Bore sighting

[nealm66]

I've had to help quite a few guys that show up at the range with a brand new rifle/scope get on paper at 100 yards before they blow through a box of expensive ammunition. Most of the time it's after they've used one of those laser things that never seem to work. The easiest is to be a couple inches low at 25 but one range I shoot at doesn't have anything out to 100 so have to go old school and pull the bolt. This last time a friend of a friend with a very nice rifle was about to throw the towel and upon sighing through the bore it was easily apparent he was way high. Well his scope wouldn't allow because of the zero and again he was ready to purchase a different rail. Upon inspection I could see he just needed to pull the cap and a screw mechanism , then replace the turret after finding the hero. I'm not sure why but I've never seen one of those laser things work as good as just sighting down the bore and adjusting the reticle to match. Hope this helps someone

 

[FireFlyFishing]

I've been known to look down the barrel to sight in a rifle. I also bring big sheets of butcher paper and a spotting scope.

 

[nealm66]

I can usually be inside 2-3" at 100 if I can find a good target that centers easily in the bore standing back a ways.

 

[K.E.C.]

I always check before shooting, by bore sighting. For a new scope.
And your right a lot of people don't know.

 

[nealm66]

Definitely haven't seen one of those laser things save any ammunition. Always feel bad for inexperienced shooters who keep firing shots and looking for holes that aren't there. Especially these days with the high cost of ammunition

 

[quigley257]

I've been doing the qualification shooting of the rifles here at H-S Precision for over eight years now. After qualifying thousands of rifles and mounting and zeroing too many scopes to count, I have it down pat. It amazes people when they watch me eyeball a new rifle, adjust the scope and put the first rounds on paper at 100 yards, usually within a few inches of point of aim. It's really not that difficult when you know how to do it. I've mounted and set up new scopes at the public range while random fudds watch like a goat staring at a gate, only to tell me that I need to get "one of those laser things that you stick in the barrel". I'm always willing to teach and help out, but the audience has to be willing and capable of learning. With the price and availability of ammo, it's nice to be able to get zeroed quickly.

 

[nealm66]

I agree 100%. I have friends who are very successful hunters that have brought me rifles that i suspect wouldn't hold a pattern at 25 yards the way things were assembled. This last guy I helped was one of the best shots off bipods I've seen and that includes at 600yd bench rest competitions. He's taken some long range courses and has a guided hunt elk kill at over 900 yards. He was literally punching one hole at 100 meters and hitting 3"gongs at 550 yards in less than 20 rounds with factory ammunition. He was just inexperienced with the basics

 

[memtb]

I've been known to look down the barrel to sight in a rifle. I also bring big sheets of butcher paper and a spotting scope.

^^^^^^ This ^^^^^

I'm pretty old school and never got one of those new laser "thingies"!
The freezer paper has always served me well…..and no batteries to replace! memtb

 

[ceard]

I have been very successful getting within 3-10in from center by finding or taking a small bright colored object though the bore at around 30-50 yards and tracking the reticle to it without moving the rifle. It has worked for ARs as well by setting the upper with no bolt or lower attached on something that can hold it. Just remember your turret movements are backwards doing it this way. The first time I tried it I moved the reticle 2 or 3 times before realizing I had to turn the turrets backwards from when you are firing rounds.

 

[Pureblood]

What is the best way to bore sight an AR ?

 

[Sealesniper]

I have seen several brands of laser bore sighters that work OK, but I only use the sight down the bore technique. The real issue I have seen with the laser sighters, is the shooter forgetting to remove it from the bore. For this reason alone, I will never use one.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

I've never understood how so many people struggle with this. Pull the bolt, find an object (the brighter the better) to center up in the bore and adjust the reticle to it. It usually gets me within a couple inches at 100 yards.

I did that last week with two rifles just using my 3'x3' or so target backer and again within a couple inches of center with the first shot. The guy a few benches down from me brought a massive piece of cardboard from a refrigerator or something and put a pie plate in the center of it and was still riding the struggle bus trying to get his rifle on paper.

What is the best way to bore sight an AR ?

Pull the BCG and look down the barrel just like a bolt gun.

 

[nealm66]

I think bore sighting takes a little practice and figuring out what centers in the bore good, sighting down it, might be why. But I just haven't seen any of them ( lasers) work very well.

 

[Ol' Red]

Guilty. I had a new barrel installed on an old Remington 722. The last few weekends the winds were between 25 to 70 MPH. So I sighted the new scope with a laser dot in the end of the barrel. I wasted 8 to 10 rounds getting near the target. I will go back to sighting down the bore from now on. Laser sighter will go in a yard sale.