Is a Laser Bore Sighter worth it?

Fine Figure of a Man said:

Thirty bucks isn't much and it has certainly been worth that.

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This.

I have a few, they’re cheap, they work, and last forever.

For the average guy with only a couple rifles, it might be a waste of money. For me, I’d venture I have about 1¢ per rifle/scope sunk into my laser boresighters, which is easily offset by the cost of ammo they save - even 22LR might be 10¢/shot, let alone some more potent and far more expensive rounds.

I've had an optical bore sighter since long before lasers were available and it has worked very well to get on paper @ 100 yds. on most rifles with normal sight height.

The problem arises when it comes to AR's or other rifles with high mounts. The AR's are easy, as previously stated, by clamping upper in a vise and bore sighting the old way. Never had a problem getting on paper aligning through the bore directly.

Mounting the high scope on my M1 on a weekend w/no laser available, jury rigged the prism and worked through the problem the old fashioned way.

ChanceMcCall said:

This has always gone with me on long distance hunting trips to check if the travel has affected the zero of the scopes in part to have a method of quickly checking the scope's zero without firing rounds.

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This thought was what convinced me to purchase the optical boresighter in the first place many years ago, but quickly abandoned that idea. My boresighter (uses expandable arbors) and is close enough to get on paper @ 100 yds, but not close enough to zero the rifle. ( POA is slightly different each time when you remove and replace the boresighter.) IOW, you still have to fire a round to be sure zero has not been disturbed IMO.

I can't believe the muzzle type lasers would be any different in that regard. Never used a chamber mounted laser, so can't comment on how precise they would be, but suspect they would have a bit of play in various chambers??

Regards,
hps

I had one of those caliber specific ones for my .30-06 and it worked great for getting me close and then fine tuning by actually shooting. Maybe I just got lucky judging by the other posts?

I’ve had an arbor boresiter for years. It works great but doesn’t work on AR’s. About six years ago I got a good quality laser boresiter. It works great too and both save a lot of time. I got the laser boresiter at dealer cost though. If I didn’t have a small optics mounting business I don’t know if I’d have the laser boresiter.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2130726870/wheeler-engineering-professional-laser-bore-sight(I have the green laser)

On my ARs and bolt rigs, and falling blocks.........I use an apple on my neighbors yonder tree.
Bipods and bags, look through the bore, line up apple, move scope as needed (adjustments reverse since you are aiming w the bore).
Have used corner of yonder barn too.

hps1 said:

Never used a chamber mounted laser, so can't comment on how precise they would be, but suspect they would have a bit of play in various chambers?

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This type works well.

http://sightmark.com/product.php?item=301&cat=239

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/ss...tridge-laser-boresighter#repChildCatid=748772

With the cartridge specific lasers it's a matter of alignment. If it is concentric (meaning put it in a roller and the laser points true while spun) they can be pretty darned close assuming your chamber was cut straight. All of the models I've seen have small adjustment screws which can correct a little bit of misalignment. They fit in the chamber flush just like a regular live round and use the bolt to extract. With the bolt closed the ones I have are repeatable and at 100 yards are within +/- 3 inches of windage, but might be off a little more of elevation. I will see if I can get some photos tonight to post up. My son has a pretty extensive set he uses to boresight new scopes at work.

This type has been terrible in my experience.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/aims-ktmasterred-master-rifle-kit-red.html#qnaAnchor

The issue I experienced with a similar set I own is the laser moves from sleeve to sleeve for different cartridges and is not locked in concentric to the chamber plus without the bolt closed the entire unit is subject to moving. Very frustrating and frankly doesn't work. Sadly I ponied up for a bigger set including pistol and shotgun years ago thinking it might be a great idea. Huge waste of money, but if someone else likes the idea and wants to experiment it could be theirs for a reasonably low price.

illinoisburt said:

I have are repeatable and at 100 yards are within +/- 3 inches of windage, but might be off a little more of elevation.

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Good info, burt, it's been a while since I've used it, but from memory, that's about the same error I expected to get with the Bushnell Optic boresighter (Site Aline" IIRC....name long since gone on case). Does the job of getting first round on paper as a bore sighter, but I never expected rifle to be zeroed w/o test firing.

Regards,
hps

hps1 said:

Good info, burt, it's been a while since I've used it, but from memory, that's about the same error I expected to get with the Bushnell Optic boresighter (Site Aline" IIRC....name long since gone on case). Does the job of getting first round on paper as a bore sighter, but I never expected rifle to be zeroed w/o test firing.

Regards,
hps

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I agree completely but a huge number of people do not bother or are inexperienced/afraid/indifferent to move past the boresighting. A bunch leave as is good enough. So having a fairly close tool is a good thing when dealing with large numbers of someone else's guns. For personal use with just 1 or 2 guns probably not worth the investment if you are willing and able to go shoot and adjust sights yourself.

I use both arbor type and chamber type and have for years. They help make sure your mounts and adjustments are ok before you go to the range and usually they will get you very close. Proper fit and alignment is essential for either type. The chamber type has to be fully seated. Whenever I can I also bore sight by looking down the bore with the gun in a clamp. That way I can also check for plum by using a corner on a building. Not much worse than going to the range and not being on paper. Wheeler levels help too. I never liked optical bore sighters.

