Bore Sighting on the cheap

[flhroy]

This is probably old stuff to most here but some might find this helpful. This proceedure requires that you first remove the bolt. With that done this is how I bore sight a rifle. I clamp the rifle in my work-mate using a towel as a soft jaw. Looking through the bore I acquire a sight picture of a target, I use my neighbors mail box which is about 125 yards from my shop. For a more precise setting I sometimes use a a cartridge case that was fired in the chamber with the primer pocket drilled out to 1/8 inch. With the bore sighted on the target I then align the sights/scope up to the same target. That's it, now its ready to be zeroed in. Hope this helps some one save some time and powder getting it on the paper.

Merry Christmas Everyone

[Ben]

I do roughly the same thing, with the exception of the fact that I use my neighbor's elect power meter as an aiming point and center the bore with the meter, then put the cross hairs on the center of the power meter.

Bingo ! ! Saves a lot of ammo.........

Merry Christmas to all of you,

Ben

[357maximum]

I do roughly the same thing, with the exception of the fact that I use my neighbor's elect power meter as an aiming point and center the bore with the meter, then put the cross hairs on the center of the power meter.

Bingo ! ! Saves a lot of ammo.........

Merry Christmas to all of you,

Ben

Just never pull da trigger or it will be lights out for your neighbor :groner:

[KCSO]

Now make it even better! Put a deprimed case in the action and sight through the little hole, it sharpens the focus and will get you even closer.

[Heavy lead]

I have actual mechanical bore sighter and use them on actions I can't look through. I find that the way you guys are describing is actually more accurate than a mechanical bore sighter.

[nvbirdman]

As long as you already have your rifle snugged up in your workmate, now sight on a distant telephone pole to make sure your scope straight up and down.

[dbldblu]

I use this technique too. For non-bolt actions, I aim at a rock or something and fire a round into a dirt berm, then adjust the crosshairs to where the bullet really went. I never did see any need for laser bore sighters.

[unclebill]

I use this technique too. For non-bolt actions, I aim at a rock or something and fire a round into a dirt berm, then adjust the crosshairs to where the bullet really went. I never did see any need for laser bore sighters.

i do more or less the same thing.
i have some rolls of old wallpaper and i cover a backboard with it.
shoot once and dial the cross hairs to the bullet hole.

then i put a bunch of orange price tag stickers on the paper and shoot for groups!

[hedgehorn]

Been doing the same thing for years. I bore sight it then dial it in up close like 15 yards before I ever move the target out. :D

[deltaenterprizes]

I have actual mechanical bore sighter and use them on actions I can't look through. I find that the way you guys are describing is actually more accurate than a mechanical bore sighter.

Some bore sighters need to be adjusted with a rifle that has been zeroed in with live ammo. The back of the colminator is removable and the ring holding the grid has 4 screws that can be adjusted to correspond with the cross hairs of the zeroed rifle.
Bore sights are only to get you on the paper at 25 yds.

[fourarmed]

I use this technique, too. When you try it the first time, you need to remember that you are moving the crosshairs to the impact point. The directions marked on the elevation and windage knobs are for doing the opposite. So if you want to move the crosshairs right and down, you turn the knobs in the directions marked up and left.

[felix]

If you are mounting a high power scope, you want to minimise eye fatigue, by first making sure the cross hairs are perfectly centered in the scope itself, mechanically and optically. Optically by mounting the scope on a cardboard box with V-notches to cradle the scope. Sight on the wall with the parallax adjusted way off to cloud the background. Move the cross hairs such that they don't move when moving your eye back and forth. Mechanically, move the indicator caps to say zero without moving the crosshairs. Mount an adjustable mount on the gun, using shims or other means to change the bore sight picture to zero on the 100 yard target (put parallax now in focus for this). Move the crosshairs as the LAST RESORT. ... felix

[Willbird]

Felix, I do not understand why moving the cross hairs from their centered position causes eye strain ?? Many many people use the elevation adjustments for long range shots, and some people use them for windage on long range shots as well.

Bill

[bcarver]

The optics are best at the center of the scope. If the scope is bore sighted by bases the scope has better optical quality than if crosshairs are moved from center.

[felix]

True. The Hubble Telescope had is front lens ground by Perkin-Elmer according to spec?? When installed and operational in space, it was found to be 0.003 inch off at the outermost edge via calculations according to what was being seen by the computers, as compared to what theoretically should be seen. The lens could have been corrected on earth if politics weren't so hell bent in sending that thing up so fast (time is money, right?). Let the engineers do their job, and let the technicians fine tune without undue fake duress. Some folks are now wanting those good edge-to-edge lenses in their rifle scopes for real, meaning they will gladly pay for it. Hence, we are seeing 2,000 dollar scopes, and yet, they still aren't perfect. ... felix

[uncle joe]

I thought I was the only cheap A** that did this, WOW I am among friends.


Now make it even better! Put a deprimed case in the action and sight through the little hole, it sharpens the focus and will get you even closer.
This is a great idea KSCO I will surely do this next time.
I guess it's true Great minds think alike :mrgreen:
:drinks:

[eka]

Looking through the bore I acquire a sight picture of a target, I use my neighbors mail box which is about 125 yards from my shop.

A technique only a mailman would hate. :-D

Fourarmed you described exactly what happened to me the first time I tried it. I was convinced that the scope was junk for a little while. One of my shooting Pals enjoyed the show for a spell and then let me in on the trick. He said he had done the same thing too. Geniuses we are. :mrgreen:

Keith

[Willbird]

The optics are best at the center of the scope. If the scope is bore sighted by bases the scope has better optical quality than if crosshairs are moved from center.

On a Leopold scope I would have to see a guy "in the know" pick say 3 scopes out of 6 that were not at optical center just by looking through them :-).

I do agree it is better to optically center the scope and correct any ring geometry issues to put the windage centered and the elevation where YOU WANT IT. For a long range rifle I want it 25% of the way up from the bottom being dead on at 100 yards, this gives me 75% of the vertical adj to use for ranging.

Bill

[fourarmed]

I have heard of two ways of "centering" a reticle. 1)Crank elevation all the way up or down, then crank it all the way the other direction, counting turns of the knob, and go back half that much. Do the same for windage. Frankly, I would hesitate to do this on anything but a good quality scope. 2) Lay the scope in notches cut in a box and aim it at a distant target. Rotate it, and adjust the elevation knob until the reticle moves in the smallest circle possible. Do the same with the windage until the reticle stays in one spot as you rotate the scope. I would use #2 on any scope of doubtful mechanical quality, as it demands less of the reticle traversing mechanisms.

[trevj]

Cheap? use a cardboard box, with a couple notches cut out of it. That's cheap! :)

I have a chunk of cast iron, formerly an alignment jig for helicopter rotor heads and blades. Pretty much just a set of vee notches on a base with some mounting pins. Alignment was done with a rifle scope, aimed at a rivet on the tip of the blade while the jig was mounted on the rotor head. The scope sat in the vee notches.
The first check every time the jig was used, was to rotate the scope through the quadrants, and adjust the scope until the crosshairs were aimed at the same spot at all of them, thus, centered.

The jig is long past being used to align rotors, but it still works just fine, as a base for centering up a scope.

Cheers
Trev

[bpfh]

I thought I was the only cheap A** that did this, WOW I am among friends.

I'm not alone :-D

Cheers,
bpfh

[bruce drake]

If you cast your own, you've got the gene to pinch pennies! :)