Paul Austin tests the Sightmark Triple Duty laser bore sight and finds it's a great time- and money-saving tool when you need to zero your rifle

Sighting in a rifle can be a tricky and expensive business. On a bolt-action, the traditional ‘eyeball’ bore sighting method is usually good enough to get you on the paper but that’s not an option with a semi-auto .22 LR or an AR-style straight-pull, my custom 10/22 being a prime example.

The solution is a laser boresight. These come in various flavours, with some lasers embedded in cartridge cases, whilst others employ calibre-based screw-on attachments or arbors which slip into the bore, the former generally being the more accurate of the two.

Sightmark have come up with an alternative in the form of their arborless laser boresight. It’s a clever design which uses a small retractable plastic probe combined with a magnet to automatically align the laser with 
the bore.

Powered by three LR44 batteries, you get about an hour per set, which is plenty of tinkering time as the device can be fitted in seconds and doesn’t require any calibre-specific add-ons. It really is a universal fit and can be used to sight in pretty much any rifle, all the way up to a .30 cal.

credit: Archant

Tips for using a laser bore sight
The trick to bore sighting is not to get too ambitious in terms of distance and this applies whether you’re ‘eyeballing’ a rifle or using a laser. 

For the best results, I teamed the boresight with StrelokPro. Using my 10/22 as an example, a 50m zero produces near zero (according to Strelok) at just 20m, so sighting in with the boresight is simply a matter of plonking a target at 20m and aligning the crosshairs and the laser dead centre on the target - job done.

On a .17 HMR, the near zero (based on a 100m) is 60m. This is a bit of a stretch for the laser on a sunny day, as it runs out of steam at about 30m.

  • Option 1: you could wait for the sun to go down, at which point you can make the 60m distance, with the laser easily visible with the naked eye at dusk. In theory you can sight out to 100m but I’d say about 75m would be the usable limit.
  • Option 2: you could simply half that distance to 30m and use Strelok to calculate the holdover based on a 100m zero and use that as the aim point for the scope and laser. It sounds a bit more complex than it actually is. The bottom line? You’re not actually zeroing the rifle, the aim is to get on the paper at your target distance without firing a shot.

credit: Archant

A laser bore sight saves time and money
The real beauty of the laser is the time and money you save. I’ve started using it on bolt-actions as a matter of course, as it allows me to get on the paper before even heading to the range. There’s no bobbing up and down, squinting down the bore or balancing the rifle on bags etc.

On a feisty calibre, it’s particularly handy as it’s almost impossible to spot your splashes unaided and therefore end up burning through a box of ammo as a consequence. 

The solution: start close and do all the donkey work at home before even heading to the range, you’ll save yourself a tonne of time and money, and you’ll be certain to recover that initial £60 investment in no time. Highly recommended. 

Supplier: Edgar Brothers 
Web: www.edgarbrothers.com 
Price: £59.99