Hi, as the title says I need info for a GOOD Inexpensive boresighter.
I dont care if it is laser or not just the least expensive one that does a good job.
Thanks
Craig

What do you mean by a good job?

Hi John,well I have read a few reviews of several and people were talking about this one or that one being off terribly (indicating that rifle was bore sighted but actually shooting rifle and being off a foot or more at 100 YDS,wouldn,t stay in place,Batteries wouldn,t stay charged for more than 1 or 2 uses etc.
I have never used one so really dont know what to expect.
Thanks
Craig

Boresighters are used to get a scope on paper at short ranges - usually 10 to 25 yd. They will save you some work when you first put on a scope.

The aim (if you'll pardon the pun) is to be on the paper at short range and then walk your ammunition into the bull before you shoot at 100 yd or farther.

I use a Bushnell boresighter that is held on to the barrel with a magnet. No need to spend large amounts of cash. I can make the rough adjustments at home, usually in my workshop. I have a target attached to the wall about 10 yd away and perform a rough scope adjustment there.

When I get to the range, I take one shot at 25 yd and move the cross hairs. The next shot is just about perfect.

I fire again at 100 yd or more, depending on the rifle.

It's sad to see and hear guys with new scopes getting frustrated because they are not on paper - especially if they are trying to make adjustments at 100 yd! These are short range devices.

Hi Steve,thanks for your info.
Which Model Bushnell do you have?
Craig

Provided it's a gun where you can see through the bore, the best inexpensive bore sighter is your eye. Put the rifle in a solid rest, align the bore with your target, dial the scope until it's centered. It'll get you on paper at 100yds.

Craig,

If it's a bolt gun, it's a simple proposition to remove the bolt, look down the barrel at a distant, yet distinct object and then proceed to match the scope to what what you're seeing down the barrel.

I've used my neighbor's small sattelite dish for about five years now, and have yet to miss my sight-in target with my first shot at 100 yards. It's never EXACTLY right, but I did this routine on Sunday for a friend's new rifle and had a grand total of 6 clicks to make to get it dialed in.

Simple and free. Just a thought.

Dave

Exactly.

I have the Bushnell magnetic boresighter. Bushnell's product code is 740001C.

WRT sighting down the barrel, this is another method, providing you can remove the bolt and look down the bore. Not all firearms can be sighted this way. This too should be performed at short range, for best results. 25 yards works well.

Natchez Shooters Supplies recently had a BSA bore sighter on sale for $20.

Part #F10OSBS30 on page 50 of the Dec-Jan catalog.

www.natchezss.com

Hi Guys ,yea I have been taking the bolt out of rifles and bore sighting that way for years .
I mainly want a boresighter for scope mounting and seeing if a scope is tracking properly.
Craig

The reason I asked is because some people are under the impression that ANY bore-sighter (as Steve pointed out) will get the rifle on paper at 100 yards, or allow them to check their sighted-in rifle to see if it's off after a fall or a plane flight. (Hopefully the fall and plane flight aren't one and the same.)

I've used a bunch of bore-sighters, and so far the vast majority have only been able to guarantee being within 3-4" at 25 yards. The one I use most often (a Bushnell with adjustable spuds that fit into the bore at the muzzle). It's somewhat adjustable, so you can match the screen reticle to the scope from a rifle that's already been sighted-in, but even after adjusting it as much as possible I found that it works most consistently when a scope's reticle is set 4" above the center of the bore-sighter's reticle.

This was done by inserting the bore-sighter into the muzzles of a bunch of different rifles that had been sighted-in. Even then there will be some variation in point of impact, because of variations in barrel stiffness, loads, recoil, etc. (There's also some variation in the bore-sighter itself when it's remounted on the same rifle, one reason I've never trusted any bore-sighter to tell me whether my rifle's still sighted-in.

The cheapest bore-sighters aren't adjustable, and if they're off at the factory they'll be off forever. A few years a really affordable bore-sighter was offered by a major scope company, aaompanied by much fanfare. They sent me one and it worked pretty well, and I wrote it up that way. One of the former members of the Campfire insisted it was a POS and told me so quite emphatically. He got one of the bad ones.

The most repeatable bore-sighted I've used is a laser/magnet model offered by Midway under their Wheeler Engineering brand name. It mounts on the muzzle with a magnet, and projects a red or green laser beam. The magnet allows it to be used on any firearm, and so far it's proven quite repeatable, and it usually will get a rifle on a 2x2 foot target at 100 yards. But it costs around $100, and requires some range itself for the laser beam to help much. The instructions suggest 25 yards, though through experimentation I've found good results can be had at closer ranges.

