Boresighters 101
By MARJ LAW
“OK, Joe, explain to me how you used the boresighter for my new 9mm Heckler & Koch VP9 Match gun. Patty tried it at the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office range, and she smashed the bullseye two times in a row. That boresighter aimed the sights perfectly. How’d you do that?”
First, of course, Joe shows me that the gun is empty. He has dumped the magazine and opened the chamber so I can inspect it. Sure enough, the chamber is clear.
And, even though we both now know that there is no round in the gun, he is keeping the muzzle pointed in a safe direction.
“You have to look to see that the boresighter you purchase is made for the caliber of your gun. This particular one has 9mm stamped on it. Otherwise, the laser will not line up with the barrel. It almost looks like a regular round, but instead of a having a bullet at one end, its brass housing has a hole where the laser shoots out.
This one comes with four batteries. You only need two, so two are extra. When you pop them into your gun, be sure to point the laser away from your eyes. The laser turns on when you tighten the screw cover of the battery compartment. When you’re finished sighting the gun, take the batteries out to keep them from corroding in the boresighter. The batteries last about an hour total, so that’s another good reason to take them out of the casing when not in use.
Now, pull back the slide and put the boresighter into the chamber. Still pointing the gun in a safe direction, aim it at something like a wall so you can see where the laser is pointing.
Looking through your sights, align them with the dot on the wall. If they’re not aligned, move the windage as needed. Many guns have a screw you can turn the rear sights left or right. That is called windage. If you need to change the height, you may have a screw to turn that will change the height. This is elevation.
If you have a red dot sight on your gun, align the red dot with the laser dot on the wall.
“What if you own a gun that has sights that are not adjustable?” I wonder.
“Then you can figure how to shoot your gun to compensate for misalignment. You’ll want to learn exactly what your gun needs to hit the target well.”
“So, Joe, now that you’ve lined up sights to the laser, when I shoot, I’ll hit the bullseye every time?”
“Some of the accuracy depends on you,” he says (not rolling his eyes). “The laser isn’t perfect, but it will be pretty accurate. I’ve heard people use a boresighter to learn muscle memory when they practice quick-drawing too.
We’ll go to the WCSO range and shoot at a target. We may have to tweak the sights a little, but they’ll be close enough so we won’t have to waste much ammunition to align the gun. Otherwise, it may take shooting off a bunch of bullets to get your gun sighted in. The laser saves in cost of ammo.”
“What about distance shooting? Although we generally shoot at the 7.5-yard target, the WCSO pistol range has 7.5, 15, 25, and 50-yard positions. Will it make a difference if you shoot at a 50-yard target?”
“You can take the boresighter to the range and aim it at the 50-yard target. If the sun is bright, it may bleach out the laser dot, though. If you can see the dot, then depending on your gun and ammunition, you may need to adjust the elevation for the bullet’s drop in distance shooting. The weight and speed of the bullet can make a difference in the drop too.”
“What about a rifle with a scope? Can you use a boresighter for that too?”
“Yes, you can align the crosshairs of the scope to the laser. The laser dot should be right in the center of the crosshairs. The laser is good for open sights, a red dot reflex or a scope.”
“What else should someone keep in mind when adjusting the sights?”
“It’s possible that if there’s a problem, it might be that your reflex sight or scope is not mounted securely on the gun.
Also, I notice that you use only 124-grain rounds in your 9mm. Different ammunition may cause the VP9 to shoot a bit differently. I’d suggest using the same grain ammunition each time you go to the range. If, however, you use a different type of ammunition when you’re carrying the gun as a defensive weapon and not just as a target gun, you’ll want to know how the different round impacts the target when you shoot.”
“Are these laser boresighters expensive?” I ask.
“This one’s pretty old. We better check on the computer.”
When we look, we see prices for a 9mm boresighter ranging from $16 to $50.
And, in case you are the proud owner of a plethora of guns, you can find kits that contain boresighters for many different calibers. I found one kit that included a BS9 9mm laser module and a BS30 .30 carbine laser module.
The arbors allow you to adapt the laser to fit these other bore diameters: BS9 Laser Bore Sight (9mm Luger), BS30 Laser Bore Sight (.30 Carbine), AR38 Arbor (.38 Special/.357 Magnum), AR40 Arbor (.40 S&W), AR44REM Arbor (.44 Remington Magnum), and an AR45ACP Arbor (.45 ACP), AR45COLT Arbor (.45 Long Colt). It ran about $111.
Yikes. In a nifty pouch, of course.
Without looking too much further, I found another kit holding various boresighters for $65. Prices and contents of the kits vary quite a bit!
“The batteries in this thing are really tiny,” I tell Joe. “They’re almost the size of hearing-aid batteries.”
He looks at me and says: “Huh? What?”
Marj Law is the former director of Keep Wakulla County Beautiful who has become an avid shooter in retirement.