Let's see if I have this all in proper perspective. Once you have bore sighted your rifle you still have to fine tune it at the distance you wish to use it. Hummmmm.

Or shoot three shots at 25 yards. Three shots at 50 yards. Three shots at 100 yards. And in my case what ever it takes to get right on at 200 yards plus three more shots at 200 yards to varify.

I'll continue the latter. It seems less expensive and you get (maybe) more practice and besides, it's more fun...

The 2 times I paid, they both were more than a foot off !!!

I’ve since bought a bore-sighter and have never been off by more than about 4-5 inches, (100 yards) usually well under 2 ½ inches.
I even rolled up paper and used it for filler because I didn’t have the right arbor for 12 gauge.

One time when I was mounting a new scope on my Browning I put a 3" red dot on my neighbor's garage door that was about 50 yards across the street and lined the rifle [with the bolt out] up with that dot by looking down the bore. Then I adjusted the scope cross hairs to match the bore.

Went to the range and found that I was 2" high and 1/2" to the left at 100 yards. And 1" low and 1" to the left at 200 yards. Very minor adjustments later and WHA-LA!! Works for me...

I forgot to removethe red dot from my neighbor's garage door. He was a might curious about that...

That’s called bore sighting Redneck style !!!

That’s the way I use to do it..............be surprised how good you can get at it !!!

Don't know about it being "redneck style"...It works.

I use Bushy's technique with similar results.

The last one I did I used a 3/4" target paster dot on a string (plumb bob) at about 30 feet. I put the dot just under the cross hairs so it set on the plex. It allowed me to true up the scope reticle and bore sight at the same time.

Bushmaster wrote:

One time when I was mounting a new scope on my Browning I put a 3" red dot on my neighbor's garage door that was about 50 yards across the street and lined the rifle [with the bolt out] up with that dot by looking down the bore. Then I adjusted the scope cross hairs to match the bore. Went to the range and found that I was 2" high and 1/2" to the left at 100 yards. And 1" low and 1" to the left at 200 yards. Very minor adjustments later and WHA-LA!! Works for me...

This is what I do too. Put the rifle on sandbags so it wont move... then orient the rifle so you are looking at the center of the target (I do this with a 25 yard target). Then without moving the rifle, adjust the scope so its on the target. Double check through the bore that it hasn't moved and it should be pretty close at 100 yards.

All the times I've done this, I've not yet been more than 4" off of center at 100 yards. Close enough IMO to re-adjust in the field if you took a fall and knocked your scope off... or even to verify your scope is still on.


-DallanC

Hallaluya...Some one gets it. I bet none of you everthought you might have to resight your rifle in the field. Oh yeh...You take your bore scope with you. Right.

Hi Boss....

Bushmaster wrote:

One time when I was mounting a new scope on my Browning I put a 3" red dot on my neighbor's garage door that was about 50 yards across the street and lined the rifle [with the bolt out] up with that dot by looking down the bore. Then I adjusted the scope cross hairs to match the bore. ...

That's EXACTLY the way you are supposed to do it, and, how the term boresighting was explained to me as a yunker. (before lasers)

Even says to do this in my new Bushnell manual.

chambered221 wrote:

I asked a guy one day why he didn’t just sight in at 100 yards...............I was the stupid one that day !!!

Were you arguing accuracy or consistency that day.....

I do exactly as Bushy describes...always worked fer me...but then again, I could never afford one of them fancy Bore Sighters. They don't call it Bore Sighting (looking down the bore then checking the sights against the point seen through the bore) for the heck of it.

The term "dead on at 100yds" has always meant to me that regardless of the calibre, regardless of the range at which you zero your firearm, it will be hitting exactly where you want it to at 100 yds....be that x" low, dead centre or x" high.

To me it has always been a "figure of speech" meaning that your rounds are going exactly where you want them at 100 yds.

Cheers, Vince

Since it seems that there are quite a few opposed to using boresighters, this old trick I used to use long before I bought mine might be worthy of a try:

Using black tape, make a + on a piece of plain paper dividing the target both vertically and horizontally into 4 equal areas. Place the target at 25 yards making sure that you have a safe backstop. At 25 yards, even a scope/rifle combo in severe need of adjustment should still be able to hit a moderately large sheet of paper.

Make sure that your scope is securely mounted, cross hairs adjusted to mid-range of both vertical and horizontal adjustment and in proper eye-relief alignment. Leave the adjustment caps off and, using either sandbags or a cardboard box with "V" notches cut to securely accept the forearm and butt-stock of the firearm, carefully align the cross-hairs with the taped + on the target. Carefully fire your first shot, concentrating on making sure that the cross hairs remain perfectly aligned with the tape. Take note of the resulting bullet hole

Now securely brace the firearm, either with the sandbags or the cardboard box, so that the cross hairs are again perfectly aligned with the tape and the firearm cannot move. Without touching or moving the firearm, carefully adjust the cross hairs to center the bullet hole left by your previous shot. Once this is accomplished fire another shot, again with cross hairs perfectly aligned with the tape, to verify the adjustment. This bullet should hit the center (or very close) of the +. Fire a third shot to verify the settings. If the third shot strikes close to the second shot, you should be able to move to the 100-yard range and at least be on paper close enough for final fine-tuning of the scope.

Since all firearms' bullet paths pass through the "line-of-sight" twice (once on the way up and again on the way down) enroute to the target, the bullet path comes very close to a 25 yard "zero" with most cartridges when set for 100 yards, so don't be too surprised if only minor adjustments are needed to get your 100 yard adjustments perfect. Since a large number of 22 LR rifles are commonly zeroed at 25 yards, this technique is just about perfect for them even if the ultimate "zero" range is further out. Just move the target to your preferred distance for final adjustments.

If your firearm/scope combo fails to put a shot on paper at 25 yards it is time to check alignment of the rings and/or mounts or even the scope itself. A scope with the cross hairs set "mid-range" (adjustments midway of the adjustment range) should at least hit an 8 1/2"X11" target at 25 yards.

Vince, an interesting note there! To me "dead on at 100", or "zeroed at 100" meant the same thing, that the point of impact is exactly where the sights are pointing. I've frequently sighted rifles at 100 so the point of impact was 1.5-2" high relative to the point of aim so the rifle would theoretically be "dead on at 200".

Interpretations of dead on at 25 or 100 yards !!!
Center of 1 inch bull
The head of a groundhog
The lungs of a deer elk or moose
Or in some cases the broad side of a barn !!!

I'm not sure about the accuracy of those statements, but, at least you are consistent!