If a bolt or the type where you can look down barrel with the bolt removed, Your eye is hard to beat!
I put the gun in a rest and center the bore over the target and then adjust the scope to the target. Usually within a couple-few inches.
If your needing one for use on levers and S-A's sorry I can't help I've never seen one work better than my eye so never owned one..

Why are best results obtained at short range? I've boresighted a bunch of rifles starting on the 100 yard line with very good results.

There's a lot of misunderstanding WRT boresighters and how they do their job. Small errors in adjustment, or with the device itself, are exaggerated at longer ranges.

A lot of people think that they can use use them at 50, 100 yd or more. They get frustrated because the product description does not match what happens at the range.

Men are bad for this because it involves reading the instructions.

A properly made boresighter, used according to the instructions, will save shots and frustration when you mount a new scope.

Regardless of which one you buy, please read the instructions!

Have I mentioned "reading the instructions" enough?

One last thing: Regardless of whether you use a boresighter or not, you always have to confirm your adjustments by shooting ammunition. This will be the expected range of encounter, or, for target shooters, where the targets are hung.

Nothing beats pulling the trigger, but you want to be as close to the bull as possible with the least amount of adjustments.

Yep ! You're eye will automatically center a small object THRU the bore.

I've never bought any bore sighter. The few I've seen some people use EITHER were not used properly or weren't worth the money they spent.

I like to just take the bolt out and look down the barrel and make scope adjustments that way, then shoot at 25 yards and get the bullets hitting dead center of the target- then go to 100 yards and shoot and make further adjustments, 2 inches high at 100 yards then I put a target out at 200 yards, and make final adjustments my bullets should be hitting spot on dead center- then I shoot at 300 to see were my bullets are hitting, I make a note of it and then I am done. It just takes time, some ammo, paper targets and above all patience. Most of the time 10 to 15 rounds of ammo will get it done to my satisfaction. In CT as a general rule were I hunt, most every body I know me included will zero spot on for 100 yards. Most of the shots you get in my part of the state will be less than 65 yards. Last year my longest shot was 45 yards. 25 to 40 yards seems to be the norm, it is at least in the couple of sections were my land is.

Craig,

I use a Site-Lite. It's not cheap, but it's not too bad.

I find that mostly if I can see the projected laser dot at 100 yards (requires low light)and set the scope to be on the dot, most of the time the rifle will shoot close. Doing it at close range inhibits accuracy.

I always pull the bolt on a bolt gun rather than use the bore sighter even though the bore sighter is always in the range box. Usually I don't have the light conditions to see the laser dot at my range.

I have the old Bushnell spud type (and have also written about it.) Used properly, it - or any bore-sighter - can be a great help. But it's not a sight-in device, as so many shooters think. All it does is roughly align the bore with the scope. Some more roughly than others. It does not allow for or compensate for stock bedding, barrel harmonics, ammo variability, wind - or the jerk on the trigger.

I have. An old Bushnell with four spuds for various bore sizes. I have had it put the first shot right where I wanted it to be, and I have failed to even get on the paper at 100. I suppose that would be operator error!

Looking through the bore with the bolt removed is by far the most reliable for me. Pumps, semi-automatics, and some lever guns are not conducive to that method.

I recently changed the scopes out on six or seven rifles. Some of the scopes were better suited to guns other than what they were on. I used the screen to put the replacement scope reticle as near as I could to where the previous one had been. That exercise placed most of the replacement scopes within a few inches of where I wanted them to be sighted. Jack

What he said. I have used this for bolt actions and, with care, it works like a champ.

I've got 2 boresighters, one a Bushnell and the other a Leopold.

Midway has the Bushnell for about $60 (see: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/766064/bsa-bore-sight-with-15-fixed-arbors )

The Leopold never seems to work, or at least I can not get it to; wasted $76.
(see: http://www.midwayusa.com/product/675745/leupold-zero-point-bore-sight )

I use my Bushnell Magnetic boresighter for exactly that purpose. It works fantastic for that application. The squares on the grid are 16MOA apart for most standard factory length barrels (22-26"), which makes it easy to test tracking, travel extremes, click increments, etc.

JB: I have an old Cabela's model with the spuds that works well but I cringe every time I shove the spud into the muzzle.

Is there a risk of damaging the muzzle or rifling with the spud?

