Traditionally, bore sighting a rifle involved getting a scope adjusted well enough to get an initial shot to "hit paper" so that final adjustments could be made in the field.

I recently used a laser bore slighter that I picked up "on clearance" at Walmart some time ago and truthfully, found myself being amazed at the results. Now, I should add that I'm not new to laser bore sighters, my first one being the type that shoots a laser from a dummy cartridge that you load in the chamber, just as you would if it were a live round. The one that I picked up on sale has a magnetic base that you attach to the end of your gun barrel, which makes it applicable to just about any caliber and brand of rifle.

After using it to bore sight my new Weatherby and Nikon scope, the first shot not only hit the paper target at 50 yards, but only a half-inch from the point that matched the desired ballastic chart. Honestly, that's better than I can see to shoot.

Still, I would never recommend taking a new rifle and scope to the woods after only bore sighting it, even if using a laser sighter. But with the equipment that's on the market today, you need not worry about hitting paper.

I had a rifle boresighted and went and shot it a few weeks ago and was amazed it was only two clicks off I think the technology is get better, but like you stated no matter what always go and shoot it before taking it into the woods I even take my shotguns to the range before I go hunting nothing worse than Anne's gun that won't perform

ive had good results with getting the windage set with a boresighter, elevation always needed tweaking tho

I've bore sighted some and been very close, and others been quite a ways off. Usually it's the gun, not the equipment that makes the difference. Where they look and where they shoot aren't always the same. Ammo also plays a large part.

yep

This is exactly what I have experienced. I have one of the magnetic-based laser bore-sighters and like it better than the ones that poke down the barrel with a plastic mandrel.

The one I have has a spring-loaded plastic cone that centers it with the bore, just as the magnet starts to grab. I am hoping some day for something similar with an electromagnet that you can switch on or off. A longer cone with a series of common bore-sized steps would also be good.

I have a door-less shed in my back yard with a target on the back wall, inside. The target is 25 yards from my shop, and it works out very well with laser bore-sighters as the distance is about right, and the target is shaded, so the laser dot is easy to see through a scope at any time of day.

Scope height makes a noticeable difference on the elevation accuracy that you can expect at that range.

One time I laser-bore-sighted a scope, and it was almost perfect at 100 yards when I went to sight in the rifle. I only had to adjust an inch or so to the left. When I saw that, I remember thinking that I really should have bought a lottery ticket the day that I laser bore-sighted that thing.

Bore sight the rifle with a standard bore sight. Shoot the rifle and fine tune it. Then put the bore site back on and record your readings. I've pulled scopes and put them right back on and they were dead on.

I put a new scope on a rifle and had it bore sighted. When I shot to sight in properly, was not even on the target at 100 yards. Had to have been at least 10 inches off. I had never done this before and decided to bore sight it looking down the bore at the target that was 100 yards away. The rest was make shift but was stable. I held the rifle and alternated looking down the bore and through the scope while adjusting the scope. When it appeared to be as close as I could get it, the first test shot was 1 inch right. One final adjustment and the scope was perfectly sighted in one inch high(that will cause a couple of guys on here to shake their head, but it works very well in my world). This may have been one of those one in one hundred chances of getting it right, but if necessary I will try that method again.

I've never owned a bore sight. Likely never will. I bag the gun with the bolt removed and sight through the barrel at a 50 yard target. Then I adjust the scope to center. This has always put me on the paper. One scope adjustment and I'm within an inch or two at 100. One more scope adjustment is usually all it takes. Total of 3 or 4 scope adjustments and I'm usually zeroed at 100.

No need for one around my house. I just pull the bolt out and line the scope up with it. Guaranteed to be within 5-6" at 100 yards. No need to buy all that fancy stuff.