Laser Bore Sighters

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BigMikey76

New member
I am looking at picking up a bore sighter so I can sight in quickly when I upgrade the scope on my 7-08 (not necessarily an immediate concern, but likely to happen within a year or so). I have seen two kinds, and I am wondering which is generally considered to be better. One of them goes in the muzzle and looks like it is adjustable to fit various different calibers. The other is basically a dummy round for a specific caliber that you put in the chamber and it shoots the laser all the way down the barrel. Is either type generally superior to the other?
 
Mine works fine !!

I currently own one that is applicable to many common calibers or the first one that you described. Don't have any of the caliber specific types but have read that these are more accurate and also more expensive. ... ;)




Be Safe !!!
 
I have used both, Even Steven IMHO. The advantage of the one that goes in the chamber is that you can't fire the rifle with it inserted.
 
None of the laser bore sighters are worth the money. Go to Walmart and buy a sheet of poster board. They sell for $.30. Draw a bulls eye in the center, place it at 50 yards and simply remove your bolt and look through the barrel. Adjust the sights until they and the bore are aligned. I guarantee your 1st shot will be closer to the bull than is possible with a laser bore sighter. If you cannot look through the bore just take a shot. It is almost impossible to miss a sheet of poster board at that range. If you do, move up to 25 yards.

Once you get a single hole on paper, even if it is a foot or more from your bull, it is simply a matter of measuring the horizontal and vertcle distance from the aiming point and counting the appropriate number of clicks. Your 2nd shot should be perfectly zeroed at that range. You can now start shooting at longer ranges and fine tuning your sights.

Spend 30 cents on a big target and save your money for more important stuff, like ammo.
 
Bore sighters, both laser and optical, are popular but sometimes questionable.

For example, how does a chamber fitted one align its beam perfectly with the bore? Something has to perfectly center it in the chamber such that its beam goes straight down the bore.

And how repeatable are they? Even new, perfectly dimensioned cartridge cases don't fit the chamber after the bolts closed perfectly centered it such that its axis is aligned with the chamber axis.

Once your scope is perfectly aligned with some downrange point the bore axis is perfectly aligned on, that's not where the muzzle axis is pointed when the bullet leaves the cartridge case. With shoulder fired rifles, the bore is typically pointed below the point of aim when zeroed for a target range less than 100 yards. The bore axis moves up in recoil while the bullet goes down the barrel then points the proper amount above the target when the bullet exits. Heck, even handgun front sights are noticably higher above the bore axis than their rear one.

Do as jmr40 suggests. Align the bore with something a couple dozen yards away then adjust your scope so the reticule's zeroed on it. That's close enough.....and really cheap, too. Then shoot, note the error, shoot again....repeating this until bullets strike where the reticule was when the round fires. Finally, move back to 100 or 200 yards, whatever suits your fancy and sight in again.
 
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They ate not accurate. If you have they have to be adjusted also. You can spin them in the bore and watch the dot do circles on the target.
 
jmr40 said:
None of the laser bore sighters are worth the money. Go to Walmart and buy a sheet of poster board. They sell for $.30. Draw a bulls eye in the center, place it at 50 yards and simply remove your bolt and look through the barrel. Adjust the sights until they and the bore are aligned. I guarantee your 1st shot will be closer to the bull than is possible with a laser bore sighter. If you cannot look through the bore just take a shot. It is almost impossible to miss a sheet of poster board at that range. If you do, move up to 25 yards.

Once you get a single hole on paper, even if it is a foot or more from your bull, it is simply a matter of measuring the horizontal and vertcle distance from the aiming point and counting the appropriate number of clicks. Your 2nd shot should be perfectly zeroed at that range. You can now start shooting at longer ranges and fine tuning your sights.

Spend 30 cents on a big target and save your money for more important stuff, like ammo.
Click to expand...

There's your answer right there... except I prefer to use "natural" targets and much farther away. The farther you get the more precise your alignment can be.
I generally go 200 yards or more and use an obvious aim point like the fork of a tree or top cross of a telephone pole.
I've never been off paper... 8 1/2x11 paper... at 100 yards.
 
I've a Sweeney collimator with a 30 caliber spud that's repeatable to about 1 MOA. Good enough for me and probably most others.

With the three expandable Bushnell spuds (covers 22 to 45 caliber I got to use with it, repeatability's about 3 MOA. Those three expanding fingers on their ends must not be as repeatable as the solid rod made by Sweeney.
 
