Do laser boresight devices work? If yes, which is a good one?

I just used one on a pistol known for shooting straight and the laser was off by about 8" just pointing it across the room.

I am not a fan of any of them for rifles. You won't be able to see the laser on paper from 100 yards away unless you do it in the dark.

For handguns, I have used a couple of different models (sorry I can't be specific since I am not at home). I do use them to get my handguns close after swapping sights etc.

If you have a gun that you can bore sight the old fashon way then the laser doesn't pay in my opinion . If you have a gun that you can not get a line of sight thru the bore, then they (laser) can work very well.

The key to using a bore sighter is in the calibration of the laser. It must be properly calibrated and frequently checked . It does not take a lot to knock them out of calibration.

Also make sure you follow the instructions when adjusting the bore head to your gun. It should be fit to the bore with slight pressure needed to install. The tappered part of the laser housing needs to maintain slight pressure against the muzzle.

I am of course talking about the muzzle instalation type laser.

Do the prep right and the results will come out right.

Sure they work. But so does the old fashioned way. Either way need to zero by firing some number of shots.

I have one like this:
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-7401...id=1415314812&sr=8-1&keywords=laser+boresight

Level the rifle, point it at a wall, and set the scope so it aims at a point above the dot that is equal to distance between bore and center of scope.

It should get you within 2" at 25 yards, if used properly (snug into barrel and fully seated.) You still want to be low at 25 to be close at 100.

I always sight at 25 first, I have chased ricochets at 100 one too many times.

None of them are accurate enough to save you a single round of ammo. You can zero any rifle just as fast, and with exactly the same number of rounds fired without one.

jmr40 said:

None of them are accurate enough to save you a single round of ammo. You can zero any rifle just as fast, and with exactly the same number of rounds fired without one.

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So I buy a brand new lever gun, rings, and a 3-14 power scope. I go to the range and fire some shots at 50 yards. None are on the paper and I have no idea where they hit. High left or right, I just don't know. If I use my laser bore sighter at home at 50 yards to align the crosshairs and laser dot. Then go to the range my shots should be very close if not right on.

Have I not saved ammo?

I've had a number of them, but like my Sitelite SL-500 the best. First and foremost, it has an actual switch to turn it on and off. I don't have to assemble it (putting in batteries) each time, then remember to disassemble it to take the batteries out so they're not dead the next time. I don't have to rotate a battery cage to activate it, and rely on the poor contacts to complete the circuit and actually activate the laser.

You won't be able to see the laser on paper from 100 yards away unless you do it in the dark.

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Not true. My SL-500 uses a green laser, and I can easily see it at 100 yards, even in bright sunlight. Here at home, I usually boresight off of a neighbor's barn, that's right at 200 yards away. Again, no issues picking up the dot during the day (though, truth be told, his barn is usually in the shade).

None of them are accurate enough to save you a single round of ammo. You can zero any rifle just as fast, and with exactly the same number of rounds fired without one.

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Not true. There are many rifles that can't be mechanically boresighted. The last two rifles I boresighted with my laser, an M82A1 and an M1A, both couldn't be mechanically boresighted. And, by laser boresighting them in my back yard first, I was on paper at 200 yards with my first shot.

It comes down to the quality of the boresighter. There's a lot of junk out there, true... and for those, I agree with you. But, a quality boresighter, used properly, will absolutely save you ammunition at the range. And, in the case of something like a .50 BMG, can save you quite a bit of money over time.

I have heard from people that using one will get you on paper at 100 yards without firing a shot.

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Absolutely - I have a storage shed 100 yds. from my bedroom window.
At night, I insert the laser into the barrel (LaserLyte) and zero - always well on paper at 100 yds. with my first shot. The first time I used it, my first shot at the range was off 2" elevation, 3" windage.

