I’ve used this method for years. I’ve found it’s easier to do with the rifle elevated so you can step back a couple of feet when looking down the barrel, it produces a tighter view.
You stand to be corrected. You can bore sight the old-fashioned way with a lever action. The bolt can be removed to do it. It's just a bit more time consuming. And there is a way of zeroing at 10 yards with a lighted bore sighter without all the adjustment that you suggested. You do it just like the old-fashioned way and measure the height of the scope over the bore and mark it on the target. Of course it has to be vertical. That is where you will put your crosshairs and have the bore sighter on center of the target. But to say a gadget isn't worth it depends on the individual. You can boresight anywhere with other methods which is something to consider. I have used all methods short of using a lighted bore sighter. The old-fashioned way works but one must be able to have a very stable platform for it to work. You can also save ammo with the one shot zero with a stable platform putting the reticle on the bullet hole and adjusting the scope to the bullseye. Nice video.
Oh yes .... my last issue M-16 A1 had the barrel worn out in Vietnam ... IT WOULD NOT ZERO, PERIOD! After 45 minutes of effort the range master told me get out of that foxhole ... 15 minutes later he climbed out handed me the rifle and said "your right, it won't boresight. I still qualified sharpshooter that day in a light rain having mastered the windage on the 350m target (the max range of that time with peep sights and the A1) by shooting a hand length over the targets right shoulder if the arm extended to 11 o'clock . I felt pretty good about that using a 1:12 twist rate worn out pos barrel. The tankers in my Cav unit told me that their 45's were so worn that aiming correctly they still sometimes hit the neighboring target in the firing line. The only thing the army taught me about that 45 was how to clean (a few dozen) it. I don't miss the standing in line or a lot of other things about the army but I do miss being young and the firing range, especially shooting the m-203 grenade launcher .... especially blowing of the excess ammo firing it like a semi auto knee mortar. I say these things in all humility as I meant every word of my oath, I was a peace time soldier (much to my surprise in the Reagan era), and I Salute those soldiers who had angry people shooting at them. We did have a little adventure in Granada at that time but a platoon of Marines with a troop of boy scouts doing support took care of that, is my understanding and they dept of defense did not see the need to disturb my unit.
I use a Wheeler laser bore sighter at 25 yards. I sight it 2" low at 25 yards. No need to keep looking back and forth through the barrel and scope. Just keep looking through the scope and dial. I still confirm by shooting at 25 yards before taking it to 100. Wheeler provides a reflective target so it's very easy to see the laser at distance. Your method will not work on rifles that you can't see through the barrel. A laser bore sighter is the best way, easier to perform, and more precise because a laser is dead straight.
This is how I've always sighted in my rifles. The last time I did it I was perfect for elevation and only off by 2 inches for windage at 100 yards. It's fast, easy, and costs nothing. With a bolt gun or the AR platform, these laser bore sighters, etc., are a solution in search of a problem.
Did it this way with my Marlin 336 rifles. Propped it steady on the kitchen table and dialed the scope in on a porch light about 4 houses down. Then reassembled the rifle. Now I just get the gunsmith to do it.
This is how I dial in my scopes. I use a steady rest to secure the rifle in. Doing that also makes sighting in very easy. Sometimes you can nail it in one shot. Just aim for the center, shoot, then steady the crosshairs on the center and adjust your scope to where the bullet hit. Done.
Ya know, I've been looking at laser bore sights and such. Tried dialing in a reflex sight on my airguns and got close. You're advice makes more sense than anything I've seen or heard. Thank you. So, basically, you sight in on center, clamp the gun, fire, then adjust the reticle to where the round hit? Is that it?
@@markiskool Yep, you got it. The trick is the gun has to be secure and immovable. Then it is cake. The first time I did it I made a steady rest out of wood and strapped in my rifle. Took it to the range and used it on the concrete bench. Worked great. I have a better steady rest now.
I like your attitude! Yah, laser boresights are OK that the laser is actually centered in the cartridge housing used for that caliber. Remember that they're cheap and mass produced and likely not checked for operation let alone for accuracy. To test that, secure the rifle well, aim it, make a mark on the paper, then rotate it at 90-degree intervals. If the dot moves in a circle, then it's not centered in the cartridge housing. That alone will make you crazy and cost you ammo on a live test at 100. Remember that most of this stuff is made by the same shops, from the same country with different names.
