# Boresighters an additional use



## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

I've got a Leupold Zero Point Boresighter that I've had for years:






Unfortunately it's been discontinued for several years now. One of my favorite features of this and the other "collimater" type boresighters is the ability to record your zero in addition to helping get on paper when boresighting. 

I just used this feature yesterday and it worked extremely well. For the Leupold, I make paper copies of the boresighter grid and record my zero by rifle, scope and load. Should something get "whacked" or a scope need to be removed and replaced, I slap on the boresighter, refer to my paper copy and re-zero the rifle to that point. Then I fine tune when shooting. Works pretty well. When going on hunting trips (most likely time to whack something) I bring the boresighter with me and take a picture using my cellphone of me zero sheet. So if something gets dropped, it's a couple minutes to verify "all is well" or fix something.

I just tried an "extreme" version of this yesterday with some remarkable results. Last month I pulled a Leupold MK4 off one of my rifles and sent it in to the Leupold Custom Shop for a turret upgrade. I received back on Friday, remounted it using a plumb line and re-zero'd it using my zero data and the Leupold Zero Point. I was planning on verifying the zero when the weather gets decent, if it ever get's decent. During a lull in the crappy weather yesterday I figured what the heck, I'll try it "as is" off the back deck at 407 and 547 yards. So I fire up the Kestrel, change rifles and loads in Strelok, dial in the dope, and take a shot at 407 at my turkey swinger.......and receive a very satisfying "dong" and a hit about 4R and 2D off POA, basically the normal margin of error due to conditions. Made those adjustments, then center-punched the next 3 targets while keeping an eye on the wind. Same results when I moved on to 547y. Sooner or later I'll verify the zero, but for now it's in the "good enough" stage for varmint control. 

So if your one of those "I don't need a boresighter I can look down the barrel" kind of guys, here's another use for you. Unless of course you can look down the barrel, adjust your scope and whack something at 407 yards, IF that's the case then as they say...

"never-mind"


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Chuck R. said:


> So if your one of those "I don't need a boresighter I can look down the barrel" kind of guys, here's another use for you.


That's the only really valid reason to use a bore sighting device.

For the majority of people who buy rifles, they are a waste of money, since they seldom shoot beyond a couple of hundred yards.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Bearfootfarm said:


> That's the only really valid reason to use a bore sighting device.
> 
> For the majority of people who buy rifles, they are a waste of money, since they seldom shoot beyond a couple of hundred yards.


What does the max range someone might shoot have to do with it?

There are plenty of rifles that it just isn’t possible to sight down the bore and a mounted optic. Whenever possible, I will boresight the old-fashioned way, just out of convenience, but I have a couple collumators that I use when I can’t. 

I didn’t realize that the Leupold magnetic one was discontinued. They gave me one when they first came out and I do generally prefer it to the spud-mounted type. Will have to make sure I take good care of it. 

And I’ve had a bunch of clients over the years who I used a collimator exactly like Chuck described. If their zeroed rifle came into my shop, I’d note the collimator grid on whatever dope chart or ammo box flap they kept in the case. That way, if either of us ever had to remove the scope for some reason, we knew how to get back to really-close.


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## GunMonkeyIntl (May 13, 2013)

Apparently they had a couple generations of them. The one Leupold gave me (probably 15 years ago??) looks like this:
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/100895554/leupold-scopesmith-magnetic-boresighter


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> What does the max range someone might shoot have to do with it?


People who never shoot beyond a couple of hundred yards usually aren't changing the turret settings and switching lots of scopes around.
It's not worth the money to someone not changing things around all the time.
People have been zeroing scopes far longer than these devices have been around.



GunMonkeyIntl said:


> There are plenty of rifles that it just isn’t possible to sight down the bore and a mounted optic.


It's not necessary to bore sight a rifle in order to adjust the sights.
It just saves you a couple of rounds of ammo sometimes.
You still have to shoot at some distance to make the final settings.



GunMonkeyIntl said:


> And I’ve had a bunch of clients over the years who I used a collimator exactly like Chuck described. If their zeroed rifle came into my shop, I’d note the collimator grid on whatever dope chart or ammo box flap they kept in the case. That way, if either of us ever had to remove the scope for some reason, we knew how to get back to really-close.


We used one at the gun shop for the same purpose.

But that has nothing to do with the average hunter who might shoot less than a box of ammo per year. 
They have no need for such a device. 
Many of them don't even mount their own scopes.
They just want to hunt or shoot at 100 yard targets.
If they can hit a deer they are satisfied.


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

GunMonkeyIntl said:


> Apparently they had a couple generations of them. The one Leupold gave me (probably 15 years ago??) looks like this:
> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/100895554/leupold-scopesmith-magnetic-boresighter


I was kind of shocked too when I saw it was discontinued. I'll never part with mine. Really is functional for verifying a zero while on a hunting trip due to the small size and quick/easy setup. 

Too bad really....


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