Bore Sighters

[Confederate]

I know bore sighters won't get you to zero without a trip to the range, but are they generally worth enough to be a good investment? There seem to be two types. The SL-100 Site Lite is about a hundred bucks, but I've seen others for as little as $36. Is there much difference in quality and can a bore sighter help re-sight a scope-rifle combo in after the scope has been removed?

 

[alemonkey]

I have one, but I only use it for rifles that I can't see straight through the bore, like a semi auto. For bolt actions it's easier to just pull the bolt and bore sight it that way. Even using the bore sighter on my last gun I wasn't on the paper at 100 yards, and had to go to 50 to start sighting in. I wouldn't trust it to re-zero a scope.

 

[Zach S]

The SL-100 Site Lite is about a hundred bucks, but I've seen others for as little as $36.

I have the $36 version, got it at wal-mart.

It works well enough to get on paper at 25 yards. I have used it at longer distances, but at an improvised range where distances arent marked I cant really tell you how far it was.

I wouldnt trust it to rezero a scope either.

 

[Avenger29]

You are supposed to start at about 25 yards (incidentally, this is the range I would start for anything for a fresh zero). You can always move out and adjust more once you get on paper. Trying to zero at one hundred and missing the paper is simply wasting money.

I have the el cheapo version. Works good for me, but I rarely have to use it. It's part of my toolkit for when I do, though.

 

[bensdad]

I have a Leopold [sic?] that sticks to the muzzle magnetically. It works by prism. It gets me on paper at 100 yds most of the time. It's sort of wierd though... you gotta tweek with it and get it perfectly vertical. I haven't used it for a couple of years - guns pretty much stay dialed in.

ETA: It was pretty cheap. Maybe 40-50 bucks?

 

[HuntAndFish]

I have a Bushnell and always use it after mounting a scope. Works well to get you in the ballpark.
Mine has probably saved countless hours of time and many rounds of ammo at the range. I would consider it a good investment.

Since I bought mine years ago I don't have much experience with others, so I don't know whether there is much difference in the cheaper versus more expensive.

I use the bore sighter to confirm the scope isn't way off whenever the scope is off of the gun (I don't have any quick detach rings or anything like that) for any reason. I also wouldn't trust it to re-zero the scope though although it will be pretty close.

They still make one similiar to the one I have:

Bushnell Bore Sight

 

[Franco2shoot]

The little know trick

I stumbled onto this after purchasing a 40 dollar .308 cartridge laser. It fits nicely into the chamber and when I first used it Up/down was dead on, but R/L was always off. I just couldn't understand it. I thought a laser beam was straight, and so was the bullet, at least for the first 100 yards. I had put some reflective tape on a tree 100 yards out the back door and the dot was very visible in the late evening. Then one day I got the idea to put a cleaning bag over the muzzle and see where the dot was exiting the barrel. Sure enough it was way to the right edge. To correct this I put a piece of Scotch tape cut like a triangle or arrowhead. Then, I took a magic marker and marked the base so I could tell where the tape on the cartridge case was. It took a little effort, but ultimately I had the laser dot centered down the middle of the barrel when looking at the dot with the cleaners bag over the end. Checking my scope, which I had zero'ed at the range, I found that now the reflection off the tape was dead on... I pushed the laser cartridge out using my cleaning rod and pushing a patch down.

Hope this helps here's some pics that show how far off the dot was before correction:

It was actually easy to get the dot to the center once I knew that was the problem.

KKKKFL

 

[Confederate]

I'm having a tough time visualizing what you're saying. I take it the bore sighter was in the chamber and that somehow the light wasn't coming out straight. What's a cleaning bag? And when you said you "took a magic marker and marked the base" so that you "could tell where the tape on the cartridge case was," I'm a little unclear on that.

Once you fixed the problem, how accurate was the laser bore sighter?