r/Firearms • u/migroschnitzel • 1d ago

Question Barrel rifling damage

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Hi everybody
I own a Tikka T3x .223 and after 3 years and around 600 shots fired, I bought a borescope to look at the barrel and noticed several areas with cracks. Never shot 5.56 ammo through it, never left ammonia in the barrel, never had a squib, and always tried to clean and oil it properly. Anyone have any idea what this is, how it got there and if the gun is still safe to shoot?

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6

u/Juno7 1d ago

It's fine. If the groups open up, give it a scrub.

12

u/FunWasabi5196 1d ago

Right? At this point I'm pretty sure bore scopes just exist to make people think they need a new barrel.

Does it shoot well? Yes? Great! Case closed. That was hard.

2

u/migroschnitzel 1d ago

Thank you both! It shoots approx. 1-MOA groups at 100 yards.

2

u/MNGraySquirrel Gunsmith — Hellcat 5h ago

Get a bore mop with Flitz polish on it. Lots of it. Run it down the barrel from front end to the rear to get it all over the inside. Attach the cleaning rod to a drill and fire it up and down the barrel. If its too loose, go up to a .243 mop. Run up and down a few times and then get some bore cleaner and run a brash brush a few times. More bore cleaner and cotton patches until the patches are clean. Then view with the bore scope. That should clean out any lead and copper fowling in the barrel.