Bore Sighting 101: Get On Paper.
The big picture:
If you’re new to rifles or mounting an optic, bore sighting is one of the simplest—and most misunderstood—steps in the process. Let’s clear it up right away:
Bore sighting is not zeroing.
It’s just a way to align your barrel and your scope so your first shots land on paper at 25 or 50 yards. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Think of it as a handshake between your rifle and your optic before you finalize your Zero @ the distance you need. You don’t need a fancy laser or set of magnets or to go to a gunsmith to get this simple process done on most of your rifles.
What Bore Sighting Does (and Doesn’t) Do
It does:
Save ammo
Save frustration
Get you close enough to start making real adjustments
It doesn’t:
Replace live-fire zeroing
Guarantee a bullseye
Magically fix poor mounting or shooting fundamentals
If your shots are on paper, bore sighting worked.
📋What You’ll Need
Keep this simple. Fancy tools aren’t required.
A rifle you can see down the barrel (bolt-action, single-shot, AR-style with upper separated)
A stable setup: shooting bags, a sled, or solid rests
A target at 25 or 50 yards
Patience (when you start – with a few reps under your belt this will become a 45 second exercise)
The key requirement: The rifle needs to be held still without you holding it in place for when you move your head between the barrel and scope
🪜 The Basic Bore Sighting Process
Make the rifle safe.
Unloaded. Magazine out. Action open. Chamber empty.Disassemble enough to see through the barrel.
Remove the bolt or separate the upper—whatever your rifle requires. You need to be able to look down the barrel from the back of the rifle. (see the picture below)“Lock” the rifle in place.
Bags or rests should hold it still. If it needs your input to balance it, keep adjusting. This could be a big sandbag, a bipod up from with a big bag in the back, you name it. When you let go the barrel shouldn’t move.Aim the barrel at the target.
Look through the barrel and center the target in the “bore” (another word for inside of the barrel.)Without moving the rifle, look through the optic.
This is the critical moment. The barrel stays put, just move your head & eye up and look down the scope. See where it’s aimed.Adjust the optic to match the barrel.
Adjust the reticle (using adjustment turrets for a scope, or the dot until it’s looking at the same point the barrel is.- Check, re-center, and Adjust.
This is rarely something you nail on the first try. Adjust the scope, re-center the barrel, check how close your reticle is to the center, and keep adjusting until it’s really close.
That’s it. When the barrel and optic agree, you’re bore sighted.
⚠️ A Note About Adjusting Your Scope
Remember this phrase: “When bore-sighting, you adjust into the error” Basically everything will feel a bit backwards.
- If your barrel is on target but your scope is aimed high –> You adjust the scope UP to fix this
- If your barrel is on target but your scope is aimed to the right –> You adjust the scope RIGHT to fix this
We do a bit more explaining in our quick Bore-Sighting Video Here but just trust us on this one. Once the gun is back together and you’re shooting and zeroing things go back to normal but to boresight you’ll be adjusting backwards from what feels normal and that’s ok.
☝️Another Quick Word on Adjustments (MOA, MILs, and Red Dots)
Different optics move differently:
¼ MOA scopes:
Common on hunting and precision rifles.
4 clicks = ~1 inch at 100 yards / ~1/2 inch at 50 yards / ~1/4 inch at 25 yards.½ MOA scopes or red dots:
Faster adjustments, fewer clicks, less precision.
Common on red dots and some LPVOs.
4 clicks = ~2 inch at 100 yards / ~1 inch at 50. yards / ~1/2 inch at 25 yardsMIL-based scopes:
Adjust in 0.1 mil increments.
Popular for long-range and tactical shooting.
1 Mil. (10 clicks) = ~3.6 inch at 100 yards / ~1.8 inch at 50 yards / ~.9 inch at 25 yards
At 25 or 50 yards for bore-sighting, don’t overthink the math. You’re just aligning visuals—not dialing a final zero.
Set Expectations (This Matters)
You might not land dead center with your first shot. That’s normal.
Bore sighting isn’t about perfection—it’s about being close enough to:
Fire a shot
See where it hit
Adjust
Move to longer distances
Zeroing comes later. Bore sighting just gets you invited to the party.
As you get better at bore sighting you can use the same skills to get on paper with a wider variety of guns / optics / at longer distances.
Final Thought
Bore sighting is a skill you’ll get better at every time you do it. Slow down. Keep the rifle steady. Trust your eyes.
Get close. Get on paper.
Then let live fire do the rest.
**Bonus Tip: When Zeroing, don’t waste 15 rounds trying to get PERFECT hits on targets that are closer than your desired Zero distance. The point of the closer targets is to allow us to make gross adjustments and walk our way closer as we step out to our final zero distance.
1 shot @ 25 yards – do the math (above) make a big adjustment that should put you on the bullseye then step out to 50 yards, same sequence here. Once you get to your Zeroing distance – THAT’S when we start shooting 3 shot groups and getting finnicky. The closer targets are just there to make sure you’re on paper when you step out further.