Laser bore sighters

[sikadog]

Could I ask are laser bore sighters any good, if so which is the best one to buy.

 

[Triffid]

I've used two types. One is like a cartridge with the laser built into it so it shines up the barrel. The other is a laser plug with a long stem which goes into the barrel muzzle and has different size inserts which centre the stem it in the barrel.

They both sit in my drawer un-used if that answers your question.

When I fit a scope, I boresight the rifle barrel on a target a few hundred yards away, then adjust scope reticule to match. This will get me on target at 100 or 200 yards, just requiring a couple of shots to fully zero.

The plug type is quite good for practising your shotgun mount though.

Triffid

 

[palo]

Don't waste your money. I tried a few different ones but I can do it a lot quicker by looking down the bore.

 

[sikadog]

Thanks gents.
Triffid you do exactly the same things as I do, I was just looking for an easier way.

 

[The Singing Stalker]

I use a cartridge type. I find it helps. I sometime struggle with boresighting as you want to be looking down the centre of the bore. But I did see where someone took the primer out of a centrefire cartridge and used the case in the bore so you have a smaller hole and in theory, I did say, in theory, it will narrow down the ares you can see in the bore so should be a bit more accurate. But I don’t have a primer extractor so haven’t tried it.

 

[Ratsbadboy]

I've never used a bore sighter and quite frankly could never see the point. At what distance you need to bore sight your rifle will depend essentially on the trajectory of the bullet and height of the scope. For instance, my .243 using 58g v-max ammo is zeroed at 200 yards. This dictated a bore sight distance of around 50 yards (scope height of 1.75 inches), which I did. Of course I had to fine tune the scope at 200 yards but at least the bullet was within 3" of the bull to start with (one of my better attempts). Similarly my .223 using 53g v-max ammo is zeroed at 180 yards and required a bore sight distance of 45 yards to be pretty near on the money at 180 yards. Don't try bore sighting at a couple of hundred yards because the chances are you'll be a mile off (your line of sight is straight, a bullet trajectory isn't).

 

[Bouncingoffthelocks]

I have 1 that goes into the barrel muzzle and self centres - works in cal .17 - .45, I agree with the above comments if just the 1 bolt action. They can be useful if you have a couple of break barrel air rifles in the collection and / or if you are of the lever gun persuasion. Also a good indicator of POA if you want to practice gun mount for something such as driven/ snap shooting or checking iron sight alignment.

 

[kieran222]

Buy or improvise some sand bags for rests which will give you a steady rest for looking down the barrel with your target at 50 yards (even for cf). I have only recently bought sand bags and for zeroing they are brilliant, get your zero accurate and after that it's human error.

 

[jimbo255]

I have the cartridge type one that I bought from a well known Chinese site and it’s been used a couple times when I’ve upgraded scopes. Probably saved me a tenner on rounds. It’s handy as you can easily adjust the crosshairs without having to keep looking down the bore but it’s a luxury rather than a should have IMO