I see this alot on the range,a fellow will buy a new gun,the dealer will bore sight it and he comes to the range and starts out at 100 yds,can' t even find his bullet holes they are so far off.Saw one fellow that bought a 22 mag ,had it bore sighted and started out at 200 yds was just cussing because he couldn' t tell where he was hitting,I susgested he move to 25 yds to start with,we couldn' t even find where he was hitting at 25yds.I took the bolt out and bore sighted it on a dot @25 let him shoot using my rest,it was close enough then so that he could hold on the dot and I moved his cross hairs to the bullet hole he just shot.Didn' t take him long then to get it zerroed @100.
I have even heard remarks after missing a deer," they just bored sighted it yesterday."
A buddy has a hunt club down east said he had a new member to shoot and miss a big buck 3 times in a cutoff.He asked him if he had shot his new rifle before the hunt,told him they sighted in the rifle when he bought it.

Long before I owned an optical collimator, I did all my zeroing by starting out with boresighting from a sandbag rest. It works just as well as any boresighting device, just a little slower.

However, my advice is to ALWAYS fire the first shot or two at 25 yards, to make sure you' re going to be " on paper" out farther, NO MATTER HOW YOU DO YOUR INITIAL BORE SIGHTING! This can save you " several boxes of slugs" !!

I once met a gunsmith that said he could use a collimator, and " ALWAYS" be within an inch or two of the point of aim @ 100 yards, first shot! I really doubt if this is at all possible, given that every rifle, and every shooter' s eye, is different from every other one! IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO SIGHT IN YOUR RIFLE FOR YOU, AND HAVE ANY ASSURANCE AT ALL THAT IT WILL HIT WHERE YOU AIM!! If it does, you' d be very fortunate indeed!!

Really? I' ve had 7 or 8 customers last season come back and tell me that they were either dead on at 100 yards, or within an inch of being dead on.

No matter what you do, you always have to get in some range time. Never trust a boresighter.

In Oklahoma, Elk are pretty much draw in only and it' s a once in a lifetime hunt. Once you' re drawn, whether you harvest or not, you' re done forever. I had this one gentleman come in with a Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm Mag and was thoroughly upset. He' d taken his rifle to a different store and had them boresight it. Then he went on his once-in-a-lifetime-elk hunt. (I' ve been trying to draw in since 1985!!!!). You guessed it, he never went to the range. He got a shot, wounded the elk, never found it, and can now never hunt for one again in Oklahoma. When I got my hands on the rifle, the sights were so far off it was unbelievable. The crosshairs were at the far right side of the collamator. I sighted it for him and told him to be sure and go to the range to do the final sighting in before deer season. I later learned it was dead on at 100 yards, but he wouldn' t have known that if he hadn' t gone to the range. I think he learned his lesson.

If you use a collamator system like the Bushnell, here is what I do, and maybe why I' m fairly consistant.

I start at the scopes lowest power and center the crosshairs. Then I crank up the power and check their position making any small adjustments necessary, then I crank it down again and recheck.

My cousin had put a new scope on his 30-30 Marlin this year and had it bore sighted at the local gunshop. The thing was still 9" low at 100 yards. I would NEVER take a rifle hunting without first shooting it at the range first.

I have my own bushnell boresighter and use it whenever I mount a scope.I always start at 100yards and the point of impact is always on the paper usually within 4" to 6" of dead center.You must know your boresighter as many have grids that are not perfectly centered.My own unit is about six inches off at 100 yards but after using it a few times you realize this and simply allow for this error.Using the boresighter saves me time and ammunition by skipping over the 25 yard and 50 yard targets and going directly to the 100 yard target.Many people make the mistake of firing one round and then moving the scope at 100 yards.I have watched many people burn over a box of ammunition chasing the point of impact all over the target by adjusting the scope after each shot.Shoot a three shot group then adjust the scope using the average of the group.Adjust the scope and fire another three shot group and adjust if necessary.Usually the scope will be sighted in with two adjustments for a total of nine shots.

Isn' t it amazing how many people still haven' t learned this simple lesson? I sighted my elk rifles in once in TX, then went to Montana to hunt. Naturally, when I got there, the first thing I did was go to a range to check ' em, since travelling can mess up your zero! Both were shooting 3" higher than what I' d set ' em for before leaving home. Since I generally zero my guns +3" @ 100 yards, they would have shot over most game at any range under 300 yards if I hadn' t checked them!!

Good method! Also, if you observe the collimator through the scope as you change power settings, you can see if the power change is going to change where your bullet is going to hit!

well...took my a-bolt out to range before the trip to the mtns this past thanksgiving and man was i right about that wacko at dick' s. i maxed my scope out and i was still a foot and a half to the right. had to take it to bass pro and get them to re-mount everything. what a joke! so anyways...took it back the next morning and got it sighted in. i was really pleased with the 7mm WSM, BUT WHAT A HECK OF A KICK!!!! pretty vicious, but i only weigh about 140 and not exactly stalky. anyhow...the problem is solved. thanks for all the input......oh, and i didn' t even get to shoot at a deer on the 3 day hunt. pretty disappointing, oh well, at least im able to get out there and enjoy His creation. God bless you.