11 Best Bore Sight In 2024 | Best Bore Sights For Accuracy

Best Bore Sight

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A bore sighter is one of those things that usually comes out of left field for someone new to the shooting world. The general thought process is that the scope mounts straight on the rifle, in line with the barrel, which is where the bullet comes out, so theoretically the scope and the barrel should be pointed at basically the same spot.

While this is basically true, there are two things that new shooters often fail to consider: 1) that a bullet travels in an arc, so even if the scope is dead-on at a certain distance, it will be off at a different distance, and 2) that the tiny, imperceptible differences in the direction the scope is pointed and the direction the barrel is pointed get amplified over the distance of the shot.

BEST BORE SIGHT IN 2022

Let’s say the scope is angled 1/100 inch away from perfect on the rifle. Looking at the scope and rifle the difference is so small that you probably can’t even tell, but once you get out to 25, 50, and 100 yards, that difference has had plenty of time to grow, and you won’t be dead-on. So where do boresighters come in? Read on.

A Brief Intro To The Best Laser Bore sights

The purpose of a bore sighter is purely to save you time. It shoots out a laser that (theoretically) represents where your bullets will hit. You then adjust the scope reticle to line up with where the laser is showing.

Understanding what laser boresighters do is simple enough. Understanding why you’re not done with the zeroing process once you’ve bore sighted is a bit more complicated. Some of it has to do with bullet physics, and some of it has to do with natural limitations of laser bore sighters.

PRODUCT

DETAILS

Products

BEST FOR ACCURACY

SiteLite Ultra Mag  Professional Boresighter

SiteLite Ultra Mag Professional Boresighter

  • Material: Aluminum
  • Battery: Lithium Metal battery
  • Color: Green
BEST FOR QUICK SITE

LaserLyte Universal Laser Bore Sight

LaserLyte Universal Laser Bore Sight

  • Material: Aircraft Grade Aluminum
  • Battery: 393 battery
  • Color: Red
BEST FOR QUICK DRAW

SightMark Laser Boresight

SightMark Laser Boresight

  • Material: Brass
  • Battery: AG5 battery
  • Color: Red
BEST FOR FLEXIBILITY

Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter

Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter

  • Material: Aluminum
  • Battery: Lithium 123A
  • Color: Red/Green
BEST FOR QUICK AIM

Bushnell 743333 Boresighter

Bushnell 743333 Boresighter

  • Material: Metal
  • Battery: Lithium
  • Color: Red
BEST FOR FAST SIGHT

MidTen Bore Sight Cal Bore Sighter

MidTen Bore Sight Cal Bore Sighter

  • Material: Brass
  • Battery: Lithium Metal
  • Color: Red
BEST FOR HUNTERS

StrongTools BoreSighter

StrongTools BoreSighter

  • Material: Aluminum
  • Battery: CR2 3V
  • Color: Red 
BEST FOR HUNTERS

StrongTools BoreSighter

EZShoot Bore Sight Kit

  • Material: Aluminum
  • Sport: Hunting
  • Color: Green laser 
BEST FOR HUNTERS

StrongTools BoreSighter

StrongTools Caliber-Specific BoreSighters

  • Material: Brass
  • Battery: LR626/AG4
  • Color: Red 
BEST FOR HUNTERS

StrongTools BoreSighter

EZshoot Bore Sight

  • Material: Brass
  • Battery: 2X AG3
  • Color: Red 
BEST FOR HUNTERS

StrongTools BoreSighter

FSI 5.56 Laser Bore Sight

  • Material: Aluminum
  • Sport: Archery
  • Range: 15-100 yards

Lasers travel in a perfectly straight line, which essentially guarantees that the laser will not be hitting exactly where the bullet is going to hit, so even if the laser sight is mounted perfectly in the gun, it’s going to hit either above or below where the bullet would actually hit at that distance.

Laser bore sighters are also not perfect in design, and they get worse the cheaper you go. Very few models actually shoot straight out of the barrel, and most of them shoot to either side. The hope is that they are close enough that it can save you time getting on paper, at which point it becomes much faster and easier to make adjustments and get perfectly zeroed.

