Hi Petey,
I am waiting on a new scope in the mail, briught from an E-Bay shop here in the Uk, it's a Nikko-Sterling Gold Crown 4.5-14x50AO. Not a great scope but funds are tight so we will see how things go. The rifle was brought from a dealer who happens to be a friend so I have never spoken to the previous owner so it's history is unknown really. The bore looks good and I cannot see any obvious wear in the throat nor at the muzzle.
Re-barreling is not finacially viable here and is nto straight forward due to the laws. If you hand the rifle to a gunsmith and have a new barrel fitted in the same chambering you don't need any alterations to your licence but the cost is likely to be around £300-£600 ($600-$1200US) which is why it's not often done.
Doing the job yourself requires a variation on your licence to obtain the bew barrel then after fitting it should be proofed, havign an unproofed rifle is not illegal but selling one is.
Was hoping the scope would arrive today but it didn't so I cannot try it out tomorrow (Sunday) on the range. Once it arrives and I get to the range with it I will report how things go.
If it's still bad then I need to think carefully what to do next.
Edit:-
Well the new scope arrived and on close inspection after fitting whilst adjusting the fast focus eyepiece to get the reticle in sharp focus I discovered that the reticle moves about if you put pressure on the side of the eyepiece. So this brand new scope is totally useless.
Looking through the packaging I found on the box the infamous legend :-
Made In China
It seems my bad luck with respect to this rifle continues
.