That box test is for expensive scopes that are designed for on the fly adjustment. Those of us who are, um, more frugal, will just figure our target size and set up out reticle for maximum point blank range.
@Rat107 most semi autos with the exception of pistols have the optic mount attached to the portion of the weapon that contains the barrel (usually referred to as an upper reciever) so you simply remove the lower portion of the rifle and proceed from there. Then you re-attach your lower and finish sighting in your rifle using the optic's in-built adjustments
I have used this method to much success and will in the future. But it is a bit disingenuous to laser bore sight tools suck. I you read the instructions and use the computer program that comes with them to determine laser position versus reticle position on a target they work just as well as the manual method. If you are mounting a scope for someone else loading up and going to the range may not be convenient.
I didn't understand what does "running out of windage and elevation" have to do with sighting in using a bore-sighter - if you "ran out of clicks" before the center of the reticle matched the axis of your gun's barrel than it's either the limitation of the scope or you're trying to sight-in at extremely long or extremely close distance(s), or the scope is not seated properly on your gun.
Yeah this works WAY better. I'm typically within 2 inches at 100 yards after bore sighting by simply looking down the bore. I even built a little jig that holds the upper receiver of an AR (It has a hole through the middle so you can just drop the upper onto it and look straight down the barrel. Bolt guns are easy because you can almost always just remove the bolt and sight it in. There's no super easy way to do it for pistols though. You can slave a red-dot to your iron sights assuming you're properly set up and can co-witness and that will usually get you pretty close but otherwise it's trial and error starting at 7 yards or so.
So what do you do with a lever action rifle or semi auto rifle? I'm no expert by any means but any way you sight your rifle , if you start at 10 ft away and are an 1/8 inch off at 100 yards that will be 2 inches or more off. I've had good luck with bore sights but there like anything, you get what you pay for, the bore sights with plastic clips that "work" for .22 to 12 gauge I'm gonna guess aren't very good, never tried one but I'm gonna guess there not so good. I usually bore sight at atleast 25 feet and then start at 50 yards on the range and go from there depending what I'm sighting the gun in for and usually within 10 shots it's good to go.
Great video, doing it at 50 yards will then shooting at 100 yardsit will need to be done again or will be close enough to just use the scopes clickers? What a good practice round to use with this technique? 308 rifle.
Bolt and AR uppers, I’ve used fine thread or dental floss, create a cross hairs on the barrel’s end. I’ve been using that since I served on a direct fire weapons crew on the Marine Corps. (Search for a 106mm Recoilless Rifle, real trigger guys may like some of that boomer) Bore-sighted the 106 out to 1000 yards. Ask any olé School 0351, that’s a Marines MOS. Semper Fi,,,
Where can I purchase that old school Boresighter set ...roll over wrapped pockets for different caliber's ..please I really need,want that..much preferred than labor type.
The system I have used is fairly cheap but I do it at night park my truck 150yds away with a red light in the back window then clamp weapon in a tripod and adjust until barrel is on red light then adjust scope to center so far it gets me on paper every time.
I enjoy your content 👣🦘 and your delivery 👍 . I also appreciate most of the intelligent and informative. Perspective’s of most of the other commenters . Unlike a few others who seem to feel obligated to tell us all how 🤦🏻♀️completely 🤦🏻♀️wrong Something is …. Because , At a 1 mile + you might miss . People don’t seem to understand their is no single answer to perfection ….unless we are all exactly the same . 🤔 you just have to look at those world championships gunslingers who Can , constantly hit airborne targets with pistols shooting from the hip . There’s more to shooting than A scope and a gun . Otherwise , anyone with a gun and a scope Setup the same way could hit the same targets every time . 🤷 Hell ‘’ Today I was sitting in my old camping chair resting my rifle on my knee , at 30 meters I was consistently shooting at and hitting golf balls with my old commeta 177 air rifle and a crappy tesco scope . The worst I did ,was a 7 out of 10 In that hour . Who knows , maybe it was luck 🤷 and my body movements just happened to be in sink with the inconsistent nature of the air rifles Grouping 🤔 OR There’s more to shooting than the tools of the trade 🫵🤔.