So, to recap, laser bore sighters are handy as a way to save you time and frustration when you are bore sighting in a new scope, but you want to do your homework on which bore sighter you buy to make sure that it actually will save you that time and frustration.

Purpose, limitations

Our Recommendations For The Best Bore Sight

1. SiteLite Ultra Mag Green Laser Professional Boresighter

best bore sight

We’re going to start out with what is probably the Gold standard in laser boresighters. The SiteLite Ultra Mag is a professional laser bore sighter that is basically universal. It comes with inserts so that it fits snugly into whatever caliber rifle you have, as well as a strong magnetic connection to keep it straight throughout the process.

The SiteLite Ultra Mag is a class IIIa laser that is green instead of red, which makes the laser visibility on it very high compared to a red laser. In terms of a laser bore sight, this is one that is top-of-the-line.

This is an in-muzzle bore sighter, which is how it’s able to be universal. The high price of this professional laser bore sighter might be a turn off, but if you find yourself frequently bore sighting in scopes on rifles and handguns of different calibers, paying the extra money for something that is really solid and going to work well on all of them can bring some serious dividends.

SiteLite Ultra Mag Professional Boresighter

The price of SiteLite Ultra Mag Professional Boresighter varies, so check the latest price at

2. LaserLyte Universal Laser Bore Sight

best laser bore sighter

The LaserLyte is a red laser, which may make it harder to see in daylight, but the simple solution is to use a compatible reflective target. This bore sighter from LaserLyte is a lot more affordable than the SiteLite, but it also has accuracy issues. It doesn’t fit as snugly into the end of the barrel and has a bit more wiggle, and a little bit of wiggle makes a big difference.

It’s also a Class IIIa laser, but because it’s a red laser color, it won’t appear quite as bright in daylight conditions unless you use a reflective target. It’s purported to be “the brightest beam allowed by law”, with a power output of 5mW. As long as you know what you’re getting, this LaserLyte can be a great option.

The exception to that is if you are sighting in new irons or a red dot or something on a short-barreled pistol. You need a barrel length of at least 4.5 inches for this laser bore sighter to work.

LaserLyte Universal Laser Bore Sight

The price of LaserLyte Universal Laser Bore Sight varies, so check the latest price at

3. SightMark Laser Boresight

best boresighter

This is the first in-chamber laser bore sighter on the list. Being designed to fit directly in the chamber comes with some advantages and disadvantages. The design is cheaper, and so in-chamber boresighters tend to be a lot more affordable than the universal ones. Theoretically, since it fits like a cartridge in the chamber, you’d also expect the laser to be more accurate.

While this isn’t always the case (there are a lot of terrible boresighters out there), it’s certainly true of the SightMark bore sights. These are well designed and reasonably accurate. The SightMark bore sight is also small, lightweight, and easy to use. You can get their best green laser sight kit AR 15 variants.

One thing I wish was different about these in-chamber bore sights is the color. For some reason all the manufacturers make them in a brass color so they look almost exactly like spent brass, and can even be mixed up with live ammo. Why not just paint them a white, black, or red color? If you decide to go with an in-chamber boresighter, I highly recommend marking it in some way.

Another great thing to consider with these in-chamber sights is that you don’t have to worry about whether it will work with your muzzle brake, flash hider, or anything else you have mounted on the end of your barrel.

SightMark Laser Boresight

The price of SightMark Laser Boresight varies, so check the latest price at

4. Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter

bore sighter

The Wheeler professional laser bore sight is another well-regarded option in the boresighter world. They take a bit of a different route from the SiteLite, though, in that they clamp and secure to the outside of the barrel rather than squishing inside.

The Wheeler bore sight is also a little more affordable than the SiteLite, but more expensive than an in-chamber or cheaper universal boresighter. You just line it up with the bore axis and tighten it down. You may even be able to find gun deals where its discounted.

You can get it in either green or red laser colors, and there are significant savings with the red, but it also is not as easily visible in daylight, which is when most people are going to be sighting in their scopes.