I purchased a "Red Head" bore sighter from Bass Pro Shops and I love it. It cost around $40 (3 years ago). When I get to the range I'm on paper with the first shot...usually 6-8 inches right of center. The second shot I'm in the boiler room. After that its fine tuning time.
 
If the laser boresighter is properly used, It will get you on paper. By properly used you must use the right adapter and it should be tight in the barrel.
I have sighted in many rifles with both iron sights and scopes with a Laserlyte. Always saved me time and ammunition.
The only time I ever saw a problem was when the crown of the barrel had a defect.
You can also expect problems if the gun had a blast deflector/muzzle brake installed. IMHO, I would not recommend a laser boresight is gun is such equiped. The bores center must be in perfect alignment with the brake.
 
I use a laser bore sighter that inserts in the muzzle to get me on paper at 25 yards. Then adjust by firing rounds but first make sure the bore sighter is removed. Its best use however is to align a chronograph so it doesn't get lead poisoning.
 
I have a Site Lite laser and it wasn't pointing well. Taking a rifle that was already well sighted-in, I found the dot was about 2" off where it should be at 50 feet (in my basement), so I bent the shaft slightly (by trial and error) to align it with the crosshairs.

Now it works much better, but still not a replacement for final sighting-in. It does work well for checking scope alignment after a rifle has been bumped and the scope alignment is suspect.

This is a fairly expensive unit and should have been adjusted better from the factory, especially when they advertise that it's the most accurate bore sighter.
 
None of the laser bore sighters are worth the money.
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+1. The ONLY place where they are somewhat useful is in a gun that you can't sight' down the breech (lever action, autoloader, etc). On a bolt-action simply remove the bolt, put the gun on a rest that will support it without using your hands, and sight down the bore. Shift your eyes between looking down the bore and looking though the scope while moving the adjustment screws. When your target is centered when looking through the bore and the crosshairs are centered a couple of inches below the target, you are boresighted.
 
None of the laser bore sighters are worth the money.
Click to expand...

+1. The ONLY place where they are somewhat useful is in a gun that you can't sight' down the breech (lever action, autoloader, etc). On a bolt-action simply remove the bolt, put the gun on a rest that will support it without using your hands, and sight down the bore. Shift your eyes between looking down the bore and looking though the scope while moving the adjustment screws. When your target is centered when looking through the bore and the crosshairs are centered a couple of inches below the target, you are boresighted.
Click to expand...

+2
 
1. Hang up a piece of paracord with a heavy weight to pull it straight. Wait for it to stop swinging.
2. Put a piece of white tape on it at the height of your shooting platform.
3. Remove rifle bolt and line up through the bore. (I use level bubbles to get the rifle absolutely level).
4. Adjust your cross-hairs so that they are both zeroed and in line vertically with the paracord. It is necessary to loosen the mounting system to rotate the scope to make this work right.

5. tighten everything back up... keep checking as you do.
6. Not only will you be on paper you will also have a scope aligned to track the trajectory vertically.
-SS-
 
Ditto on the Leupold Boresighter. Only one I've used worth a damn.

It's just as easy to do what JMR40 said.

I usually just place an object on the berm behind the 100 yard targets, and shoot while someone spots and walks me onto the object (paper cup, bowling pin, whatever). Two or three shots at most and I'm on paper.

I use the Leupold boresighter when changing scopes--- remarkably accurate/repeatable. I just put it on the rifle, note the location of the "zero" on the grid, install the new scope, adjust the reticle to the same point on the grid, and it's pretty close to dead on.
 
None of the laser bore sighters are worth the money. Go to Walmart and buy a sheet of poster board. They sell for $.30. Draw a bulls eye in the center, place it at 50 yards and simply remove your bolt and look through the barrel. Adjust the sights until they and the bore are aligned. I guarantee your 1st shot will be closer to the bull than is possible with a laser bore sighter. If you cannot look through the bore just take a shot. It is almost impossible to miss a sheet of poster board at that range. If you do, move up to 25 yards.

Once you get a single hole on paper, even if it is a foot or more from your bull, it is simply a matter of measuring the horizontal and vertcle distance from the aiming point and counting the appropriate number of clicks. Your 2nd shot should be perfectly zeroed at that range. You can now start shooting at longer ranges and fine tuning your sights.

Spend 30 cents on a big target and save your money for more important stuff, like ammo.
Click to expand...

This post is dead on target.
 
Spend you money on shells or if you reload on components.You'll be further ahead.Forty bucks for a cheap one and off 6 or 8 inches I'am seldom that far off eyeballing
 
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