$50 Teslong Borescope Works Great — Full Review with Videos
Review by F-Class John
Do you know what the inside of your barrel looks like? Borescoping is a great way to diagnose a barrel problem or evaluate your cleaning regimen. Conventional optical borescopes work great but are expensive. Low-cost digitial borescopes have been on the market for a while, but many have have lacked the resolution necessary to get the job done properly. Enter the Teslong rifle borescope. We set out to see whether this new electro-optical borescope, priced at just $49.99, could do the job of conventional optical borescopes that might cost twenty times as much. We concluded that this little device is pretty amazing…
Here is an actual video captured with the Teslong borescope owned by Forum member DMoran. This is the inside of a Howa factory .223 Rem Barrel:
Setting Up and Using the Teslong Borescope
The Teslong borescope comes in a handy, zippered case* with a mesh pouch on one side and an elastic strap on the other to help secure the cords. The unit employs two different cables. One is a flexible USB A/V cable which also thoughtfully comes with a USB/USB-C converter as well. The other piece is the mirrored borescope which is attached to a flexible but fairly rigid cable. The first thing I noticed is the generous length of the combined cable. Since the unit needs to be connected to a computer or other compatible device, the long cable allows you easily scope the entire length of your barrel while you keep your computer at a distance. I appreciated the way this works because it allowed me to continue cleaning my gun and checking the barrel without worrying about getting any cleaning supplies on my computer.
NOTE: The Teslong borescope we purchased from Amazon in September came with the storage case shown. We’d been informed that some recent shipments have omitted the case.
Plug and Play — With Impressive Resolution and Image Quality
Once the unit is plugged into the computer all I had to do was open my photo program and the Teslong activated and displayed the bore image. For Windows at least, there are no Apps to install or anything else to do other than plug it in. Once it’s plugged in you simply slide the unit into your bore and start looking. The angled mirror along with the integrated light allows for easy viewing of the lands and grooves with little to no need for focal adjustment. I ran the scope down some newer barrels as well as one of my oldest, burned-out barrels and I was shocked at the detail and resolution I saw. Rust, copper, carbon and fire-cracking really popped out. If I was assessing barrel cleaning effectiveness, I could easily see how levels of fouling are being removed. I will use my Teslong to capture photos of my next barrel in brand new condition. Then I can reference those “Day 1″ images each time I clean that barrel.
As an owner of a Hawkeye and another digital borescope, both of which are fairly expensive, I have to admit I was skeptical of a borescope that costs a mere fifty bucks. But frankly, I was amazed at the image quality. Look for yourself. These are actual Teslong photos I took while inspecting one of my barrels.
NOTE: This is a fire-forming barrel that was not cleaned for 500 consecutive rounds.
Read Reviews from Teslong Borescope Buyers
Want to know what other Teslong owners think? You can read over five pages of Teslong Rifle Borescope comments and reviews by our Forum members in AccurateShooter’s Teslong Forum Thread.
Here are actual statements by Forum Members and Amazon purchasers
“Received mine last week, incredible quality for the price.” — PhilC
“There’s a couple of threads discussing these borescopes. It actually has the 45 degree mirror so that you can see the everything much better than with a standard endoscope.” — Mark W
“Most firearm borescopes are expensive… The Teslong Rifle Borescope is currently the best affordable borescope you can buy. With the Teslong Rifle Borescope I’m able to see the fire cracking in my rifle’s bore. I definitely recommend purchasing.” — Amazon Purchaser
“The price is right and the quality is first-rate. Plugs into USB-A or Micro USB port on PC, Mac, or Android (it doesn’t work with iPhones). Takes pics or HD video, stored using either native camera software or their Teslong Camera program. It has a very close focus necessary for a borescope. Other commercial ‘endoscopes’ may be the same diameter, but they have a 2- to 5-cm focal distance, making it difficult to use in a barrel and useless for 90 degree viewing except in, say, a 105mm howitzer. Probe diameter is 0.20 in/5.0 mm diameter and is ideal for use on .223/5.56. The removable 45° mirror allows viewing chamber walls and barrel lands/grooves up close and personal.” — Jim Schmidt
“I have tried it out on my 6.5mm and .223 rifles and it performed way beyond my expectations once you know how to focus it. Also, I have a Samsung Android and neither the USB plug nor the additional adapter would fit my phone (I thought). Teslong customer service reps told me that the plug for my phone is actually a part of the standard plug that comes with the unit. Heck, all I had to do was flip the male end of the plug down! Also, there is a light intensity adjustment on the little box-looking thing that is a part of the cable. It’s really small and easily overlooked.” — Barrbqn (Amazon)
F-Class Nationals Competitors Try the Teslong — And Then Place Orders
I gave the Teslong a pretty thorough testing on my bench at home, but I was also able to test it while attending the 2019 F-Class Nationals. It hooks up easily to a laptop (either Windows or Mac). It will also work with an Android tablet or smartphone (but not yet with an iPad or iPhone). I set the Teslong up for some fellow competitors to test. Each time someone stuck it in their barrel there was a collective gasp when they saw how clear and detailed the picture was. It wasn’t long before everyone in our housing unit wanted to try it.
