Bore Sighters

[Bryan78]

Has anyone ever used this or the Cabela's equivalent?  I'm thinking of picking the 12 gauge one next weekend if I get off b/c I want to take my Dad to Bass Pro.  Any thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/store ... rchResults

[shaman]

That is a lot of money for one bore sighter for one caliber.  Mine is this one:

http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/b ... x?a=575810


It does a pretty good job, especially on getting your windage figured out. 

[Dan Salmon]

I agree with Shaman. I have one like this and it has served me well.

Bore Sighter

[fasteddie]

The one from Sportsman's Guide looks like a good deal for $30 .
I guess I am just cheap . I shoot mostly single shots . I take my Black & Decker portable vice out to the garage and put one of my scoped barrels in it . I look at my neighbor's lawn lamps down the street , center it in the barrel and then adjust my scope to get the same picture . I take the gun over to the range and I am usually on or very close to the bullseye .

[mgemmill]

Mine is same as Shaman. Got it on E- bay foe 20 bucks. Make sure they have ths shot gun arbor with it. Some are a seperate item !!

[shaman]

ORIGINAL: fasteddie

[size="3"]The one from Sportsman's Guide looks like a good deal for $30 .
I guess I am just cheap . I shoot mostly single shots . I take my Black & Decker portable vice out to the garage and put one of my scoped barrels in it . I look at my neighbor's lawn lamps down the street , center it in the barrel and then adjust my scope to get the same picture . I take the gun over to the range and I am usually on or very close to the bullseye . [/size]

This is probably one of the best ways, especially if the streetlamp is far away from the the barrel. It still won't tell you where the rounds are going to hit, but it tells you that the scope and the barrel are both pointing to the same spot.

[Challenger]

ORIGINAL: fasteddie

The one from Sportsman's Guide looks like a good deal for $30 .
I guess I am just cheap . I shoot mostly single shots . I take my Black & Decker portable vice out to the garage and put one of my scoped barrels in it . I look at my neighbor's lawn lamps down the street , center it in the barrel and then adjust my scope to get the same picture . I take the gun over to the range and I am usually on or very close to the bullseye .

I use the 'Fasteddie' method. It really works quite well. Set your sights using his method & then go down to the range & shoot off 2 or 3 shots at a 25 yard target.

At that range, your shots should be touching or close to it. Where ever those shots land, that's where your gun is actually pointing. Adjust your scope so it now points at that shot group & you're good to go.

Just fine tune at 100 yards, adjust for whatever midrange trajectory you're planning to use & that 12 point buck is yours ... assuming of course he walks in front of you. [:D]

[shaman]

Be careful with a scope and sighting in at 25 yards as a way to get you on the paper at 100 yards. Remember the scope is set higher than the barrel.  That parallax may mean that if you zero at 25 yards and then try to hit a 100 yard target, you'll be a foot or two off the paper shooting high.

Once you know that, you CAN use a 25 yard zero.  A 25 yard zero can give you an idea of where you are regarding windage.  For elevation, it's quite a bit different.  For one thing, a 25 yard zero is a better tool working backwards.  That is, if you have the rifle zeroed for 100 or 200 yards, you can go back and see where it shoots at 25 yards and then let that be a rough guide going forward.

Let's say you have a scoped rifle that's coming out of the case after a plane ride.  You are at camp and can't get a 100 test shot off before dark. Before you left, you zeroed in at 200 yards, checked at 100 yards and knew you were 1" high and then checked at 25 yards and found that you were 1.5 inches low.  Now, when you take that 25 yard shot at camp, you can verify both windage and (rough guess) elevation.  You at least know if the scope was knocked way off during the trip.

Another way to do this is with the bore sighter.  After you get sighted in, slip the bore sighter in and record the exact deviation on the grid.  Store that on a slip of paper in the lens cap of the rifle.  When you get to where you're going, check the deviation again with the bore sighter, and adjust it back to where it was when you left.

[mightyfofaad]

ORIGINAL: shaman

Be careful with a scope and sighting in at 25 yards as a way to get you on the paper at 100 yards. Remember the scope is set higher than the barrel.  That parallax may mean that if you zero at 25 yards and then try to hit a 100 yard target, you'll be a foot or two off the paper shooting high.

???

Well, I guess they still make scopes w/o a parallax adjustment. However, if the 75yd difference between 25 & 100 yds puts you off by 12" to 24" ... you have a real problem with your scope or shooting skill that has nothing to do with parallax! [:(]

Additionally, I think w/o a parallax adjustment between the 25 yd target & the 100 yd target ... you will be shooting low not high at 100 yds ... assuming you're using the Fasteddie/Challenger method of bore sighting. [:)]

_________________________________________________

NO ... you were right about shooting high ... w/o the parallax adjustment your scope will be looking down which will pull your shot up at 100 yds ... DUH. But it really shouldn't put you off the paper for a 75 yd differential [8D]

[Challenger]

ORIGINAL: mightyfofaad

ORIGINAL: shaman

Be careful with a scope and sighting in at 25 yards as a way to get you on the paper at 100 yards. Remember the scope is set higher than the barrel.  That parallax may mean that if you zero at 25 yards and then try to hit a 100 yard target, you'll be a foot or two off the paper shooting high.

Well, I guess they still make scopes w/o a parallax adjustment. However, if the 75yd difference between 25 & 100 yds puts you off by 12" to 24" ... you have a real problem with your scope or shooting skill that has nothing to do with parallax! [:(]

[size=100]Actually, you're both correct.

I guess I should have put a little more meat in my original post. When I bore sight using the previously described method, I am never off (high or low) more than 1 to 2 inches. This amount of deviation will never put you off the paper @ 100 yards, parallax not withstanding.

However, if someone after bore sighting finds themselves off by 6" @ 25 yards; then yes, they will be off the paper @ 100. However, if you're 6" off @ 25 yards, you'd be off the paper @ 100 yards regardless.

What I left out in my original post (in a quest for brevity) was the assumption that one would pop off another 2 or 3 shots while at the 25 yard target to make sure one had adjusted the sights in the right direction before moving onto the 100 yard target.

Incidentally, I've found the biggest problem most shooters have with parallax is in not assuming a correct (full) sight picture when aiming thru the objective lens