Boresighting a Rifle Scope the Old Fashioned Way

Larry Potterfield • January 21, 2023

I've just finished mounting the scope on a rifle, and now I'm going to utilize the old-fashioned way of boresighting. I have a paper target on the wall about 30 feet away. So the first step in the process is to take the bolt out and to look down through the bore and find that target on the wall.

Larry looking through bore to check alignment with paper target
Larry looking through bore to check alignment with paper target

I move the gun vise just a little bit for windage to pick up the target. For elevation, I'll need to adjust the gun in the gun vise itself.

Larry adjusting vise elevation
Larry adjusting vise elevation

Now to take a look through the scope. The bore is perfectly aligned with the target, but the scope crosshairs aren't on the bullseye, so I'm going to need to adjust both windage and elevation on the scope.

Larry checking crosshair alignment
Larry checking crosshair alignment

Remember to always adjust the windage with the windage screws. First, I'm going to back the left windage screw off just a little bit and tighten the right one.

Larry adjusting crosshair windage
Larry adjusting crosshair windage
Larry checking crosshair windage adjustment
Larry checking crosshair windage adjustment

Now I will take the turret caps off and adjust the elevation. I'll dial it until the crosshairs are perfect.

Larry adjusts crosshair elevation
Larry adjusts crosshair elevation

The last thing to do is make sure that I haven't let anything shift. So, I'm going to look through the bore again. I'm still dead on down through the bore and the crosshairs are dead on. Don't forget to put the turret caps back on.

Final check through the rifle bore
Final check through the rifle bore

So, that's the old-fashioned way of boresighting your rifle. That will get you on paper, now you need to go to the range for the final sight-in.

--Larry Potterfield