You absolutely can take the lever off you lever gun, remove the bolt, cock the hammer back and look down the barrel and adjust your sights. I've done that to my level guns and that is why on a lever gun the lever screw is designed to be unscrewed on disassembly and cleaning down the bore with a cleaning rod. Most people don't do this and have never tried it.
Let method has been used for 600 years with a bolt action how do you site yours in without bolt action bolt action is obvious it's a straight line of sight
Yes, but what about semi-autos and lever action rifles where you cannot sight down the empty bore? Ooops.Here's where some instrumntation might come in.
Good video! The berms at our local outdoor range are covered in wild raspberries. You have to be on the lookout for pickers when the berries are in season. : )
Ive tried this stupid old fashioned way and its way harder to do than youd think. It doesn't really work for me. Laser bore sight is the way to go. Laser bore sight wont be 100% accurate but it will put you on paper and cost $15 on amazon. Spend the $15 on a laser instead of on ammo wasting your time.
It’s a good starting point. For me I use lasers at about 10-15 yards and then go to the range and hand dial it in. I had it shooting perfect within 5 min. Everyone is different in the way they shoot especially with pistols. So hand dialing it in is important and not just setting it with the laser sight and expecting perfect accuracy
Yeah it's a good technique, but your comment about the fact that it would take less adjustment on your turrets to adjust looking down your barrel vs using a laser is BS. If your scope is poorly mounted and 30 moa off then it'll take the same amount of adjustment if you're using a laser at 20 feet or if you're looking down the barrel at 50 yards. A $15-30 bore sight laser is nice because it doesn't require a stable shooting sled to keep your gun stable while sighting in. Do you need one? No. Are they handy? Yes.
Yeah, Uh..... Nope. Too much trouble. Did you know you can also Align the wheels on your car using the old fashioned manual way, Without using an alignment machine. I actually aligned my car this way once out in front of my house. It worked and I didnt use a machine. Was it worth the money I saved from not bringing it to a shop... HELL NO!! Took me all damn day crawling around in the dirt on my street in front of my house to do it.
Looking through the barrel, not with an AR, so get a magnetic scope leveler (Leupold) and Wheeler Engineering tool to help mount that scope correctly. These are modern tools nothing down the bore these days.
What ?lol it's the same method as using the laser you literally did what you were going to do with the laser without the laser damn you wasted my time lmaooo
Not every gun has easy access to look down the barrel.
AR platforms you simply remove the the lower (two pins) then pull the bolt carrier.
OP is right though.
I’ve used this method for years. I’ve found it’s easier to do with the rifle elevated so you can step back a couple of feet when looking down the barrel, it produces a tighter view.
You stand to be corrected. You can bore sight the old-fashioned way with a lever action. The bolt can be removed to do it. It's just a bit more time consuming. And there is a way of zeroing at 10 yards with a lighted bore sighter without all the adjustment that you suggested. You do it just like the old-fashioned way and measure the height of the scope over the bore and mark it on the target. Of course it has to be vertical. That is where you will put your crosshairs and have the bore sighter on center of the target. But to say a gadget isn't worth it depends on the individual. You can boresight anywhere with other methods which is something to consider. I have used all methods short of using a lighted bore sighter. The old-fashioned way works but one must be able to have a very stable platform for it to work. You can also save ammo with the one shot zero with a stable platform putting the reticle on the bullet hole and adjusting the scope to the bullseye. Nice video.
Oh yes .... my last issue M-16 A1 had the barrel worn out in Vietnam ... IT WOULD NOT ZERO, PERIOD! After 45 minutes of effort the range master told me get out of that foxhole ... 15 minutes later he climbed out handed me the rifle and said "your right, it won't boresight. I still qualified sharpshooter that day in a light rain having mastered the windage on the 350m target (the max range of that time with peep sights and the A1) by shooting a hand length over the targets right shoulder if the arm extended to 11 o'clock . I felt pretty good about that using a 1:12 twist rate worn out pos barrel. The tankers in my Cav unit told me that their 45's were so worn that aiming correctly they still sometimes hit the neighboring target in the firing line. The only thing the army taught me about that 45 was how to clean (a few dozen) it. I don't miss the standing in line or a lot of other things about the army but I do miss being young and the firing range, especially shooting the m-203 grenade launcher .... especially blowing of the excess ammo firing it like a semi auto knee mortar. I say these things in all humility as I meant every word of my oath, I was a peace time soldier (much to my surprise in the Reagan era), and I Salute those soldiers who had angry people shooting at them. We did have a little adventure in Granada at that time but a platoon of Marines with a troop of boy scouts doing support took care of that, is my understanding and they dept of defense did not see the need to disturb my unit.
