Video Inspection Machine

In the spring of 1998 we added a new piece of rifle barrel inspection equipment to help insure our barrels are the quality that our customers have come to expect. All of our barrels are hand lapped because this is the only process we’ve found that gives us the type of internal finish we demand. Our lapping process has been refined to achieve the optimum in smoothness and diameter uniformity. The result is minimal fouling and maximum accuracy potential. To monitor the development of the internal finish as the barrel is lapped we need to “see” inside the barrel with a borescope. We’ve always had a borescope but with this new video ‘scope we can see the inside of the barrel with more clarity and magnification and no eyestrain. And we have the option of recording the image on a videocassette.

Here is Dan looking at the inside of a barrel on the monitor. Looking closely at the image you can see the parallel lines of a land running vertically on the screen. The barrel is held in the fixture on the left.

Here is a closer look at the fixture used to hold the barrel.

The barrel is in the chuck in the left portion of the picture. It can be seen protruding from the chuck jaws and also emerging from the extreme left side of the fixture. The video camera is in the center of the photo and the actual borescope is the small diameter tube entering the barrel. The borescope and camera move horizontally on the round “ways” of the machine. This allows us to inspect the barrel lengthwise and we can rotate the chuck and barrel at the same time.

The image we see on the screen is about 75 times the actual size of the inside of the barrel.

This picture shows a close-up of the video monitor and Dan pointing to the parallel lines of a land. This new video borescope is one more tool for us to use in making your new barrel the best we can.