statjunk

Hey guys,

Tomorrow I am going to take a look at a used rifle, specifically, a Ruger Sporter Mark II in 300 Win Mag. I asked the dealer if he would bore scope it for me.

The only thing that I would know to look for is pitting. Is there anything else that I should be looking for?

I am going to be checking this out tomorrow so I need you guys to get back to me.

Thanks
Tom

stubblejumper

The three most important areas to check are the throat the crown,and the headspace.The throat may be eroded if the rifles has seen a lot of use or has been overheated on a regular basis.If the crown is damaged,accuracy could be very poor.If the headspace is not right,problems will result.

statjunk

Stubblejumper,

When checking the crown is it a simple matter of seeing burs on the grooves? What else am I looking for?

As for the throat is that something that can be measured and how can I find out what the proper measurement should be? Same questions for the head space?

Thanks
Tom

stubblejumper

The crown which is the last of the boreat the muzzle, should be fairlysharp and smooth.You are looking primarilly for nicks or flat spotsdue to thecrown being in contact with hard surfaces. The throat which is just ahead of the chamber willappear to be rough when viewedthrough the borescopeif significant erosion has taken place.The headspace is checked with go/no go guages.

bigbulls

I adition to what stubble as told you.... If you are actually going to be using a bore scope look for things like

overheating - it will look as if the steel inside the barrel has melted slightly and flowed in the direction of bullet travel.

Make sure that the rifleling is sharp and crisp and that the corners are not rounded off.

Look for pitting from rust and huge ammounts of copper inside the barrel. This may indicate a neglected gun.

bigcountry

Look for cracks in the throat. The throat is going to look rough no matter what, but small fractures indicate heat cracks.

statjunk

Thanks guys. I'm hoping this one is a gem.

Tom