Bore sighters (chamber)

I'd say their an ingenious answer to a non existent problem.

Money would be better spent buying a good Lead Sled or equivalent.
 
I've tried the 'in chamber' laser light bore sighters, as well as the 'stick in the barrel' type...While they are decent for getting you on paper initially at 25-35 yards, they don't give really good results past that point...

I've found that by visually looking through the bore at a small distant object and aligning my reticle while keeping the firearm in a stable position, I get the same, or better, results...Then, it's just a matter of final elevation adjustments...I have a neighbor that has their basketball goal at almost a perfect 100 yard distance from my back door...The little square outline above the basket makes a perfect aiming point for bore sighting...
 
Learn to properly shoot your rifle from a bench rest. Start at 25...look down the bore, get it close...dial it in. These things are just gimmicks IMO.
 
I have the stick in the barrel type. every gun but two have been within 2". One was 6" high the other was 8" left.

They are not perfect, but if used properly they should get you on paper.

I have played with the chambered types and my results were mixed. I had a couple that werent even on paper at 50. Stuck my regular one in the barrel. And after a bunch of clicks, was good to go.





 
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I have a magnetic one by leupold that sticks on the end of the barrel. It gets me on paper quick. I can mount a scope anytime of day and know it will be be ready to sight in.
Another benefit is if I want to swap scopes it is easy to take a reference reading of the sighted scope to set new one.
this saves ammo and time.
 
I don't bother with the chamber type, but have used the 'stick-in-the-muzzle' type for several years now. It's just way too easy. Not all firearms (not talking just rifles) let you look through the bore to get yourself "boresighted". For example, I've used mine on Win 94's, shotguns (had to get creative with the centering arbors = funnel for the muzzle, then a couple cut 20ga hulls for the bore centering insert), semiauto rifles, Revolvers, pistols, etc etc.

One advantage over spying through the bore is that you don't have to worry about the rifle moving. I'm the worst about moving a rifle in a fixture when boresighting, so when I go from the bore to the scope, and back again, I end up chasing my tail.

As others have mentioned, they aren't perfect, but they're cheap enough, I paid $30 for mine. The chamber mounted ones seem great, but they're expensive, and you need an arbor for every chamber.

One 'sneaky trick' I use these things for is to double check my zero in my scope without firing a shot. Once I sight in, I throw the crosshairs on a target at 30yrds, and mark the position of the laser dot on a reference paper. Then if I bump my scope I can drop the arbor in and make sure the dot and the crosshairs are in the same position.

Ultimately, I bought mine cheap so I could sight in a firearm that I couldn't sight down the bore, then saw how handy it was, so I use it for everything now.

But no, it doesn't really save you any shots over just looking through the bore.
 
Thats the beauty of the magnetic type that stick on the barrel. They have the target grid built in for very good reference and it does not have to be fit to bore changes.
Referenced scopes often are right back on when doing maintenance or a repair or a change that requires scope removal.
This has definitely saved shots.
 
I bore sight all the time. 100 yards just by looking theough the bore. Im usually in the black, no need for spending any money. For harder action styles just look down the side of the barrel and use a larger than normal target. Cheap and easy.
 
I have a cheap BSA stick in the barrel type and it works great. It is easier for me to do it that way than looking down the bore.
 
Thirty years ago someone gave me a Bushnell boresighter that used the barrel inserts. I still swear by it today when installing a new scope.

Good for 20 yards or so? No, I use it for 100 yard setup and it is usually right on the money requiring only minor adjustment.
 
I have several different type of laser bore sighting devices. I have the several of the type that you slide down into the barrel. And then I have one chamber type that's for the 223 chambered rifles.

