Bore Sighter I inherited; worth keeping?

[BombthePeasants]

Dear Sirs,

My grandfather passed away last year, and I recently received some odds and ends that no one else wanted. Among them was a Bushnell Bore Sighter. It is a curious device, and I'm wondering why he never seemed to have used it. Is it a gimmick device, or does it really work?

 

[SIGSHR]

Yes, mine works fine, it is a proven design, somewhat older technology, nowadays many prefer the laser models. Remember a bore sighter will basically get you on paper, it is not a real substitute for a range session. Make sure
you have the correct arbor for the caliber and make sure you have REMOVED the arbor from the barrel BEFORE you actually fire. I recommend removing the bolt when you use it at the range.

 

[jmr40]

All bore sighters are a gimmick. I've never seen where one would ever save a single round of ammo getting a gun zeroed.

 

[Bart B.]

I've used Bushnell and have a Sweaney one. Both are good. Bought a set of Bushnell adjustable spuds to use with my Sweaney as the 30 caliber one that came with it is .2988" diameter and won't go into my .2980" and .2985" bore diameter barrels.

They save some time and ammo. Best use is checking repeatability of scope adjustments. Helps when changing sights, too.

Bore sighters were never intended to get zeros on sights. Only the first shot close to point of aim on letter size target at 50 yards or so. And primarily for lever actions and semiautos. Once a zero is set on the sights, the rifle's bore and therefore the sighter's axis never aligns to a point on a downrange target an amount equal to bullet drop plus LOS height above bore axis above bullet impact.

 

[geetarman]

I use the laser ones. If you spend any time moving a scope from one rifle to another, they will prove handy. I have picatinny rails on a lot of my rifles and sometimes switch a high magnification scope for one with lower magnification. The bore sighter makes it simple to get the first shot on paper at 25 yards and you don't have to take a bolt out or use a mirror. Either way works. For me, the laser bore sighter is quick.

 

[HiBC]

I found an older Redfield brand on ebay cheap,I bought it for other things besides bore sighting,but

The arbor spuds are hardened steel,and split to compress a bit,

they do not just slip in to the muzzle holding them thumb and forefinger

I will not force something like that into the muzzle of my rifle.

Sure,I can spin it and polish it down,I might sometime,if I have a real need.

Not yet,so,I have not really used it.

 

[Goatwhiskers]

Quite useful to get the first shot on paper at 25 or 50, I've seen people burn up a whole box of ammo and not touch the target. After my rifle is sighted in I record the windage and elevation grid coordinates, good to have to recheck your scope. I've done this for years to double check a scope on a customer's rifle when I had to remove the scope. GW

 

[Blindstitch]

I bought one of those cartridge laser bore sighters recently and with every rotation in the barrel it moves. I took it to the range and it was way off. Got home and rotated the bore sighter till the laser was dead on in the scope. Then opened the bolt and marked a line on the top.

Reinserted it about a dozen times and it's on. In this case I don't know if it will be on with other rifles but it may be useful if I need to put another scope on this rifle.

If it wasn't a lever gun I would have just bore sited it through the bore and spent the price of the bore sighter on ammo.

 

[Unlicensed Dremel]

All bore sighters are a gimmick. I've never seen where one would ever save a single round of ammo getting a gun zeroed.

Well, my Leupold Optical one certainly does, so clearly you've not seen this one.

 

[Goatwhiskers]

I've seen rifle/scope combos brought to a range that the owner used up a box of ammo and couldn't hit paper at 25yds, much less 100. Boresight the thing and center the crosshairs, shoot one at 25, dial in the required adjustment, then you're on target at 100. Then you can work on finessing the adjustment. A lot of people believe that lining up with a boresighting device is the same as sighting in on a range. Sounds unbelievable but I've met such people. GW

 

[Pahoo]

Get to know them/it

Bore-Sighters are a useful tool. One of the biggest problem I see, is that most Gun-Guys really don't use them enough to get to understand them. Also, their usage has limitations. For example I seldom need to use one, on bolt actions. Also pretty much useless on handguns. Now, I'm primarily talking about the arbor types, like the one you have. Get to know it and you will find it handy. Currently I own two arbor types and one laser. I use them all .....

Be Safe !!!

 

[imp]

I've had one for a while. I forget the brand, but the arbors are junk. However, its close enough for me to set a scope at home, and be on the paper when I get to the range. Maybe it does save a round or two, but its no substitute for a proper sight-in.

 

[Jimro]

Boresighters are useful when you can't get an unobstructed look down the barrel from the rear to get the scope close. They are also useful for zeroing lasers so you don't spend a lot of ammo getting the laser dialed in.

Dang near required if you have a coaxial machine gun

Jimro

 

[thallub]

i install scopes and sight in the rifles for their owners. Have used a Bushnell and a couple other brands of conventional boresighters in the past. Went to a laser boresighter about ten years ago. A laser boresighter allows me to put the first round somewhere on the target 50 oards. It saves a lot of time and ammo.

 

[giaquir]

Of course you should keep it.It was your
grandfathers!

Now I think there is no need for them.
The fun of owning a rifle is zero-ing it in and
this can done quite efficiently without one.