The Wheeler Professional laser bore sighter is another option where it may only make sense if you zero new scopes on a semi-regular basis or you have some cash to burn. If you only zero a new scope once every few years, then it’s not nearly as big a deal to just start at 10 yards to get on paper and then work your way out to whatever distance you’re wanting to be zeroed out to.

The Wheeler laser bore uses the strongest magnetic connection of the bore sighters on this list. The power output is as high as is legally allowed, and the battery life is impressive thanks to its having a bigger battery than other laser sights. This is right up there with the SiteLite Mag laser boresighter for gun enthusiasts, and it’s not caliber specific.

Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter

The price of Wheeler Professional Laser Bore Sighter varies, so check the latest price at

5. Bushnell 743333 Boresighter

best laser boresighter

The Bushnell is an interesting option, as it doesn’t work like any of the other laser bore sighters on this list, and doesn’t actually even have a laser. What the Bushnell does is line up roughly with your scope, assuming you have a “standard” height scope, and has a graduated grid sighting reticle and a target adjustment system so you just line your scope’s reticle up on the grid.

What’s great about this is the consistency; if you know that when you center the scope reticle on the middle of the grid that you end up shooting high and right, then the next time you use it to zero you just line the reticle up a little higher and to the right of center and it saves you even more time.

Another great thing about the Bushnell is that there’s no visibility issue in daylight; there’s no battery swapping involved, no reflective targets, nothing. Just a simple grid presented by a boresighter that should be really close since it’s inserted directly into the barrel. It comes with different arbors that make it compatible with everything from .17 to .45 caliber.

Here’s the catch; if you have your scope mounted higher than normal, which is especially common for long range scopes with large objectives, you may not actually have good visibility of the grid, which makes this at best cumbersome to use and at worst useless.

Bushnell 743333 Boresighter

The price of Bushnell 743333 Boresighter varies, so check the latest price at

6. MidTen Bore Sight Cal Bore Sighter

laser bore sight reviews

The MidTen is another in-chamber option besides the SightMark. Now there’s nothing wrong with the SightMark, but the MidTen is even more affordable and comes with three extra batteries. It’s much more accurate than most of the options at this price point and is at least consistent.

I haven’t used all of the different sizes of MidTen personally, but they all seem to be held to high standards of quality and are incredibly well-reviewed considering the price point. If you have built up your weapons system around a specific cartridge or two, then it can be just as effective and much more affordable to pick up a couple of these than pay the big money for something else.

These are also much easier to use. Rather than fiddling with the arbor and adapters and trying for awhile to get everything lined up, you just pop it in the chamber. I would recommend turning this boresighter so that the same side is always up each time you zero, and it’s usually worth giving it a half turn after you’ve zeroed on it and check zero again.

MidTen Bore Sight Cal Bore Sighter

The price of MidTen Bore Sight Cal Bore Sighter varies, so check the latest price at

7. StrongTools BoreSighter

boresighting lasers

Kind of like the MidTen, if you’re willing to go off the beaten path of trusted brands a bit and take a risk on the StrongTools, it is likely to pay off. It is most directly comparable to the LaserLyte in design and function, but it actually has better reviews and is more affordable. You can get it with either a red or a green laser, and it’s also a class IIIa laser.

It has an aluminum body that is reasonably durable and comes with 12 different adapters to fit calibers from .17 to a 12 gauge shotgun. The laser is comparably bright to the other good options out there and, like most of them, will work best in either dusk/dawn lighting or with reflective targets.

Most of the end-of-the-barrel sight options like the SiteLite Ultra Mag will have an aluminum body constructed out of an aluminum alloy. Battery life on the StrongTools is about an hour and a half, which is plenty of time to get your gun accurate enough to move forward in zeroing.

StrongTools BoreSighter

The price of StrongTools BoreSighter varies, so check the latest price at

8. EZShoot Bore Sight Kit

This is a solid option at a low price. EZShoot is a StrongTools clone, but a good one. You can get their bore sight kit in either red or green laser variants, but the green is more expensive. They have adapters to get you anywhere from .17 to .54 caliber, and this sight uses a pair of CR2 batteries to get a lot more battery life.

