.20 Boresighter questions

[Goofycat]

I would like to purchase a new boresighter for my .20 VarTarg. I can't find any boresighters listed in any of the major retail links or mail catalogs that fit the .20. I have never used a boresighter, and was wondering how boresighters that are manufactured to fit .17-.22 caliber rifles would fit in a .20. In other words, it seems that a .17 size would definitely fit into the .20 barrel, but that the fit would be rather loose. If I am correct in that assumption, is there one particular boresighter made specifically for the .20 that would fill the bill, yet not cost an arm and a leg and be powered by batteries that were fairly common and that were fairly cheap....such as AA or even AAA batteries?

Also, what's the deal with red lasers vs. green lasers? I seemed to have read somewhere that the green lasers are easier to spot at distances, say of 100 yards or more. Is this true, or does it make any real difference? I would hope that such a device would be convenient to use at 100 yards---the range where I like to zero in scopes.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

I have the Leupold that has a magnet and goes on the end of the barrel. It works great and well worth the money. Since nothing goes in the bore, calibur doesn't matter.

 

[Goofycat]

Jim, thank you for your advice. I'll check out the Leupold.

 

[Goofycat]

The Leupold bore sighter will probably be my choice. The scope can be dialed in with the Leupold bore sighter at home without having to use a target, then can be fine-tuned on paper at the range. I found that the Midway mail catalog lists the instrument at $75, while Natchez Shooter's Supply's mail catalog price is around $63. I haven't done any additional searches online. Amazon is currently out of stock at this time. The instrument seems easy to use, although a few Amazon reviewers thought the instructions were somewhat difficult to follow. I found this rather simple 3-minute instructional video that seemed to quickly explain how the gizmo works:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=574_o76Nf94&feature=related

More reviews from Optics Planet:

http://www.opticsplanet.com/reviews/reviews-leupold-zero-point-magnetic-illuminated-boresighter.html

 

[SS427]

Any reason you don't just remove the bolt and bore sight it the old fashioned way? I've yet to ever use a bore sighting device and never felt the need to use one.

 

[Goofycat]

Yes, I've done it this way, but it can't be done easily at 100 yards. I tried it two weeks ago when shooting ground squirrels. I changed scopes and even after sighting down the bore, I wasn't even on paper.

I don't belong to a gun club any longer (the old one lost its lease and closed down), so I have to wait until I get to the field where I want to shoot (almost 400 miles away), set up a target at, say, 25-50 yards, sight down the bore, take a couple of shots to see where the bullets strike, adjust the scope, then move the target out to 100 yards and hope I am not too far off. It seems that it would be just easier and quicker to use a bore sighter, and it might save ammo.

I plan on replacing at least two scopes in the near future and after having to use the old "look through the bore" eyeball system, a bore sighter looks like a better way to go. It would give me the benefit of getting the scopes "in the ballpark" before I leave home so I could spend more time hunting, rather than dialing in the scopes. Maybe I'm wrong, but I want to give it a try.

 

[SS427]

Sounds reasonable. If I were to buy one I would pass on any method that involves shoving it down the muzzle. Those things make me nervous. I think the only thing I would try are the laser gizmos shaped like a bullet although the Leupold model Jim recommended would be okay.

I do have a quick story about the Leupold model. A guy at our range was trying to sight in a 300 Win Mag with a Leupold bore sighter. I heard lots of booms and lots of cussing. After over twenty punishing shots and $40 worth of ammo, he still couldn't get the rifle on paper at 50 yards. To be honest I think it was operator error, so don't take this as a criticism of the bore sighter device. He came down and asked if I could help, and I said sure, to bring the rifle down to my rest and I would bore sight it for him. He brought the bore sighter, but I did it the old fashion way. He wanted me to shoot it, but I said no thanks, I will do the mechanics but I didn't need the abuse. Two shots later he was dead on at 50 yards. I have no idea how complicated the Leupold model is to use, but he clearly didn't have a handle on it.