I use a Wheeler laser bore sighter at 25 yards. I sight it 2" low at 25 yards. No need to keep looking back and forth through the barrel and scope. Just keep looking through the scope and dial. I still confirm by shooting at 25 yards before taking it to 100. Wheeler provides a reflective target so it's very easy to see the laser at distance. Your method will not work on rifles that you can't see through the barrel. A laser bore sighter is the best way, easier to perform, and more precise because a laser is dead straight.
"dead straight" if it is calibrated correctly. Name brand companies will calibrate their lasers. No telling if Chinese ones on Amazon and eBay do.
@@chiefkyle1098 I’m sure even a laser that isn’t calibrated right, still gives a more straight picture then our naked eyes 😂
Well this is great if you have a rifle that you can remove the bolt. 🙄
I'll stick with my future laser bore sight tool.
This is how I've always sighted in my rifles. The last time I did it I was perfect for elevation and only off by 2 inches for windage at 100 yards. It's fast, easy, and costs nothing. With a bolt gun or the AR platform, these laser bore sighters, etc., are a solution in search of a problem.
Did it this way with my Marlin 336 rifles. Propped it steady on the kitchen table and dialed the scope in on a porch light about 4 houses down. Then reassembled the rifle. Now I just get the gunsmith to do it.
This is how I dial in my scopes. I use a steady rest to secure the rifle in. Doing that also makes sighting in very easy. Sometimes you can nail it in one shot. Just aim for the center, shoot, then steady the crosshairs on the center and adjust your scope to where the bullet hit. Done.
Ya know, I've been looking at laser bore sights and such. Tried dialing in a reflex sight on my airguns and got close. You're advice makes more sense than anything I've seen or heard. Thank you.
So, basically, you sight in on center, clamp the gun, fire, then adjust the reticle to where the round hit? Is that it?
@@markiskool Yep, you got it. The trick is the gun has to be secure and immovable. Then it is cake. The first time I did it I made a steady rest out of wood and strapped in my rifle. Took it to the range and used it on the concrete bench. Worked great. I have a better steady rest now.
The BEST thru and thru explanation on boresighting w/checking your scope video
I like your attitude!
Yah, laser boresights are OK that the laser is actually centered in the cartridge housing used for that caliber. Remember that they're cheap and mass produced and likely not checked for operation let alone for accuracy. To test that, secure the rifle well, aim it, make a mark on the paper, then rotate it at 90-degree intervals. If the dot moves in a circle, then it's not centered in the cartridge housing. That alone will make you crazy and cost you ammo on a live test at 100. Remember that most of this stuff is made by the same shops, from the same country with different names.
That box test is for expensive scopes that are designed for on the fly adjustment.
Those of us who are, um, more frugal, will just figure our target size and set up out reticle for maximum point blank range.
Video starts at 1:29. The rest is intro graphics
3:55
Ha, that's what I just commented on... he owes me a minute!
What happens if you can't look through the barrel?
Start at 25 yards. If you’re comfortable move out to 100. Saves a lot of time and money.
@@greggarmin9426 He's talking about semi autos for example. This method will not work because you can't remove the bolt and look down the barrel.
Use a flashlight
@Rat107 most semi autos with the exception of pistols have the optic mount attached to the portion of the weapon that contains the barrel (usually referred to as an upper reciever) so you simply remove the lower portion of the rifle and proceed from there. Then you re-attach your lower and finish sighting in your rifle using the optic's in-built adjustments
@@j-davis7290 Yeah okay - without moving anything...good luck.
I've been boresighting that way for about 50 years but still need a gadget to bore sight my pump action rifles
I have used this method to much success and will in the future. But it is a bit disingenuous to laser bore sight tools suck. I you read the instructions and use the computer program that comes with them to determine laser position versus reticle position on a target they work just as well as the manual method. If you are mounting a scope for someone else loading up and going to the range may not be convenient.
I didn't understand what does "running out of windage and elevation" have to do with sighting in using a bore-sighter - if you "ran out of clicks" before the center of the reticle matched the axis of your gun's barrel than it's either the limitation of the scope or you're trying to sight-in at extremely long or extremely close distance(s), or the scope is not seated properly on your gun.
