How To Use A Laser Bore Sight 2022 Guide
Using a laser bore sight to initially zero your rifle scope without leaving your house is a huge plus.
Have you ever struggled to zero your scope on the range and only realize your shots were way off target, especially over 50 – 100 yards?
To quickly dial your scope reticle without wasting any ammo, you can either get a larger paper target to see your hits or one of the best laser bore sights we have chosen here.
In this article we’ll teach you 5 quick steps to zero a scope without firing any shots or leaving your home below:
Table of Contents
What is a Bore Sight?
So that there is no misunderstanding, let’s first define what a bore sight is.
A bore sight is a tool that makes it quick and easy to quickly align, or at least get very close to aligning, the sights of your gun with the point of impact. Once you’ve done that, there won’t need to be many adjustments after you dial everything in with a firing test.
They come in a few different varieties, but they all enable you to quickly zero your scope or sights with the least amount of effort and rounds fired.
They work really well when installing new sights on a handgun or when using rifles where you can’t simply line up your scope by looking down from the bore to the muzzle.
And they’re still faster and more precise for most people than the old reliable “look down the bore” method anyway. They work perfectly for laser devices that use both visible and infrared light for sighting.
How Exactly Do Bore Sights Work?
Bore sights operate by beaming a laser dot either directly at the target from the muzzle or from the gun’s chamber down the barrel. This enables you to quickly align your sights with the laser dot, and then boom, you’re on target.
The contraptions either come with a probe of some sort that you insert into the muzzle or are made to resemble cartridges for the relevant rounds and are chambered normally. The target is then illuminated by a laser, and you simply align your sights or optic with the laser dot.
Then, all you need to do is confirm your zero, which usually only requires one or two shots, and you’ll be very likely close enough to see your shots clearly striking paper at 25 yards.
Why Use a Bore Sight?
Simply put, if you can’t sight down the barrel of your gun to look at the target and line things up there, they’re a lot quicker and easier to use than most other traditional methods. In our opinion, a laser bore sight is the best option for firearms like pistols and shotguns.
They also make sighting your rifle much easier, though you can still sight down the bore with your eyes if you think your vision is good enough for the job.
5 Steps to Zero Your Optic With a Laser Bore Sight
I have put together a quick 5 step process for zeroing a scope without firing any shot or leaving your home below:
1. Chamber Safety Check
Before you start zeroing your scope at home in your living room, it is absolutely important to make sure your rifle chamber is clear before proceeding.
Avoid unintentional rifle discharges at home or on the range. Safety comes first.
2. Setup the Bore Sight
There are two types of bore sight, one type fits in the chamber like a bullet, and the other you insert in front of your muzzle with an adapter and it works for various calibers. The chamber bore sight is my personal favorite because it is made to fit into the chamber precisely, but it is limited to one specific caliber.
- Chamber laser bore sight – Just load it like how you would with a bullet and you’re done
- Arbor-based laser bore sight – Prior to choosing the appropriate screw to fasten it to the end of the laser sight, choose the appropriate caliber adapter. This will result in the creation of two contact points, one of which will fit flush inside the barrel and the other of which will fit with the muzzle for alignment.
Turn on the laser and you’re done with this step
3. Stabilize Your Rifle
This is the simple part. you can either use a gun vise or bipod with shooting bags to stabilize your rifle on the table or bench.
As you work to zero the scope, don’t handheld it. A gun vise will give you the best stabilization but it isn’t necessary, and I highly encourage you to however get some low-cost shooting bags.
4. Dial Your Scope to the Laser Pointer
First, set up a target or use the reflective target that was included in the package.
Next, just dial your elevation and windage adjustments until the reticle is aligned with the laser dot. It is strongly advised to do this from a sufficient distance, such as 25 yards.
If you’re zeroing this at home and have only 20 feet to work with, this will only help you get a preliminary zero for a scope that is severely out of alignment on your rifle; you still need to confirm the alignment at a greater distance.
This is also a perfect time to zero backup offset sights and red dot sights on your rifle.
5. Confirm Zero With Live Ammo
Once you’re confident you have a good alignment, remove the laser bore and take it to the range and verify zero with live ammo.
Note: A laser will shoot straight to infinity, For long-distance shots, please keep in mind bullet drop when verifying zero.
Use Bore Sight for a Red Dot Sight Zero
With a laser bore sight, zeroing a red dot sight is very simple. Most calibers shoot perfectly straight up to 25 – 50 yards including pistol calibers, and they’re common zero distances for a red dot sight.
It is advised to set up your bore sight at the range or in your backyard and then simply adjust your optic to the laser dot mentioned in step 4.
How to Calibrate a Laser Bore Sight
You need not worry because the laser always fires straight. Selecting an item that is precisely made will ensure that it fits correctly on the muzzle or in the chamber. That is the only thing you need to pay attention to.
The last thing to remember is that the laser bore sight only lets you initially zero your scope, it’s not guaranteed that your bullet will hit exactly where the laser dot lands.
Avoid being the person who insists the bullet must strike the spot where the laser bore sight was zeroed. For accuracy, make sure to check it with live ammunition.
What’s the Effective Distance for a Laser Bore Sight
Up to 100 yards, a visible laser can be seen shooting straight with no issues, but before doing anything, it is crucial to align the laser bore sight with the barrel.
Last but not least, consider your specific caliber’s bullet drop. Your bullet may miss the same target or point of impact where the laser can strike from a distance.
25 yards up to 100 yards is a good reference distance for a boresight when zeroing a red dot sight or a magnified scope.
Determine the shooting distance and, when zeroing, take the height of the scope into consideration.
Boresighting VS Zeroing
Boresighting is a method of adjusting the optic to the firearm barrel.
Zeroing is adjusting the optic to the point of aim and point of impact.
The purpose of a laser bore sight is to establish an initial zero for your scope so that you can avoid wasting time and ammunition on the range attempting to dial in your elevation and windage turrets.
The scope is never at the same elevation as the barrel, so you must measure the scope’s distance from the bore axis. The further the scope is from the barrel, the more inaccurate the aiming will be.
For a shot with live ammunition to be 100% certain, zeroing is still necessary.
Laser Bore Sight Wrap Up
It is quicker and more efficient to initially zero your scope using a laser bore sight. All you got to do is follow the 4 simple steps:
- Safety check
- Properly mount the laser bore sight
- Stabilize your rifle
- Align the scope reticle to the laser pointer
- Confirm zero with live ammo
It’s a great tool to keep in your range bag because it saves both time and ammunition.
I sincerely hope that you will find this useful when you are in the future zeroing your rifle scopes or red dot sights.