I used the .223 chambered one in my new AR to mount a new Nikon Rifle Scope. Someone told me to sight the cross hairs in at 1.5" low at 25 meter and that would get me on paper at 100 yards. Now I had done this twice before on a borrowed AR15 so this was not really my first rodeo. But my first shot at the Rifle range at 100 yards was straight in the middle of the bulls eye on a Shoot N C type target. I was very pleased with the chamber bore sighting device. I also got lucky. I did the same thing with my neighbor's borrowed AR15 High Standard and the first shot was on paper but it was 8" high and 3" to the right of the bulls eye. The second time I did the bore sighting thing with his AR15 ( got a new scope and had to redo the bore sighting in with his rifle) I was closer but not on the bulls eye with the first shot. So with my new Ambush AR15 I has some practice dialing in the right amount of offset on the cross hairs at 25 yards to get me on paper at 100 yards. So I was very lucky to get the first shot right in the middle of the bulls eye. I was also very happy as I didn't have to waste any more ammo. I don't think I could repeat that again but maybe I could! LOL. BTW: I removed the RRA scope rings and Nikon scope from the New Ambush 5.56's Picatinny rail to clean the gun and to pack it away. So the next time I re attached the scope mount to the Ambush and took it to the range to check out some new Hornady 68 gr 223 ammo the very first shot was in the bulls eye. All three of my first three shots with this Hornady 68 Gr 223 ammo were inside the bulls eye. In fact I shot another three rounds of the Hornady 55 gr 223 and they were all inside the bulls eye. Then I shot some Remington AccuTip 55 gr. 223's and they were all inside the bulls eye. I did shoot slow and allowed the gun to cool between shots. It was not until I started shooting Remington PSP 223 ammo that I had a few fliers outside the bulls eye. But they were all still within the first circle outside the bulls eye. The points or tips of the Rem Point Soft Point PSP shells are not very aerodynamic at all. In fact they seemed to be deformed a lot. They are certainly not pointed. And one of the Hornady Bullet types was a Hollow Point boat tail bullet. I can't remember if it was the 68 grain or the 55 grain ones. One of the Hornady boxes has the Max V bullets in it with the polymer plastic tips on them. I liked the looks of those. A boxy of 20 Hornady rounds cost me $22.99 at the local gun store. But the Remington AccuTips cost about $34. The Remington UMC type bullets shot well too. They are a solid copper coated bullet for plinking and varmit hunting. I'll take a box of those any day. they cost around $12 at Gander Mountain. Also shot a box of Federal 223 FMJ type 223's and they did pretty good too. At 200 yards they were all within the first circle outside the bulls eye. It was windy the day I went to the range to shoot and test all these new bullets with my new Ambush AR 15 5.56. I shot more this day than I have in 35 years.

I have two of the stick in the barrel type of the same brand but one is for 22 cal and up while the other is for 0.177 cal and up. The latter is for my Bone Collector 0.177 cal pellet gun while the former is used for the 22 and the 222 rifles that I own.

While you can look down the bore of a rifle and get the scopes setup it's easier for me to put the gun in a vise and adjust the scope windage and elevation while shining a bright laser bream down the barrel.

PS: I use a reflective target that's specially designed to bore sight in guns with the laser device. This allows me to use a red laser light in bright daylight. Other wise you may have to do this at dusk or dawn or a night in order to see the red laser light well.

One of my stick in the barrel type laser bore sighting devises uses a Green Laser light instead of the red. I can see this one better than the red one.


PSS: the best way to do this is with a target that reflects the laser light well. Regular paper targets won't do this even at close range in broad daylight.

PSSS: Unless you use a level on both the gun and the rifle scope you may find that the rifle scope is canted relative to the rifle itself and will be off at longer ranges.

Wheeler Engineering makes a nice professional Scope Mounting Kit that includes a way to get your scope rings in line by lapping them with a lapping tool and lapping compound and then testing to see if the scope rings are lined up properly. If you are on a budget then by all means you don't have to do this but if you enjoy making things very accurate and like to precisely setup the scopes on your rifles then visting wheeler engineering to check out that they have on their web site.

Disclaimer: I don't have any of the Wheeler Stuff right now but am looking to buy some of their levels at first. Then I may get the professional rifle scope mounting kit latter due to budget constraints right now. I need to buy a night hunting light for my new AR15 Ambush 5.56 rifle.
 
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Skimmed the above, touching on target selection. I've used all kinds over the years including the shoot'n see type. I've yet to find anything that's easier to use than a piece of plain white paper. So cheap its free and the black hole/bright paper contrast makes finding holes easier than anything.
 


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