Does anyone know of a good inexpensive bore scope. I'm not a gun smith just like to tinker with them so, I can't justify spending a grand on something like this.

Vision Optics makes several models of high resolution fiber optic borescopes. After looking through a Hawkeye and being promised that the VO scopes were at worst comparable and at best more adaptable than the Hawkeye, by someone who worked for the retailer I bought my VO scope from (the guy I talked to was not a salesman, but he was and I suppose still is a match shooter) I spent about 1/3 of what the Hawkeye cost and have almost no gripes....

Actually I have no real gripes about my VO scope--only a whine or two. Because the VO scope is not rigid it sometimes became hard to get a good detailed look at the bore using the 90 degree angle mirror that came with my 4.8mm probe. This was especially true when I tried to look at .30 caliber or larger bores. I discovered a cheap and easy fix for this problem which is to simply wrap masking tape around the end of the probe about 1/8" from the end. I taped the end enough to almost equal the bore diameter and --problem solved. My other whine is that focusing the scope can be tricky, but if you remove the probe from the bore and focus on some fine print as the instructions say, it's not hard to do. I use the fine print of my divorce decree which I think is apropos since it's relief from a different bore................I guess I should mention that I use my scope mainly for inspecting the general condition and cleanliness of the bore. I don't have a lot of use for the 90 degree inspection mirror, but I do use it on occasion to look at things like suspected carbon rings near the throat and at suspected throat erosion. I suppose there are gunsmiths that deal a lot with factory barrels and such, who would have more use for the mirror, but I don't. I even went so far as to post a thread on Benchrest.com in the gunsmithing section asking who used the mirror and for what and got almost 100% replies that is was used as I use it and as seldom. The pix in the Hawkeye ads look impressive, but don't really tell you much if you've lived with a barrel since it was born and delivered to you--especially stainless match barrels. The scope can confirm what you probably already knew (i.e. the barrel is shot out)when the groups started opening up--or in a couple of cases I experienced--the barrel was crap from the get go.

You will be able to tell what chemicals, brushes and techniques REALLY DO clean your barrel, and in competition, that can be critical. It's critical not so much because you MUST have a squeaky clean barrel to start the match, but because the truth is that fouling will, at some point, cause a fall off in accuracy. If you start with a partly clean barrel you have wiped out or have not brushed well enough, you may not be able to predict when the fall off will occur--with a clean barrel to start with you have a lot better chance, and can correct the problem before it shows upon target. If all you want to do is shoot a deer in the brisket at 200 yards or less once a year, it will not be a worthwhile purchase to get even the VO scope, IMHO

I wish I could remember who I got it from since I shopped around for a long time before I found it and then found the best price. But---at least you know a brand name which I did not--I am sure goggle has links for Vision Optics and their associated retailers.