Yeah this works WAY better. I'm typically within 2 inches at 100 yards after bore sighting by simply looking down the bore. I even built a little jig that holds the upper receiver of an AR (It has a hole through the middle so you can just drop the upper onto it and look straight down the barrel. Bolt guns are easy because you can almost always just remove the bolt and sight it in.
There's no super easy way to do it for pistols though. You can slave a red-dot to your iron sights assuming you're properly set up and can co-witness and that will usually get you pretty close but otherwise it's trial and error starting at 7 yards or so.
So what do you do with a lever action rifle or semi auto rifle? I'm no expert by any means but any way you sight your rifle , if you start at 10 ft away and are an 1/8 inch off at 100 yards that will be 2 inches or more off. I've had good luck with bore sights but there like anything, you get what you pay for, the bore sights with plastic clips that "work" for .22 to 12 gauge I'm gonna guess aren't very good, never tried one but I'm gonna guess there not so good. I usually bore sight at atleast 25 feet and then start at 50 yards on the range and go from there depending what I'm sighting the gun in for and usually within 10 shots it's good to go.
This was extremely beneficial for me, brother! Thank you very much!!!! Love from Alaska
Great video, doing it at
50 yards will then shooting at 100 yardsit will need to be done again or will be close enough to just use the scopes clickers? What a good practice round to use with this technique? 308 rifle.
Bolt and AR uppers, I’ve used fine thread or dental floss, create a cross hairs on the barrel’s end. I’ve been using that since I served on a direct fire weapons crew on the Marine Corps. (Search for a 106mm Recoilless Rifle, real trigger guys may like some of that boomer) Bore-sighted the 106 out to 1000 yards. Ask any olé School 0351, that’s a Marines MOS.
Semper Fi,,,
Already own a bore site similar to the multi-caliber you showed so I will continue to use it.
Where can I purchase that old school Boresighter set ...roll over wrapped pockets for different caliber's ..please I really need,want that..much preferred than labor type.
YES! Refreshing take on the common sense approach, thank you!
In a hunting application the first “cold bore” shot is the most important. I bore sight but allow enough time for the barrel to cool between shots.
good method for bolts and the smaller the caliber the easier it is
The system I have used is fairly cheap but I do it at night park my truck 150yds away with a red light in the back window then clamp weapon in a tripod and adjust until barrel is on red light then adjust scope to center so far it gets me on paper every time.
I enjoy your content 👣🦘 and your delivery 👍 . I also appreciate most of the intelligent and informative. Perspective’s of most of the other commenters . Unlike a few others who seem to feel obligated to tell us all how 🤦🏻♀️completely 🤦🏻♀️wrong Something is …. Because , At a 1 mile + you might miss . People don’t seem to understand their is no single answer to perfection ….unless we are all exactly the same . 🤔 you just have to look at those world championships gunslingers who Can , constantly hit airborne targets with pistols shooting from the hip . There’s more to shooting than A scope and a gun . Otherwise , anyone with a gun and a scope Setup the same way could hit the same targets every time . 🤷
Hell ‘’ Today I was sitting in my old camping chair resting my rifle on my knee , at 30 meters I was consistently shooting at and hitting golf balls with my old commeta 177 air rifle and a crappy tesco scope . The worst I did ,was a 7 out of 10 In that hour . Who knows , maybe it was luck 🤷 and my body movements just happened to be in sink with the inconsistent nature of the air rifles Grouping 🤔 OR There’s more to shooting than the tools of the trade 🫵🤔.
You absolutely can take the lever off you lever gun, remove the bolt, cock the hammer back and look down the barrel and adjust your sights. I've done that to my level guns and that is why on a lever gun the lever screw is designed to be unscrewed on disassembly and cleaning down the bore with a cleaning rod. Most people don't do this and have never tried it.
Even better - get a quick takedown knob from Ranger Point Precision. Very helpful if you get the dreaded “Marlin jam” too.
Let method has been used for 600 years with a bolt action how do you site yours in without bolt action bolt action is obvious it's a straight line of sight
Nice info. Common sense that wasn't common for me. When I watched your video, I was thinking... Damn thats awesome. Great content my friend!!