Thanks,
Scott

White pin on tree outside my garage at 25 yards. Pull bolt, center pin in bore and set cross hairs to dot. Recheck and proceed to range.

I'm curious how many people have had a gun that is so far out that you can't get it on paper at 25 yds with no bore sighting? I contend unless there is something wrong with the gun or the scope isn't centered, that you can just mount the scope, take a few shots at 25 to see where you are hitting and then dial it in.

Seems like if a bore sighter is only good to 25yds, it's darn near useless.

The reason I prefer sighting through the bore when possible is you can get on paper at 100 yds and dial in. If you have to start at 25 yds, and you're at a public range with say 15 min firing sessions. Then you're stuck waiting around to move the target back to 100 yds to get the scope dialed in.

I've only had one but the problem was obvious.

I always bore sight on a target at 100 yards and am usually within 5-6". Fired a couple rounds with this one and no holes. Moved the target to 50 yards, two rounds, no holes. Moved the target to 25 yards - finally one hole in the very tippy top of the target, right through the target holder. Bottomed out the elevation adjustment on the scope and it was still 10-12" high at 100 yards.

Geting back to the original queston, my interest in a bore sighter is not so much bore sighting but in checking scopes for accuracy of their adjustments and maintaining zero when the power selector ring is turned. You could see this pretty easily with a bore sighter grid.

So - given that criteria what would be a good, "reasonably priced" boresighter?

PS: The Leupold magnetic boresighter gets good reviews and is reasonably priced at around $65-$76 but just looking at pictures of it I can't see how it really works. I'm assuming there is a standard grid not being shown on these that you can see from the other side?

http://www.leupold.com/hunting-shoo...-point-magnetic-illuminated-boresighter/

Hmm, Midway shows these out of stock and not due in until October?

I've got a Leupold boresighter and have never been satisfied. Even after playing with it for years, I've never been able to get it to work.

The problem with all boresighters is that you are trying to zero a bullet which follows a parabolic path using light which travels in a straight line. You can get on paper at 25 yards and with practice some can get close at 100 yards.

I probably approach the problem from a different angle.My bore sighter is an old Cabelas laser unit made by LaserLyte here in Arizona. At the time it was pretty cheap and it was on sale. It has tips from .22 to .45 with a small allen wrench to change them. It fits in the muzzle and you slide it in and then tighten the nylon tips by turning. Everything is tapered so as you tighten it centers and becomes firm. I sight it at about 20 yards and it has yet to be off more than an inch or so at 50 yards as i shoot at the range. I then use it again after I zero again at 20 yards and mark the variance if any on a paper I keep with the boresight. In camp the first day I test the rifle and see if the variance is the same. In 8 trips to Africa with several different guns I have yet to be off and then when sighting in I have never had to make any adjustments. I also try it with the spare scope I usually carry and the one time I had a scope failure it worked perfectly when I changed scopes. Prior to using this I have always just used the eyeballs and I have rarely missed getting on the paper with the first shot. I have been doing this for about 60+ years and still can't figure why people have such a problem with it.For the last 30 years I have used a telephone pole out my back window. It's precisley 70yards to the pole and a throughbolt holding the crossbar at the top is my aiming point. I taped the distance to be sure. Using the eyeball method (till I got the LaserLyte) this was my standard.

I have the BSA bore sighter-- bought it from SportsmansGuide.com over a decade ago. I think I paid $20 for it.


Usually, bore sighting gets me on paper at 100 yards. I have had one instance where I was not, when I got to the range. I had the bore sighter with me and found the source of the problem and had the whole thing corrected before I had to take another shot.

. . . more thoughts on this:

If I take the bore-sighter with me, I can tell if a given rifle is off when I get to my destination. The bore-sighter has a grid. I make note of the deviation from bore-sighted the scope is set to as I'm boxing up the rifle and then check the setting again when I get to the destination.

The other thing that my bore-sighter does is something I've never seen mentioned by anyone. As I'm mounting the scope, I do my best to level the scope. Then, as I am bore-sighting it, I check the horizontal cross-hair against the bore-sighter's horizontal axis. There is only one solution where the horizontal and vertical axis match from the scope's reticule to the bore-sighter, and that's when they're perfectly aligned. If either is rotated, the axis don't align. Once I have that figured out, I do my final tightening of the screws and then go back and check it against the bore-sighter. I can see how much the final tightening has changed the alignment of the scope. Being meticulous at this stage in the process gets me on paper at 100 yards almost every time.

