By Trent Marsh

Let’s talk about laser bore sighters.

Used correctly, they can help you get on paper faster and save a few rounds. But if you’re not thinking a few steps ahead, they can also lead you into problems that compromise the performance of your optics and cost you time, precision, and confidence.

Here’s how to use a laser bore sighter without undermining your gear or your results.

What a Laser Bore Sighter Actually Does

A laser bore sighter projects a visible laser beam from your barrel or chamber, to help align your optic’s reticle with the bore of the rifle. It’s meant as a time-saver, a way to get “close enough” before sending that first round.

That part works, but here’s the problem...too many shooters take the laser as gospel. They drop the sighter in, match their reticle to the beam, and start cranking on their turrets like they’re dialing in a long-range shot. That’s where the trouble begins.

The Risk: Moving Too Far From Optical Center

Where most folks go wrong is cranking on those windage and elevation turrets trying to match the reticle to the laser dot.

What’s the problem with that? Every click you make moves you away from optical center—the sweet spot of your scope’s internal lens system. The farther you move from that center, the more you risk degrading image quality, tracking reliability, and overall performance.

Scopes are built to operate best at or near their optical center. That’s where light travels cleanly, where reticles stay true, and where adjustments are most consistent. Once you spin two or three full revolutions on a turret, you’re no longer in that optimal zone. You're out on the fringe and performance goes downhill from there.

You also make it harder to go back to square one. If you want to move that scope to another rifle later, good luck getting back to factory zero. You’ll waste time and ammo just trying to undo the mess.

A Better Way to Sight In

There’s a smarter, cleaner process—and it doesn’t require chasing a laser dot across the wall.

1. Mount your scope properly. Take the time to level the optic, torque the rings correctly, and get everything squared away.
2. Start at 25 yards. Fire a group. If you’re not within four to six inches of center, stop. There’s likely a setup issue that needs correcting before you start adjusting turrets.
3. Dial windage first. At close range, your left-to-right impact is easier to confirm and correct. Get that lined up first.
4. Then move out to 50 or 100 yards. Use your final zeroing distance to fine-tune both elevation and windage. By that point, your adjustments should be minimal.

The goal through this entire process is to stay within one full revolution of your windage and elevation turrets—up, down, left, or right. That keeps your reticle close to its optical center, where your scope is designed to perform at its best.

When a Laser Bore Sighter Is Useful

Let’s be clear...a laser bore sighter isn’t worthless. If you want to use it as a rough reference point before your first shot, that’s fine. It’s a tool, and used responsibly, it can speed up the initial alignment process.

But don’t confuse close with zeroed. And don’t adjust your scope just to match where the laser lands. The laser only tells you where the bore is pointed—it doesn’t account for optic height, barrel harmonics, or trajectory.

Think of the bore sighter as a rough guide, not a final answer.

The Bottom Line

A laser bore sighter can help you get your rifle closer to zero faster—but it’s not a replacement for good fundamentals or sound optical practices. Used carelessly, it can push your scope far outside its ideal range of operation, hurting performance and adding frustration down the road.

One thing I would recommend, using a bore sighter or not, is to keep an optics log notepad in your range bag. Every time you make adjustments, log them in the book so you know how many clicks away from optical center you are so you can get back no matter what.

If you’re going to use one, use it wisely. Know what it’s for, know what it isn’t, and don’t let a shortcut become a setback.

Keep it tight, keep it centered, and let your gear perform the way it was built to.