EZshoot Bore Sight Kit Bright Green Dot Laser BoreSighter for Hunting with Big Button Switch for .17 to 12GA Caliber

If you’re not worried about the price, I would recommend getting the version with the green laser, but that can depend a lot on your preference and shooting conditions.

If you’re like me, then comparing this EZShoot to something a lot more expensive like the SiteLite can be confusing. Why would anyone pay so much more money when something so much more affordable can do the same job?

The answer is fairly simple: a laser sight is only as good as its consistency. If the bore sighter fits into the barrel in precisely the same position every single time, then it will give you a consistent position to work with. If it doesn’t, then it won’t save you as much time and trouble, which defeats the purpose of the bore sighter in the first place.

EZShoot Bore Sight Kit

The price of EZShoot Bore Sight Kit varies, so check the latest price at

9. StrongTools Caliber-Specific BoreSighters

How good is StrongTools? Good enough to at least end up on this list more than once. If you’re a fan of the in-chamber style of bore sighters then you may want to consider this set. If you buy the whole set, it’s more expensive than buying a universal bore sighter, but StrongTools has done a good enough job with these that it may be worth the accuracy.

StrongTools BoreSighter for 223/9MM/7.62X39MM/30-30/30-06/.25/270/243/308/7MM/ 45ACP Colt Caliber Rifle Scope Handgun Brass Red Dot Boresight Kit for Hunting with AG3 Batteries (Special, Bullet Type)

The biggest drawback to these is that the battery life is apparently quite bad. To the extent that you only get a few minutes of runtime with each set of batteries. Keep that in mind as you prepare to sight in your guns, because you may want to keep the batteries out of the sights while you transition to the next gun just so you don’t have to keep replacing them.

These automatically turn on as soon as they start getting power, and there’s no on/off switch or button to push.

If we’re getting nitpicky, I would have liked to see a sighter for 6.5 Creedmoor or Grendel instead of either the 30-06 or the 30-30. I know there are some who would disagree with me, but it seems like every time I hit the range I see fewer of the 30-’s and more of the 6.5’s.

StrongTools Caliber-Specific BoreSighters

The price of StrongTools Caliber-Specific BoreSighters varies, so check the latest price at

10. EZshoot Bore Sight

Remember that time I said that EZshoot was a StrongTools clone? Yeah, that’s still true, but that doesn’t mean they have bad products. If you’re specifically looking for 9mm, this in-chamber bore sight does an incredible job. Battery life is a little better (but not much), and the laser is nice and bright.

EZshoot Bore Sight 9mm Laser Boresighter with 3 Sets of Batteries

Like other bore sights in its class, it doesn’t have an on/off switch, so the only way to turn the laser off is to remove the batteries. Unlike some in-chamber options, this guy really fits snugly in the chamber and gives an accurate representation of where the bullet is going to land.

Considering that you won’t be firing handguns at distances nearly as long as rifles, you may wonder whether you need a boresighter at all, but mounting a handgun optic is tricky business and may need a lot of shots to get zeroed in if you don’t start by sighting in to a laser. The choice is yours.

EZshoot makes these in more calibers than just the 9mm, but the reviews on some of them aren’t quite as universally positive, so make sure to double-check the one you want to buy before you pull the trigger.

EZshoot Bore Sight

The price of EZshoot Bore Sight varies, so check the latest price at

11. FSI 5.56 Laser Bore Sight

Well folks, I finally found one. That’s it, I can officially retire now:

I have found an in-chamber bore sight that is not the same color as brass.

Maybe I’m being unreasonable, but I’m willing to look past the fact that I’ve never heard of FSI before, never personally used this boresight before, and that the amazon listing has fewer than 100 ratings. The ratings it does have are good, and simply painting the case a different color is enough to earn some goodwill and trust from me.

223 5.56mm Laser Bore Sight

Granted, some of the photos in the reviews show it as a gold/brass color, so perhaps I’m just being set up for disappointment.

Jokes aside, though, while I haven’t personally used this one, it is performing far better in the reviews than most of the in-chamber bore sights, and it’s cheap enough that as long as it functions even close to properly then it is a good value. If you have reasons not to go with any of the other boresights on this list, then it may be worth considering the FSI. 