Just what are you supposed to do if you can't look down the bore
The following is everything I know about lever action rifles, including bore sighting: ...
Bore sight for the old fasion way surgical in 3 shoots just do the math. I'm not good at math but always adds up
That's my question too if it a pump or semi. You can't just pull out the bolt. So then what.
Good stuff, Thanks for the info.
Finally a method to zero my trebuchet!
Yes, but what about semi-autos and lever action rifles where you cannot sight down the empty bore? Ooops.Here's where some instrumntation might come in.
How can i do for a red dot in a shotgun.??
Nice info man! Thanks! What scope you using in the vid?
So In your logic. If you use a tool wrong , it’s the tool that’s bad ?
@0:00 1 min of moto music with drone footage of range. @1:05 standard youtube greeting.
2nd date, and dude pulled the stranger on me. Classy
What is the name of the component your are using? Site a line??
All good for bolt actions but my parents 91 is a bit more difficult
Good video! The berms at our local outdoor range are covered in wild raspberries. You have to be on the lookout for pickers when the berries are in season. : )
Na
Thanks for sharing. Yea, I always loose the gizmos little things anyway.
Ive tried this stupid old fashioned way and its way harder to do than youd think. It doesn't really work for me. Laser bore sight is the way to go. Laser bore sight wont be 100% accurate but it will put you on paper and cost $15 on amazon. Spend the $15 on a laser instead of on ammo wasting your time.
Good, thx
...can you boresight at 25yds (on a very small target? For an AR...if you fill the bore with a dime on the wall and go from there?
It’s a good starting point. For me I use lasers at about 10-15 yards and then go to the range and hand dial it in. I had it shooting perfect within 5 min. Everyone is different in the way they shoot especially with pistols. So hand dialing it in is important and not just setting it with the laser sight and expecting perfect accuracy
no worky with AKs :(
Great video, thank you.
Glad you liked it!
How am I supposed to look down my barrel when it’s regular rifle, lever action
Yeah it's a good technique, but your comment about the fact that it would take less adjustment on your turrets to adjust looking down your barrel vs using a laser is BS. If your scope is poorly mounted and 30 moa off then it'll take the same amount of adjustment if you're using a laser at 20 feet or if you're looking down the barrel at 50 yards. A $15-30 bore sight laser is nice because it doesn't require a stable shooting sled to keep your gun stable while sighting in. Do you need one? No. Are they handy? Yes.
Right on
Its all to get you on paper......any which way you do it.
I bet 90% of guns you can't look down the bore without destroying said weapon.
Works for most bolt actions, break actions, many breach loaders, several types of semi auto and even a few lever actions (BLR?).
Yeah, Uh..... Nope. Too much trouble.
Did you know you can also Align the wheels on your car using the old fashioned manual way, Without using an alignment machine. I actually aligned my car this way once out in front of my house. It worked and I didnt use a machine. Was it worth the money I saved from not bringing it to a shop...
HELL NO!!
Took me all damn day crawling around in the dirt on my street in front of my house to do it.
Lol
You should be on target and grouping at a 100 yards in less than four shots
Its not rocket science...just do it😂😂😂
Can’t do this with a shotgun
You just have to do a pattern test for a shotgun.
@@DonFlintEnt I have a rifled barrel shotgun with a scope
There’s a cream for that
Looking through the barrel, not with an AR, so get a magnetic scope leveler (Leupold) and Wheeler Engineering tool to help mount that scope correctly. These are modern tools nothing down the bore these days.
Gee I think I'll take a saw and cut off the butt of my rifle. Then drill a hole through the bolt stop. Yep that'll do it.
The actual advice on how to do it his way, starts at min 3:50
Now do AK
Your eye is the laser.
A whole minute intro? Oy...
Click bait
What ?lol it's the same method as using the laser you literally did what you were going to do with the laser without the laser damn you wasted my time lmaooo
Get a portable bench rest man. Your firearm will beat you to death if you continue shooting in a prone position.
Intro WAY TOO long
All that laser and other junk just doesn't cut it. A waste of money, I know I went down that road. It's better to do it the old fashioned way.
This bull s
Those laser craps are not even accurate out to 5 feet, it's a great concept wasted due to lousy calibration on centering the laser.
You waste bullet... 🥴🥴🥴🥴
Is this guy on drugs?