The fallacy of bore sighting ???????

bakerboy

bakerboy

New member
We have all seen the youtube videos and countless written instructions by reputable people telling you to pick a spot on the wall, align the bore to it and adjust your scope to it. Please correct me if i am wrong, but i believe this approach is a disservice. The last time i tried this, i was a good 15 inches high at 100 yds. With the scope dialed in now, repeating the wall spot check, my crosshair is above the bore. My mostly forgotten trig tells me that dialing a scope that is 1-2 inches above the bore down to hit the bore line at 20 or thirty feet will create a dispersion of 1 to 2 FEET at 100 yards. Have i got this messed up or should they be telling folks to adjust the crosshair above the dot on the wall? Thanks, Bakerboy.
 
I’ve never tried it on a wall, but aligning the reticle with the bore at 100 yards will get me on a sheet of notebook paper every time.
 
When I mount a new scope I use a laser bore sight at about 30 ft here in the house. Using a marked piece of tape on a door at the end of the hall, I align the crosshairs for windage and set the elevation slightly less than the scope height above the bore.
 
Originally Posted By: fw707I’ve never tried it on a wall, but aligning the reticle with the bore at 100 yards will get me on a sheet of notebook paper every time.

This
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When you bore sight at 100 yards you will be close. Bore sighting on a dot on your wall in your home, you need to remember the center of the scope will be at least 1.5" above your bore, so your assumption is correct IMO.
 
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I have a leupold magnetic boresighter that gets me well on paper everytime except once with a Savage where I had to borrow a Tasco boresighter with an arbor.
This has saved a bunch of fuss and ammo over the decades.
Now for scope swaps it is easy to take a reference sighting and set it back very close to the same spot.
 
It's not a fallacy because certain people can't do it. Like anything it takes practice.
Keep doing it you'll get it. I've had no issue bore sighting once I learned to do it prone.
 
I have a 100 meter Underground Rifle Range that I boresight all my Rifles In. I pull the bolt or the upper off and have a special homemade rest that I use to boresight and than adjust the scope so they are right on the money. Always within 2” and do a couple minor adjustments.

I have done at least 4-5 rifles a week for other members of the range now for over 4 years, so I must be doing something right. Lots of rifles come in fresh from the local 3 gunshops in town, “Boresighted” and once I have the guns setup in my rest, I let the owner look through the scope to see how far off there boresighted gun is, and than try to show them how I boresight so they can do there own rifles in the future.

I don’t believe in the 25 yard sightin that some claim will have you close at 100 yards. I will prove you wrong with my 100 meter sightin every time.

Good luck on whatever works for you guys, just sharing what works for me.
 
I use a laser boresighter. At 20 yards. The kit came with a target that has an bullseye and a plus sign above it. You put the laser dot on the bull and the crosshairs on the plus sign. This will get me from one inch to 6 inches zero'd everytime at 100. For years i used the look down the bore to a spot on the wall. Honestly I got about the same results. I have never considered bore sighting anything but an step to get on paper at 100 yards.
 
Do the wall and a dot on it. When at the range I just start at 25 yards get it about 3/4” low at 25 and that has me pretty close at 100.
 
I do it from my living room but pick something about a 100 yards out the window and line the bore and cross hairs up then go the range when I can
 
3 shots into a dirt bank puts me on paper close to the bulls. Less money and one less gadget to maintain with batteries. Thats for any gun that I cant bore site with my eyeballs.
 
worthless. Riflemann is doing it the cotrect way, im sure he saves alot on ammo
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I concur and that method has worked for me on multiple rifles.
 
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Well, I don't have an underground tunnel or a special rest just for sighting in so I just use what works for me. Even using a boresighter doesn't always guarantee your going to break paper at 100yds. Usually, yes, but sometimes no. I usually can look through the bore and align my scope that way but sometimes I just have to go to 25 yds to get on paper. Not very often but never say never. Whatever works for you is best. Everyone has their own way of doing things and doesn't always mean it wrong, or worthless, just different.Does it really matter how we get there as long as we get there?
 
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