It may not be the best .223 bore sight, but it’s a good option to think about.

FSI 5.56 Laser Bore Sight

The price of FSI 5.56 Laser Bore Sight varies, so check the latest price at

Different Kinds of Bore Sights

Essentially you’ll see two different types of bore sights: in-chamber and end-of-barrel. That’s my personal terminology. There may be some more official terms but that’s how I refer to them.

In-Chamber

Just like the name would imply, these are bore sights that mimic ammo casings and slide into the chamber in place of a cartridge. Once the battery is in, these guys are always on until the battery is removed or runs out. These are simple to use and have the potential for greater accuracy, though that usually comes down to manufacturing.

End-of-Barrel

The other common kind of bore sight is one in which you attach an adapter to one end of the boresight and stick it into the barrel. Pushing the sight in all the way theoretically gets the boresight in nice and snug, orienting the laser exactly where the barrel is pointing. 

Just like with in-chamber bore sights, manufacturing quality is key here, as the difference between an accurate (and therefore useful) boresight and an inaccurate (and therefore useless) boresight could be a millimeter or less in tolerance. 

The Advantages of Owning a Bore Sight

The main advantage of using a bore sight is that it can speed up the zeroing process considerably when you’re working with a new firearm + optic combination. It’s not uncommon for a newly-mounted scope and a rifle to be so misaligned that you can’t even tell where your shots are landing at 100 yards, or even 50.

If you start by adjusting your scope to line up with a laser bore sight, you could then immediately start shooting out at 50 or 100 yards and already be on paper, so it’s easy to see where the reticle needs to move to line up with the point of impact.

If you put a lot of mileage on your bore sight and are frugal with the battery life, there is a chance that you’ll also save some money over time because you’re using up fewer rounds each time you sight something in, but that takes a lot more usage to pay off than the time that you save.

Pricing Ranges for Bore Sights

At the low end, an in-chamber bore sighter can be as cheap as $12, and on the high end, you can spend over $200 for a quality option like the SiteLite. The best 12 gauge bore sighter, like the Feyachi one here, doesn’t need to be more expensive than $30-$40.

As you can see, they’re neither dirt cheap nor exorbitant, and there are a range of options to fit whatever your budget range happens to be. If you don’t see much point in investing a lot of money into a bore sight, then you don’t have to. If you find yourself the go-to guy in your social circle every time someone needs to sight in a new gun, you have a lot more reason to invest more.

At the end of the day, you can essentially spend as little or as much on a bore sight as you want. The old adage of “you get what you pay for” is still mostly true, but not as much with bore sights as with other things. 

Buying Guide

Expectations

A big portion of being successful while using a laser bore sight kit is to have your expectations lined up with reality beforehand. It is rare for a laser bore sight to get you dead on with your zero by itself. The purpose of it is to get you close without having to shoot any rounds, not to get you perfectly on.

Also, don’t expect the in-muzzle or end-of-the-barrel varieties like the Wheeler to work if you have an accessory mounted to the end of your barrel like a flash hider or muzzle brake. You’ll have to remove those first if you want to use one of that type of boresighter.

For me, I buy my firearms with factory iron sights already on them and use them for awhile before I buy a scope for them, so by the time I’m sighting in a new scope, there’s usually already something on the end of the barrel. Since I’m lazy, that usually means I don’t go through the hassle of taking off the accessory and using an end-of-the-barrel bore sight kit.

Now there’s a chance that your scope is so off that it can’t get lined up with any of these bore sighters. If that’s the case, you may need to remount the scope and use something like an SRL scope leveler to make sure it’s properly mounted.

Also, most bore sighters will be designed to work with some kind of ballistic targeting system, which is just a fancy way of saying “reflective target”, but hey, if it helps make your rifles and scopes more accurate, they can call it whatever they want, right?

In-Chamber Vs. End-of-the-Barrel

Sure, it’s not as feisty as the 9mm vs. .45 debate, but it’s still something that there’s a lot of disagreement on. Here’s what I’ve found: people who sight in scopes a lot tend to favor the end-of-the-barrel variety. That doesn’t mean, however, that they’re objectively better.

