Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Bore Sighter Recommendation

I have no experience with the latest newfangled laser bore sighters. I remember the optical collimator with spud. Do the laser types work fairly well, at least to get close? Any recommended brands, models?

You really don't need one on a gun with a removable bolt. Looking down bore and turn cross hairs to middle of target when target is centered in the bore. I did one yesterday and was 4 inches off at 100 yards. Most of the time I am less than 6 inches. Have been doing it this way for 30 years or more.

I do that too, but we don't know if the OP has a removable bolt situation in mind.

Thanks guys, but I wasn't looking for advice on how to do basic bore sighting. BTDT. I have a problem rifle where conventional bore sighting doesn't work. I'm trying to diagnose the problem, and using a bore sighting device might help.

As far as laser bore sights go, I have an old Bushnell, I trust. Bought a newer one (made different) and another brand that I use in a pinch but they seem to have more wobble in them. Have used the chamber type with replaceable bodies, they work well, more hassle.
Never used the non-laser spud type, but have friends that use them.

Been trying to find a laser for .17 rifles, some say they do but they don't.

The earlier ones I've seen

Jamming the arbor down the muzzle never seemed like a good idea to me

Bolt guns.....even Marlin lever guns...pull the bolt & 'bore sight' down the bore on a target

Simple & it works

Wheeler at one time made a $20 gizmo for leveling scopes

Not a lazer type but I have used one of these for years and it has always got me on paper with the first shot.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1008862791

The nice thing about them is that if you keep the data on the setting for a particular rifle it makes it easy to mount any scope on the rifle then go to the recorded setting, adjust to it and you will be pretty darned close.

drover

Yup, I’ve been doing that exact thing for years, also. The zero on most of my rifles is not in the center of the grid, but it does allow repeatability if the location on the grid is recorded.

What is your problem rifle?

I have a Collimator. It's the Bushnell 15 Arbor Deluxe Kit 744001 but I believe it is discontinued.

The Bushnell Professional Boresighter 743333 is still available. It comes with three adjustable arbors.

Mine has worked very well. I've never had to make much adjustment from the first shot. You can't look though the bore with a Win 88 or BLR.

I have a SiteLite SL-500 that I rarely use because I use the uncle's old method of boresighting.

Position rifle with bolt removed, find a suitable security/street light in the bore, move cross hairs to security/street light. I use the neighbors next door, about 500yds away, gets me on paper and very close to the bullseye.

My uncle used this method and I don't know that he ever verified zero afterwards, but killed a ton of deer with his rifles.

I bought the laser bullet sighters thinking it would be greater than sliced bread and turned out to not work as well as my tried and true Bushnell Bore Sighters. I keep one with every hunting rifle case and have copies of specific rifle/load grids for reference in case I bump or drop the rifle and need to check it. It is accurate to within 3" at 100 yards at the worse case and get me on paper quick and easy without firing one shot. Super easy and fast to use, small enough to not be in the way.

Cheapest insurance and peace of mind you can have when it comes to scope POA certainty in the field in the event of an accident or before a hunt.

Hey Paul39, did you center the scope’s reticle before you mounted it? On rifle/mount setups that are straight it really helps get you there quickly. My 10/22 CSC is usually within an inch at 10 yards when I do that.

Thanks again, guys. Please read both of my posts. I can't do a conventional through the bore sight. Trust me, I'm not a rookie, I've done this dozens of times and things don't line up with this one. And I center my reticle by rotating in a V block. Something is off, barrel installed crooked, base screw holes? I'm trying to get a handle on things without multiple trips to the range.

Thanks to those who mentioned specific devices.

Anything THAT "crooked",could be seen by the nekked eye,miles away. Mechanically center turrets,the V-block is only funny. Hint.

Slooowwwwwww down and relate what you are trying to do and what you are doing it upon. EXACT particulars will make it a breeze and eay to resolve quickly. Hint.............

Grandpa's & Dad's:

Sight bore.

Sight reticle.

"Sight in" corrections on target.

Hit what you aim at.

Eyeball it as best you can. Put up a 4’x 4’ cardboard sheet with a bull on it about 20 yards away and shoot. If you don’t hit paper, move it closer ‘til you do get a bullet hole. Then go from there.

If you don’t have a way to see down the bore, that’s really the only way to do it.

I used one of theses for years and always worked great. I had a Savage 99 recently that I thought was tapped crooked, as the scope ran out adjustment. It as almost to the point of selling rifle, but I has an old Bushell spud collimator and gave it a try. Bingo, centered up on the grid and only a couple of inches off on the target, plenty of adjustment in scope left. My guess is the crown is slightly crooked. I too don't like jamming a rod down the barrel, do it carefully.

I have run into that a couple of times so my protocol is that if the setting is such that I am running out of adjustment on the scope I set a box with a target on it about 10 yards away and fire a shot then adjust from there. In both instances the crown was cut crooked, something to be aware of for sure.

drover

Haven’t tried any of the rifle bore sighters, but my range rat pal has helped a number of others struggling with the laser types, and says they all were less than impressive. I have tried a shotgun model, but the emitters on the pair I bought are off-center. You can rotate them in the chamber and see the dot make a circle on the target (break action gun).

Not sure about your V-block technique, but I center mine by putting the scope against a mirror and adjusting until the double image of the reticle lines up. You can also count clicks, but the mirror is easier and I suspect more accurate.

Screw holes are easy to check, as are mounted bases. I have caught myself a time or two not getting rings quite straight on the bases; it’s easy to do with some types.

If you reveal your setup, maybe someone will have other suggestions. There’s a whole litany of scope problem solutions but you’re experienced, so I assume you’ve gone down the list.

Good luck.