Checking zeros with a laser boresighter??

[PredatorSlayer]

With all the ammo and reloading craziness going on, just wondering if anybody has mastered the art of checking their zero without firing a round? If so, how do you do it??

Edit: Mostly thinking in regards to checking a zero after traveling or after scope got bumped etc.

 

[def90]

A laser will get you close but you still need to shoot to verify.

 

[dtrkyman]

This is just and idea, as I am not a rifle shooter but used to sell them and was around shooters a bunch.

Dial in the rifle for your preferred zero, then install the laser and verify where it lands, take a pic with your phone or make a note.

Seems it would work. I would want to align the laser at as far a distance as possible.

 

[5MilesBack]

I've never used a laser, but I generally just take the bolt out of the rifle and sight through the barrel to my target to get it lined up and set the scope there to start. Then one shot, and move the crosshairs to where that bullet hit.......and verify and fine tune from there. You still have to shoot some rounds, but that at least gets you close to start.

 

[Lawnboi]

A laser bore siter is a waste of money for a bolt action rifle.

 

[bigdesert10]

This is just and idea, as I am not a rifle shooter but used to sell them and was around shooters a bunch.

Dial in the rifle for your preferred zero, then install the laser and verify where it lands, take a pic with your phone or make a note.

Seems it would work. I would want to align the laser at as far a distance as possible.

The trouble with this is repeatability with the placement of the laser. Some are better than others. For instance, the lasers that you jack into the chamber are better than those you slide into the muzzle, but I would question how precise and repeatable the results are with those lasers. They're intended to just get you on paper. I wouldn't expect to see sub-moa repeatability with them.

 

[dtrkyman]

Surely someone has tested this? Agreed, the mounting of the laser better be repeatable!

 

[Brendan]

Waste of time and money, not accurate enough IMO.

Sighting in a new rifle (after mounting scope): Best way is put your rifle on something solid so it won't move and remove the bolt. Center your target in the middle of the sight picture looking through the action and down the barrel. Now, look through your scope and make sure the reticle is centered on the center of your target.

Now, fire one shot. Leaving the rifle on a steady rest with the reticle on the center of the target, without moving the rifle, adjust the scope so the reticle falls on the bullet impact. Theoretically, you should now be sighted in with one shot. Start at 25 yards for the first one, then move to 100 to repeat / verify and you're sighted in with two shots.

Minor tweaking may be needed, but it's not like you're actually shooting any extra if this is combined with Break in, fouling the barrel, and practice...

 

[rayporter]

i have known of 2 rifles ruined by leaving the laser in the barrel and firing.

remove the bolt and put the laser there. even the ones made for the muzzle will fit where the bolt goes. the best use of a laser is to center up on a chrony. ya know the old fashioned kind? with optical sensors.

and i agree you can get just as close by looking down the barrel. the mark one eyeball is pretty good at centering up a target.

as far as trying to use it to check zero i would verify that several times before i trusted it.
personally i doubt you can come close.

 

[dieselchessy]

Not for sighting in but for checking an already zero'd rifle.

I have the laser setup Sitelyte (?) that is a brass case that inserts into the chamber in the rifle. You then have cue cards for each rifle at a given range. I did 30 yards. Then once the rifle is correctly zero'd you insert the laser and set the rifle up with the scope centered on the cue card and mark the location of the laser dot. You can chamber the laser a few times to confirm results are consistent. Then you have that cue card for that rifle as a means for a GRC that the scope didn't get knocked out of alignment.

It works, but honestly I haven't used it in years. I just check zero by firing a few rounds.

Note: Doesn't look like Sitelite makes the brass case one anymore, but other outfits do.

https://sitelite-lasers.com/pdf/SITELITE-instructions-2013.pdf

 

[KNASH]

There is a TV commercial by a well known hunting show host that explains how perfect this process is. It must be true!

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I have always just fired to confirm zero after I travel somewhere or my scope takes a hard hit out hunting. But ammo is hard to come by nowadays...lol. Would be slick if you could test zero without wasting ammo.

 

[ChrisAU]

I have a Bushnell collimator that I use not just for boresighting, but also for swapping scopes. Now, I always will fire a round at the range to verify, but its crazy how accurate the collimator is. Boresighting using it (aligning the scope with the center of the collimator) definitely gets you on paper - but it really, really works wells for swapping scopes. For instance, I know a 100 yard zero for my 280AI equals 2" right and 4" high on the collimator. I recently swapped a Leupold out for a Swaro Z5, and at the range I had to move the Swaro a total of two clicks to the right to be dead on at 100 after setting the Swaro 2" right and 4" high on the collimator.

 

[journeyman713]

Forget the Laser. Here's a free solution...

Set-up a target at 25yds.
Put your rifle in an adjustable rest.
Remove the bolt.
Looking though the bore, center on the target.
Looking through the scope, center the crosshairs on the target.

This will put you on paper at 100 yds.

 

[Formidilosus]

Surely someone has tested this? Agreed, the mounting of the laser better be repeatable!

They’re not. None that I have seen are better than 3-5 moa repeatability when chambered or put in the barrel.

I have always just fired to confirm zero after I travel somewhere or my scope takes a hard hit out hunting. But ammo is hard to come by nowadays...lol. Would be slick if you could test zero without wasting ammo.

They’re not repeatable enough for it. Have tried quite a few muzzle laser and chamber lasers.

 

[wapitibob]

Jim Shockey trusts his hunt to one and so can you!

 

[WCB]

It would be nice if half the guys on this thread actually had any reading comprehension skills.

I have not tried it. I would think the ones you put in your chamber would be the most accurate. However confirming it repeatedly would be the only way to know. Also, you would really have to make sure you had the exact distance measured out.

IMO, ammo isn't scarce enough you can't afford to take a shot or two if you fall or drop you gun. Traveling wise unless I flew somewhere or again dropped the gun I see no reason to confirm. But, again 1 or 2 shots will still be the best way.

 

[def90]

Surely someone has tested this? Agreed, the mounting of the laser better be repeatable!

As above, a laser bore sighter is good enough to get you on paper, it is not going to give you a repeatable outcome, especially the ones that go in the end of the barrel. Most of these are slightly off center so if they rotate in the chamber or the end of the barrel the poa will change.

 

[Woodrow F Call]

They aren't really a precision made instrument. If they were, they would cost more than the rifle.

They are meant to get you on paper at 25 yards and you work it up by shooting.

 

[rayporter]

my smith chewed a chunk outa my butt for putting one down the muzzle.

after you use one you will see there is way too much movement for one to be reliable. it would have to fit as precisely as a delronic pin, and they are affected by the temperature of your fingers.

test it. very easy to do.