched to smokeless they felt they didn't need so thorough a cleaning as when Black was used. Much of the pitting found in old guns is from the corrosive primers used in the early shells with a lack of cleaning because the smokeless didn't leave the fouling of Black.

Mr. Miller. Thank you for pointing that out. I don't think about corrosive primers in early shotgun ammunition, only rifle ammo. Perhaps because corrosive rifle cartridges still show up to be used, shotgun, not so much. A very good point I'll try to remember.

Too soon after my latest colonoscopy to think about endoscopes...Geo