You know, we all make fun of the hicks that go to Walmart on the eve of the Opener and buy a scoped rifle. Yeah, it is pretty lame, but if the bore sighting is done properly, you can get pretty good accuracy. I wouldn't chance a 200 yard shot across a pasture with such a rig, but a 50 yard shot out of a tree stand probably would produce venison.

One other trick, and then I will get on with my day: If I bore sight with my bore-sighter and then run the load through PointBlank software, I can get a fair idea of how far off bore-sighted I need to be, and I can make that adjustment at home, before I go out. Generally speaking, a rifle will be shooting couple inches low at 100 yards after it is bore-sighted. Moving the scope up a grid line or two before you box it up for the range will get me closer to the bull on the first shot

Sounds expensive and complicated. Here's what I do.

1. Take the bore sight device and throw it in the river.

2. Line the center of the bore up against the bottom of the bull on the 200 yard target (about 6" low--recoil will fraise the bullet path).

3. Adjust the scope crosshairs to the center of the target.

4. Shoot at 200 yards. With a few adjustments you'll be right on.

Indy,

Evidently you (and most of the other people who have posted, because of the common problem of not really reading the thread) missed this by bcraig:

"Hi Guys ,yea I have been taking the bolt out of rifles and bore sighting that way for years .
I mainly want a boresighter for scope mounting and seeing if a scope is tracking properly."

This is the MAIN reason for owning and using a bore-sighter, also known as collimator. Without an accurate bore-sighter you don't stand much chance of aligning the mechanical/optical center of the scope with the bore.

And if you don't get the bore and scope lined up, then the scope won't work right, on several levels I ain't about to go into all the stuff here, but it's in a long chapter in my most recent book, RIFLE TROUBLE-SHOOTING AND HANDLOADING.

Yeah, I know a bunch of shooters think all you have to do is look through the barrel at the range. It ain't necessarily so.

Thanks John,I went back to read my post to see if people were reading what I wrote! LOL
Craig

I can't think of too many threads here that stayed 100% on track. After all, tracking is what it's all about, right?

If you end up getting one for scope mounting, just keep the initial work at shorter ranges. You'll have fewer problems and less frustration.

Good one Steve !

Mule Deer,

I don't understand your post. I don't want the center of the bore aligned with the center of the scope. i want the bullet to hit the target.

If I point the bore 6" below the scope center at 200 yards, the bullet hits very close to the target, within a few MOA.

I don't know anyone--and here I'm talking of national championship quality match shooters who shoot thousands of rounds each year--who uses a boresight device. What are we all missing?

Using the boresighter has nothing to do with zero'ing your rifle. The main purpose that MD, myself, and the OP have for the thing is to gauge a scopes tracking, RTZ, and click increments using the optical grid visible in the boresighter.

When it comes to zero'ing the rifle, the OP, myself, and possibly MD (??) still take the bolt out of the rifle to bore sight the scope by eyeballing its alignment with the center of the bore at any given range.

Hope that clarifies.

Indy,

Maybe I went on a little too long. Let me put it another way:
The main virtue of a bore-sighter is in mounting a scope correctly, plus testing various scope functions, not in sighting-in a rifle.

That's exactly what bcraig wants one for.

This thread had some interesting posts, John. A story.

I was an armourer in the air force. One of my jobs was to boresight fighter jets. We usually did this after changing or repairing a 20mm gun. We used a target board inside the hangar which was put precisely 1000 inches away from the muzzle. We attached an optical boresighter to the gun (stuck into the muzzle with a spud) and ratcheted the gun mount so that the boresighter (and, by extension, the barrel) was aligned to the target board at 1000 inches (or 83.3 ft or 27.8 yd).

Next, the plane was taken to a harmonization butt. This is a 25 yd range with the backstop built into a hill. The aircraft was jacked up, off the ground, chained down and 25 rds were fired at 25 yd into a target. Any further adjustments were made at this time. When it grouped correctly, the gun was deemed to be sighted in and a pilot would take it to the range to fire at a ground target.

So, we boresighted the aircraft gun, shot it at short range to ensure it was aligned and then gave it to the driver to verify at a longer range. Shooters can use the same procedure when mounting a scope, to ensure everything lines up. A quick operation that can save a pile of frustration at the range.

Bought one of the Wheeler products w/ green laser; not inexpensive, works well.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/2130726870/wheeler-engineering-professional-laser-bore-sight

I'm still about 2/3 confused about its function. I should probably buy your book and read it.