If I used the laser per instructions, I could get even closer, but doing so is more trouble than it's worth to me.
When you spin the laser in the barrel, you can see it making concentric circles at 100 yds. - the laser has adjustment screws 90 degrees apart to allow you to dial it in (dial out the concentric circles), but doing so would take more time than it's worth to me, and you're still going to have to dial the sight in at the range.

Mine has saved me countless time / frustration / rounds of ammo - I've also used it in the house to check a lot of short range stuff (pistols) with good results.

not impressed

I've had a LazerLyte for several years, one of the early ones. It fits into the muzzle, but never quite sits centered. Instructions say to use it at 30 feet to get bore sighted. Even then, the laser is off center, but it gets me on paper at 50 yards. A couple shots at 50, then on to 100 and 200 yards shooting a couple more each.

I am curious if the cartridge shaped lasers center any better, therefore more accurate. Of course, buying one for each caliber can get pricey.

Buy an inexpensive self-centering muzzle type with adjustable collets. I find mine useful for lever actions, handguns, and other guns where you can't look down the bore. The inside the bore types are not that accurate in my opinion, even those with o-rings.

You will not be able to use one outdoors in daylight or at any significant range (down the hall or across a open-floorplan house is the max). For a bolt action or AR, looking down the bore will be more accurate than any other boresighting methods.

Mike

The laser bore sights are banned from my local indoor range.

To many people put them in the end of the barrel, and dial in the scope or sights, load the rifle and BOOM!

Now only one barrel was destroyed, but many sight lasers were found down range bent and destroyed.!

be safe

See post #12 for the exact same thing I was gonna say?

Look through the hole in the barrel to bore sight any rifle you can look through.

If you can't look through the bore?

Then a conventional bore-sighting device that you look at through thee scope.

rc

I have to agree with maxxhavoc. I own all types of boresighters and I have the best luck with the Bushnell with the plastic collets as mentioned above. I must admit that I have never tried the SL-500, but as good as it might be, I can't justify spending that kind of money for a bore sighter, even though I do put a lot of scopes on.

I use my tipton gun cleaning station set up on my table saw, put my magnet scope leveler on the bases and hang a string with a washer on it to plumb the reticle. Then I carefully put my arbor bore sighter in the muzzle and shoot the lazer on my basement wall, which is around 30' away. I get the windage close using the rear ring/base and then fine tune it with the turrents. I can usually be within 2-3" windage wise by doing this at 100 yds.

The elevation is a bit more tricky as you have to consider the line of sight of the scope vs. the barrel and then throw in the 30' vs. 100 yds. Over time I can usually get within 8-10 inches. Sometimes I get lucky and get a lot closer. Generally I will be shooting after putting on the scope, so I will stack one target on top of the other and take my first shoot aiming at the point between the targets and adjust from there.

There is lots of ways to do it and I guess we all do what works for each of us. I don't think you would regret buying the Bushnell with the collets.

FYI, don't waste your money on the cartridge type ones that you chamber. I had no luck at all with that type

None of them are accurate enough to save you a single round of ammo.

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Not my experience at all.

Every year i mount scopes on a few dozen rifles and sight them in for the owners. The gun is laser boresighted on a small bullseye at 25 feet inside my home. The bullet is always on the target at 50 yards. At the range i adjust the scope to put the bullet 1-2 inches above the bullseye at 50 yards and fire a three shot group. This usually takes five to seven rounds, including the three shot group. The target is moved to 100 or 200 yards and the gun re-sighted. It seldom requires more than 10-12 rounds to sight in the rifle.

i often see shooters fire 20-40 rounds sighting in their rifles. Some never get them sighted in properly.

I have tried them in the past but they didn't really help me much. With a bolt action you can bore sight through the bore. Remove the bolt, put the gun in a vise if you have one and align the crosshairs with the bore. This will get you on paper at 50-100 yards.
With a lever gun or any other where looking down the bore is impossible I always try to use a VERY large target like a piece of poster board so if I am off by a foot at 25 yards then at least I can see where the bullet hit. It rarely takes more than 10-12 shots to get sighted at 100 yards.
I did put a cheap light/laser on a Hi Point carbine. I sat in my house and aligned the laser with the iron sights across two rooms and I was pretty well dead on at 25 yards the next day.

