Sighting in a new gun can be a challenge for new shooters and experienced shooters alike. Especially when you buy a used gun(probably why they sold it). You can sight in your gun the old way through trial and error or even take a shooting rest to make things easier. I’ve found that the best way to sight in a gun is with a laser bore sighter. You can sight in your gun from the comfort of home without ever shooting a bullet. Once you get to the range you’ll be hitting paper and need a slight 1 or 2 inch adjustment. I purchased my first bore sight when I bought my 45-70. I was able to sight in my rifle perfectly at 100 yards with 3 rounds. When you’re paying close to 2$ a round the savings a bore sight gives you really add up fast.
What’s The Best Laser Bore Sight?
1. SiteLite Mag Laser Boresighter
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Nobody makes a bore site even close to the quality of the Sitelite Mag Laser Boresighter. It is truly one boresighter to rule them all. Sitelite guarantees superior accuracy over all the other products on the market.
What really separates sitelite from the cheaper alternatives is that it’s easy of use. No matter the rifle you’ll be able to sight it in quickly. You can sight in any caliber rifle or pistol from a .22 to .50 cal. You’ll even be able to sight in your 20 or 12 ga shotgun. By using a series of different size O-Rings you’ll be able to get a tight fit in any rifle. After you put the sighter into the end of the barrel the high powered magnet will lock it into the correct position. You can sight your gun in the comfort of your living room if you have 20 foot clearance. They even include a ballistic targeting system software program to create custom targets for your specific rifle and ammo. With a lifetime warranty this should be the last laser boresighter you ever need.
2. LaserLyte Laser Bore Sight
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LaserLyte’s Lser Bore sight is a much more affordable option with many of the same features. While it isn’t as accurate as the above Sitelite it is much easier to use. You’ll be able to quickly and easily get on paper with further fine tuning done at the range.
LaserLyte touts their bore sight as the fastest product on the market. What sets LaserLyte apart from the competition, is their easy to use adapters. By limiting the selection to 4 different adapters ranging from 22lr-50cal, you can quickly choose and sight in your rifle. There’s no playing around with different O-Rings and other complicated steps. Simply choose the closest adapter and push it into the barrel. The magnetic inside will snap the sight into the proper position. You’ll be sighting in your gun in under a minute. The only downside to this speed is that you give up a little bit of accuracy. In my experience the difference is negligible. LaserLyte will easily get you on paper to further tune in your sight.
3. Bushnell Laser Boresighter
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Bushnell’s Laser Boresighter is a no frills option that’s extremely affordable. At this low price I wasn’t expecting a lot from Bushnell, but I was pleasantly surprised. After you finally figure out how to use the sight it is extremely accurate.
This was the first product that I purchased and at first I found it to be extremely unreliable. After a lot of frustration I gave up on it and upgraded to the Sitelite above. After a little while my dad asked me if he could give it a try so I gave it to him. He gave Bushnell a call and there was a simple solution to his problem. When you rotate the laser on its axis it will create a circle. The bottom of the circle is the flat point of the bore and that’s where you want to sight it in. Unfortunately none of that was in the instructions so it gets mixed reviews. After you figure out how to use it it’s actually pretty easy. It includes seven adapters ranging from 22Lr-50cal and also includes adapters for 12 and 20 gauge. For the price Bushnells laser bore sight is well worth a try.
4. Wolfroad Laser Bore Sight
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Wolfroad’s Laser Bore Sight is another product that you’ll have to play around to get it working properly. At its extremely low price point it’s definitely worth figuring it out. For a fraction of the price of the other boresights on this list it’s one heck of a product.
At the end of the day this isn’t a 100 dollar bore sight so you’ll probably have a few hiccups along the way. With a little bit of ingenuity and patience you can definitely get it to work well. The primarily complaint people have is that the adapters aren’t big enough for larger bores. Wolfroad states that you can sight in any gun from 22-50cal, but that’s not really the case. Once you get up into the big bore ranges the adapters seem to be a bit small. There’s a little to much wiggle room which causes inconsistency. If you use a little bit of black electrical tape you should be able to expand the adapter enough for a tight squeeze. Is this the perfect solution? Definitely no but it beats paying twice as much for the next cheapest sight I could find locally.
Cartridge Bore Sight vs Traditional
Hands down you should go with a traditional bore sight that fits into the end of the barrel. Using both bore sights side by side you’ll quickly realize the problem with caliber specific cartridge bore sights. To accommodate the specs of different manufacturers barrels they have to reduce the size of the casing. Unless you get really lucky a caliber specific sight will be much less accurate than a traditional one that goes in the end of the barrel. With a product like the SiteLite Mag Laser you can use the same product to sight in every gun in your safe.
Which Laser Boresight is Right For You?
If you have a lot of guns or change scopes frequently the choice is easy. You’re going to want to buy the Sitelite Mag Laser listed above. The extremely consistent and sturdy design will guarantee accuracy. LaserLyte makes another accurate product that’s extremely easy to use. By limiting the product to 4 adapters they were able to significantly speed up the process. Two affordable options are the Wolfroad and Bushnell Boresights. Both of these extremely affordable options will require a little ingenuity to properly sight in your firearm.