Interestingly, one of the fellows in our housing pulled out the exact same unit. It turned out he loved it just as much as we all did. What really told me it was a keeper is when several of the people who also own Hawkeyes or other borescopes ordered a Teslong as soon as they were done playing with it. On a side note, we also ended up using it to look inside a seating die, inside a disassembled bolt, and under a refrigerator. I’m sure there are countless other uses for the Teslong.
CONCLUSION — Impressive Product — You Won’t Be Disappointed
The bottom line is that there isn’t anything on the market that can compete with this little gem anywhere near its $50 price point. I would say that if you’ve put off buying a borescope because of price or quality concerns this is the unit to buy — you won’t be disappointed. In the video below I show how to use the Teslong in your rifle. The Teslong Borescope is available right now for $49.99 on Amazon.
Software Functionality (Apps and/or Operating System)
Windows 7/8/10 or later (Desktop or Laptop Computer)
1. Use Windows Camera, the built-in Camera software of Windows10, only for Win10.
2. Use Teslong camera software or AmCap software
Android 4.4+ (Tablet or Smartphone)
Use Teslong Camera App, CameraFi, or USB Camera App
Mac OSX 10.6+ (Desktop or Laptop Computer)
Use Photo Booth or QuickTime Player
Notice: This Teslong model does NOT support iPhone and iPad! Teslong says: “WiFi version of the rifle borescope supporting iPhone and iPad is under development, and coming soon.”
Teslong vs. Conventional Optical Borescope (Such as Hawkeye)
The Teslong is not perfect. It does have some shortcomings when compared to a conventional optical borescope such as the Hawkeye. A borescope with a long, rigid metal shaft is easy to rotate within the bore. Therefore you can quickly inspect all 360 degrees inside the barrel. By contrast, the Teslong has a flexible cable that you have to twist to rotate the lens. That works, but it’s not as easy. Additionally, in a large-diameter bore, the 5mm-wide Teslong tends to flop to the low side. Again, with a Hawkeye, it is easy to maintain a constant distance to the bore wall.Forum member Ned Ludd explains these considerations in a Forum post: “The [Teslong] is designed to fit into a .22 Cal bore. As such, there is quite a bit of play (lateral movement) of the camera head in a .30 Cal bore as you twist the cable to swivel it around 360 degrees. This is largely caused by the angle of the cable as you spin it, which is not perfectly concentric to the bore. This is not an issue of concern in a much more expensive borescope with a purpose-built swivel mechanism.”
That said, we still think the Teslong is a great device, well worth the money ($50 vs. $850+ or so for a Hawkeye). The cable rotation isn’t that big a deal, with a little practice. Overall, for regular visual inspections of your barrels, with easy photo/video capture, the Teslong is hard to beat for the price.
*The Teslong borescope we ordered from Amazon and tested came in the black, zippered case shown in the top-most photo. We have been informed that some Teslong units have recently shipped with NO case. We do not know if cases will be provided in the future.
Oversizing cases also causes problems because the firing pin doesn’t have the length to reach the primer solid enough to ignite it 100% of the time. When you have one that is oversized, you usually have a bunch, since you usually do several cases at a time on that die setting. If the die isn’t readjusted, the problem will continue on the next batch of cases also. They will either not fire at all or you will have a lot of misfires. In a bolt action, a lot of time the extractor will hold the case against the face of the breech enough that it will fire. The case gets driven forward and the thinner part of the brass expands, holding to the chamber wall and the thicker part of the case doesn’t expand as much and stretches back to the bolt face. If it doesn’t separate that time, it will the next time. When it does separate, it leaves the front portion of the case in the chamber and pulls the case head off. Then when it tries to chamber the next round, you have a nasty jam. Quite often range brass is the culprit of this because you never know how many times it has been fired/sized and in what firearm.’Back to beating it on the ground again till you figure out that you have to get the forward part of the case out.