Night before the gun opener, the guys at the LGS will be boresighting rifles past closing time.
Way too many people think that bore sighting is the same as zeroing in a rifle.
You explain it to the customers, and they tell you you're wrong and that it's "good enough".
Pretty sad.

The Leupold magnetic seemed to do an OK job.
Just kills me when a salesguy drops the boresighter, or tosses it in the Tipton cradle with all those cheap arse scope ring Allen wrenches.
One guy is a fumble fingers............drops it every other time.
They got a new one, other lasted way longer than I thought.

I've done a lot of rifles, my own and others.
Prefer not to use a boresighting device.
Eyeball it or just wing it.
Always start at 25 yards to check.

One time I had a rifle dead on at 100, from naked eye boresight.
Most on paper at 50, some really close too.
But only one was perfect.

My .300 winmag BDL

It is a tool. That’s all.

entropy said:

Since I already patterned mine, it will be superfluous but, I'll do it and report back here.

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Ok, so I checked my Mod., Full, and , Turkey chokes, with my buddy's laser, and not surprisingly, all were straight, no off-center chokes. I should hope not, two are Briley chokes, the other an Anaconda .670" Turkey choke.

entropy said:

Ok, so I checked my Mod., Full, and , Turkey chokes, with my buddy's laser, and not surprisingly, all were straight, no off-center chokes. I should hope not, two are Briley chokes, the other an Anaconda .670" Turkey choke.

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Good to hear. The bore sighter is a nice "quick and dirty".

I got laser bore sighters with the idea that I'd use them to pre-zero scopes.
I found them to be less than ideal as they wouldn't always show at 25 yds - maybe the lasers weren't good enough.
I went back to the tried & true bore sighting technique.
What I use them for now is dry fire practice against a small dot from 25 feet.

BigSteve57 said:

I got laser bore sighters with the idea that I'd use them to pre-zero scopes.
I found them to be less than ideal as they wouldn't always show at 25 yds - maybe the lasers weren't good enough.
I went back to the tried & true bore sighting technique.
What I use them for now is dry fire practice against a small dot from 25 feet.

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Yes, being able to see any movement of the laser dot when you dry fire is an excellent coaching tool.

rpenmanparker said:

Yes, being able to see any movement of the laser dot when you dry fire is an excellent coaching tool.

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+1^ Not a bore sighter, but a Crimson Trace on 1911 is excellent tool to verify dry firing results.
Regards,
hps

I saw a shooter use one to set up his chronograph. It was by far the most useful tool for the job. It is irritating waiting on shooters to get their chronograph set up.

Aim1 said:

I’m assuming you use a laser bore sighter to reduce the time it takes to sight in a rifle and also save ammo. If I’m incorrect please correct me.

If this is the case though, are they worth it?

Who uses one and who doesn’t?

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I have one made by Cabelas that goes in the bore and uses different plastic plugs to center it in the bore. I get the rough sight it on all my rifles with it. It gets me very close to center and only takes 2-3 shots until I am sighted in. With open sights I use it to set the red dot just above the bead. I used it to sight in my open sighted with a peep 30-30 and shot it on paper one shot and it was dead center. Then I used that gun to make my first ever 30-30 deer kill this year on a deer that was 60 yards away. Bullet right behind the foreleg and through the heart.

I have had it so long I don't remember what it cost. But it has been worth every penny to me.

jlr1962 said:

I saw a shooter use one to set up his chronograph. It was by far the most useful tool for the job. It is irritating waiting on shooters to get their chronograph set up.

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That would work well.

Easy one man chrono setup (w/bolt gun):

1) Remove bolt and set up on bags aiming @Target (helps if you have white background behind the rifle)

2) Set up chronograph and move so that you can see daylight through bore @ correct height looking back through screens......Done

Regards,
hps

Just used my SiteLite 150 this morning while breaking in the barrel on my new Nolser M48. Boresighted the scope using the tgt grid provided taking into account the scope distance from bore and wanting the impact 2" high. Result at 100 yards:



8 clicks right:



Should have come down a couple. The 3 shot group measured at .540" and was shot in 10-13 MPH wind while cleaning after each shot using a 'scratch' load I put together to break the barrel in. It looks like this rifle has potential.

I guess the most primitive bore-sighting I ever did was when I lived in town for a while. I set some books on the dining table and pointed the rifle out the window. I used the rear-view mirror of a parked car some 75 yards away as the center for the bore. Twiddled around until the bore-center and the crosshairs were very close.

Then, later, had the chance to begin "reality" at 25 yards. Dead center at 25 put me within three inches at 100 by the third shot. After that, piece of cake.

Good cost/benefit ratio, seems like to me.

Maybe this one is worth it.
https://gun.deals/product/30-midten...-switch-022-050-caliber-rifles-handgun-red-la

The one I have works very well and is still going strong after owning it for a number of years. But it is expensive.