Boresight & red dot

[ProLibertate]

I should have realized this would be trouble...

Are there any tricks to boresighting a red dot?

For those of you who haven't tried, the red laser isn't visible through the red dot sight. :-(

Is my only alternative to mount iron sights, align those with the boresight and then align the red dot to the iron sights?

[BigFatGuy]

Make a dot on the wall.

Clamp the rifle down so the laser is on the dot.

Align sight to dot...

[ProLibertate]

I feel like such an idiot. Thanks for pointing out the obvious solution.

Its probably clear that I don't do scopes this way... I was trying to do the red dot like I do my scopes.

[tonyxcom]

I just bore sighted my AR/T1 yesterday, gonna shoot it today, I suspect I will be on paper at 50y.

I view a peak on my neighbors roof through the barrel then adjust my red dot sight to match.

[ProLibertate]

I view a peak on my neighbors roof through the barrel then adjust my red dot sight to match.

Considering that my neighbor has a whole bunch of windows facing my shop I don't think I'll try this particular method. I'm sure they'd find it unsettling to see me pointing a rifle at their house.

What I've done in the past is to get a laser boresighter on a road sign a little ways away and then adjust the scope to match. People are use to seeing holes in road signs, right? This is why the whole clamp it, make a dot on the wall then align the red dot didn't occur to me.

[tonyxcom]

Well I don't do it outside.

I do it from behind my shutters. I used Google earth beforehand to find something as close to 100y as I could. But I'm at 80y

Anyway. First shot at 50y was 4 inches low 1 inch right. 3 shots later I was ready to move the target to 100y for the final zero.

[j-shot]

Considering that my neighbor has a whole bunch of windows facing my shop I don't think I'll try this particular method. I'm sure they'd find it unsettling to see me pointing a rifle at their house.

What I've done in the past is to get a laser boresighter on a road sign a little ways away and then adjust the scope to match. People are use to seeing holes in road signs, right? This is why the whole clamp it, make a dot on the wall then align the red dot didn't occur to me.

Saw a masked intruder didn't you? You're an effing hero! Scared 'em off without firing a shot!

[tacticalcity]

Make a dot on the wall.

Clamp the rifle down so the laser is on the dot.

Align sight to dot...

This will work, assuming you have a good boresight.

However, I'm not a huge fan of boresights. More often than not when you get to the range you find out you're not really zeroed. And zeroing with ammo starting at 25 yards is extremely easy to do. Once zeroed at 25 yards you just move another 25 yards, then another 25 yards until you get to your desired/quirky distance for zero. Since most people just zero at either 25 or 50 it won't take long.

I prefer to sight in my iron sights first - almost always at 25 yards. I always run irons as a backup because even the most expensive high-end red dot can and will fail at some point. Once the irons are perfectly zeroed (usually takes me 2 groups of 3 shots). Then you adjust the red dot so that dot is sitting centered on top of the front post when looking down both irons while perfectly aligned. When you use your red dot there after it will be perfectly zeroed. You no longer need to line up the irons when shooting. Where the dot is the bullet will go. Which is the entire point of a red dot. But if the battery dies, or something else goes wrong...the irons are there to back you up.

I know some people don't run irons, but most do. They come in handy much more often than you might think.

[tonyxcom]

I usually go the other way. Zero with red dot at 100y then adjust my irons to the dot.

I'm left eye dominant and right handed. I shoot magnified rifles left handed and red dots right handed with both eyes open. Unfortunately I need to switch back to my left hand for irons.