It has more to do with the fact that the more you do it the more likely it is you’ll be working with different calibers and in a variety of conditions. If you’ve got a fairly standard set of firearms like a .308 for hunting, an AR chambered in 5.56 for home defense, and a 9mm for concealed carry, then you can actually pick up highly-rated in-chamber sights for all three for less than the SiteLite.

That said, if you are a person that doesn’t buy new guns or optics very frequently and sticks with the same lineup you’ve had for years, then it probably doesn’t make much sense to be buying boresighters anyway.

The Hard Differences

An in-chamber bore sight kit cannot be universal just by virtue of its design. I have also yet to find an in-chamber laser sight with a green laser. Not sure why, but all of them are red lasers.

On the other hand, in-chamber sights are incredibly quick and simple to use. With end-of-the-barrel laser sights, even if you don’t have to go through the effort of removing the flash hider or muzzle brake, you still have to get the sight outfitted with the correct adapter and (somewhat) painstakingly get it inserted perfectly straight into the barrel.

If the end goal of a bore sight is purely to save you time, then the in-chamber ones tend to better suited for that.

FAQ

How Does A Laser Bore Sighter Work?

Bore sighting works by using a laser module that is inserted into either the firearm barrel or the chamber of the new rifle to shoot out a powerful laser beam to make a visible laser dot on the target so you can easily slide the scope reticle until it’s perfectly aligned with the target point.

A laser boresighter can be designed for a specific caliber or have adjustable adapters for high accuracy. Having one that works with multiple calibers can be nice because you can use it more than one gun. Being able to use it to get multiple firearms higher accuracy with just one kit is a good deal.

Each sight needs to be zeroed in when you put it on a gun or rifle, and a universal model can make the zeroing process for everything from a red dot sight to a long range scope go much faster.

Are Laser Bore Sights Accurate?

Good quality laser sighters can give you accurate results if you properly go through the laser bore sighting process. The best bore sights will usually have a bright green laser and work with either a daylight laser target or even be visible and accurate on a regular target. Accuracy with a good boresight is a big deal, and can depend on a lot of factors.

Traditional bore sighting is done without using a laser beam or laser dot. With a bolt-action hunting rifle, you can simply remove the bolt and look through the barrel to see what’s visible on the other end and match it up with the scope. Semi-automatic rifles make this less possible, which is where a bore sighting device comes into play.

The accuracy of most bore sights comes down primarily to whether the laser is pointing in exactly the right direction, but high accuracy is also affected by the dot size, whether it has a red or green laser, and the laser specs. You can have the most impressive ballistic target system, but if the dot is too small or dim to see then it doesn’t matter.

How Far Away Should You Laser Bore Sight?

For rifles, I would try it out at 20 yards to see if the dot is bright enough. If it’s not, try 10 yards. If you still can’t see it, then you can either choose to buy some reflective targets or wait until it’s darker outside. 

I heard someone at a range say that you want a laser sight to get you on paper at 100 yards, and while that would be nice, I don’t think I’ve ever used a laser sight bright enough to do that unless it was after sundown and I had reflective targets. I would also only trust one of the most expensive bore sights to be anywhere close to accurate that far out.

Do Laser Bore Sights Work For Pistols?

Yes, but if you’re using an end-of-barrel universal one, you’ll want to double-check that the barrel is long enough to accommodate the sight. Each sight is different, but you may need 4.5 inches of barrel length for the sight to fit in snugly, so if you don’t have at least that much, you may have to rely on an in-chamber sight designed specifically for your caliber.

Final Thoughts 

A lot of people assume that laser boresights are just for rifles, but no matter what kind of gun you have, or if you’re sighting in a specific gun or a single caliber, or a new rifle of a different caliber, you want it to be accurate.

Hopefully our buying guide helped you understand the difference between the bores lighters that are available to you and which one is going to work best with your rifles. Whether you choose one with a green or red laser light, if you’re trying to get your gun accurate in a single shot, your best bet is to use some good gun gear like these options.

Accurate rifles don’t happen by accident.

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