Boresighter - worth it?

[clocker]

Just wanted to get an opinion on whether boresighters are worth the money or not? I do most of my own maintenance including replacing sights on the pistols and swapping scopes on the rifles. Seems like a boresighter would come in handy for getting close before going to the range.

On the other hand I was talking with some of the local range staff and they said to skip the expense and just dial the sights or scopes in at the range. Hmm.

A little online research basically broke it down into
1. Bullet type boresights - low power. Need one for each caliber. Not necessarily very accurate
2. Cheap muzzle boresighters - low / medium power. Multi-caliber. Still can be inaccurate
3. Expensive muzzle boresighters - medium / high power. Usually have arbors or other way to make them quite accurate. Some come with scope leveling crosshairs.

What's your thoughts or experience? Any favorite boresighter model if you use one?

Thanks!

[Colorado Osprey]

I have a cheap Simmons bore sighter. I use it to get the guns close before sighting them in at the range.
I also re-check the scope after sighting them in to see where they lay after. Write down these specs and put them in the bore sight case. If you want to check to see if the gun is still sighted in you can put your bore sight back in and check against your written down specs to see if it might have moved. Great confirmation that a rifle is still sighted in before a hunt.

[spleify]

I bought one of the cheap Bushnell ones too and I thought it was a waste of money. If you put it in the end of the muzzle and pointed it at the wall say 20 feet away, then turned the bore site it would make a circle on the wall about 3 feet in diameter. Just shows how off it was and it really depended where you had the bore site at. I got rid of it it wasnt for me.

If the upper breaks off the lower or you can remove the bolt you can get far closer by bore sighting it yourself than you will with a cheap laser. JME

YMMV

**EDIT** Correction on the brand I used, it was the Bushnell http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-740100C-Laser-Boresighter/dp/B001AGF9N6

[Colorado Osprey]

I'm sorry, Mine is a optical kit, not a light or laser set up. There is nothing to break or go wrong.
Simmons Bore Sighter Kit with 15 Studs Set from .17 through .50 Caliber These have been discontinued but can still be bought for around $30. Waaay cheaper than a box of shells in hunting calibers to sight in.... or at least get you in the ball park.

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm?contentID=productDetail&prodID=SN801480
http://www.natchezss.com/images/products/SN801480.jpg

http://www.barska.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/barska-boresighter4.png
The image is like the one shown and you just adjust your scope to be in the center of the display.
After sighting in write down where your scope ended up so you can check if your scope is still sighted in.

[BPTactical]

You get what you pay for. Unless you do a bunch of scope changes/mountings etc can you really justify 2-300.00 for a quality set up. I guarantee I probably do a bunch more than you and I cannot justify the expense. I can sight them by eye and get you on paper @ 25yds typically.
I can think of other tooling that is much more useful.

The collimator set above is much more economical.

[ColoWyo]

Set a target up at 25 yards. Remove the bolt, look down the barrel and center up the target as you look down the barrel. Simply make the cross hairs match what you see when you look down the barrel.

[sellersm]

Set a target up at 25 yards. Remove the bolt, look down the barrel and center up the target as you look down the barrel. Simply make the cross hairs match what you see when you look down the barrel.

^This. It's the way I was taught to do it many, many years ago. Seems to work!

[clocker]

Hard to do sight down the bore on pistols, but I get where you are all coming from. Agreed with BPTactical that the money could be used better somewhere else.

Thanks for the advice!

[HBARleatherneck]

delete

[Chrispy]

picked up 3 from amazon, 5.56, 7.62, and 12 ga. cost about $8 each they are too low power to see at 50 yards during the day. i sat on my deck and put the dot on a tree about 100 paces out (manual says 100 yards), adjusted the scope.. first day on the range i was on the paper with the first shot. couple minor adjustments and both my SKS and AR are dead on, assuming i can hold it steady and not jerk the trigger... lol

worth it? id pay 8-12 dollars as a recreational shooter. i dont think id spend 40+ unless i was using it a lot,

[ben4372]

Hard to do sight down the bore on pistols, but I get where you are all coming from. Agreed with BPTactical that the money could be used better somewhere else.

Thanks for the advice!

Unless its a barrel built into the slide, like a Desert Eagle you take the barrel out.

[BPTactical]

Unless its a barrel built into the slide, like a Desert Eagle you take the barrel out.

And accomplish what?

[ben4372]

And accomplish what?
exactly nothing, that's why its bad advice.

[MCarp71]

Set a target up at 25 yards. Remove the bolt, look down the barrel and center up the target as you look down the barrel. Simply make the cross hairs match what you see when you look down the barrel.


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