I guess I'm "that guy" on this one. I find bore sight lasers to be useful but not real often. You can't get zeroed exactly by any means. But if you have a strong power scope it's often hard just to get close enough to even see where you're shots are hitting. If you have a spotting scope it can eliminate this problem BTW. But for example I have a .223 that's made for shooting fairly long distances. I have a Weaver T-36 scope on that rifle. Finding zero with that rifle and that scope has been a problem in the past but with a bore laser I can get in the general ball part well enough that I can see where my shots are hitting when I shoot using the scope. I like to zero at either 100 yards or 200 yards which makes it harder to get in the ball park. I sight in the scope late in the evening. If you can get the laser to shine through the barrel that's all the calibration I need. It will only get me within a few feet of zero but again that much can be a problem with the T-36 trying to zero at 200 yards. Once I get the scope in the ball park I just go back to the way I've been sighting scopes all my life which is to aim the rifle, fire the rifle and see where the bullet hits. Then I adjust my scope and do it over again. I do this until I'm inside one click of being exactly right. It's very hard to get exactly right with scopes that click instead of adjusting without the clicks. The clicks jump from one spot to the next. It's like adjusting that old radio in your grandpa's car. It's not digital so you fine tune the adjustment until you get it right. Scopes that click are like radios that are digital. You jump from one level to the next and can't adjust between those levels. The good thing is that you can adjust for elevation and windage and go back to where you started if you like.

Anyway I use a bore scope once or twice to mount a scope then it's pretty much a paper weight until I need to mount a new scope. I don't see a need to buy an expensive one. Again just getting the laser to shine through the bore is good enough to get you started. I just have to hope I remember where I put my bore sight the next time I need it because chances are it will be a while.

With a weaker powered scope you likely won't need a laser bore sight at all. Again the only time I use one is with a powerful scope on a rifle I want to zero at a fairly long distance.

make sure it is a green laser.

If you sight in a gun at 25 feet it's the same as 100 reet, because the bullet goes up and comes down in an arc. You should be able to zero ina your rifle or pistol to be pretty close if the laser was made for that specific gun.
My 223 laser is a bullet with a laser in the center. "Can't get much closer than that". Then once you are right on at 100 feet, then walk it out to 100 yards. It should only take 3-6 shots to get it close. That's what works for me. Or use your iron sights and adjust accordingly. If you are hitting the target with Iron sights you just need to tweak it.

Pretty interesting fellas, thanks for all the info.

And to anyone who doesn't agree with post #7:

One single actual round fired from your barrel into a cardboard box at about fifty feet is absolutely more precise than any bore sighting device.
(we all know we'd take at least a second shot to verify that laser)

Assuming one understands proper scope adjustments, and does them correctly after shot #1, there isn't even one round to be saved.

And the fifty foot shot at a rather large box works just as well on lever and pump guns as it does on bolts.

And to anyone who doesn't agree with post #7:

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That would be me

Assuming one understands proper scope adjustments, and does them correctly after shot #1, there isn't even one round to be saved.

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Given a Barrett M82A1 (with an integral 20MOA rail), a Leupold Mk4-LR scope, and Barrett rings.... on a range where the closest target board is 200 yards (not allowed to post anything shorter), and $5/rnd. match ammo... please explain to me how you'd sight in the rifle, and how you'd do it in less shots than I did with my laser boresighter (first shot was 2" low at 6 o'clock, by the way).

I have a cheap one from Wal-Mart that centers on the muzzle... I had been considering one, then they went on sale, so I rolled the dice and got one.

Good enough to get me on paper at 25 yards.

I had a scope problem with my .308 I bought the cheap walmart one that goes on the end of the barrel and it got me on the target and within 3 clicks. I could see it at 100 yrds but it was not a bright day.