FOG HORN

2015
Twobirds Flying Publication

MBS-AA Borelight From Steiner eOptics

Copyright 2014, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

FOG HORN

2015
Twobirds Flying Publication

MBS-AA Borelight From Steiner eOptics

By: Sal Palma

With the state of flux in both availability

and cost of quality ammunition, anything a
shooter can do to reduce the amount of
time he or she spends zeroing a rifle or
pistol translates to lower costs, and

certainly much more fun shooting. How do

you accomplish that? You do what the
military has done for years and thats bore
sight your weapons.
There are a number of ways to bore sight a
rifle or pistol. The most basic method is
optical alignment of the bore centerline
with a distant target. On a bolt action rifle
for example, the shooter removes the bolt
from the action and from a stable steadied
position sights through the bore and
optically aligns the bore with a distant
target such that the target is centered on
the bore axis. The shooter then adjusts his
or her optic so that the crosshairs are
centered on the target. This approach has
worked for years and is particularly
effective for bolt action rifles like the M24
but it is far less helpful when we start
looking at bore sighting a carbine like the
M16, M4 or SCAR weapon systems.
Nonetheless, optical bore alignment is an
acceptable approach and when properly
performed will get you on paper. However,
it does have a number of limitations
notwithstanding that its generally not
successful when bore sighting thermal or

Copyright 2014, Towbirds Flying Publication. All Rights Reserved.

MBS-AA Borelight From Steiner eOptics

night vision weapon sights, pistols or the

AR-15 patterned rifles.
A second method, and by far the most
flexible, is to use a mandrel based bore
sight like a laser bore sighting tool.
However, over the years, in spite of its
flexibility, laser bore sighting has gotten a
bum rap from shooters.
In working on this review, I spent quite a bit
of time speaking to shooters to gain an
understanding of the sentiment and walked
away from that experience with a sense
that most dissatisfaction with laser bore
sighting tools result from a lack of
information and poor product selection.
There are huge
differences
between
professional
grade laser bore
sighting tools,
like Steiners
MBS-AA
Borelight, and retail box store borelights.
Most shooters expressing dissatisfaction
with laser bore sighting tools based
opinions on their experience with
inexpensive commercial devices - Im
referring to the $30 - $50 off the shelf units.
Although their price may be attractive,
youre giving up a great deal in quality, ease
of use, reliability and repeatability. There
are major differences between these units
and professional grade devices.
Another factor is lack of knowledge, a major
contributor
to
shooter
negative
impressions. Interestingly, most shooters

2015

dont seem to understand the need to true

up the laser with the mandrel. Its an
important step in the bore sighting process
that has to be performed or youll never
achieve
a
reliable and
more
importantly
repeatable
bore sight.
The erroneous assumption among shooters
that manufacturers ship the bore sight
already aligned to the mandrel could not be
further from reality.
To validate my assertion, insert your new
bore sighting tool in your rifles bore, and
while projecting the laser dot on a blank
wall rotate the bore sighting tool. In most
cases what youll see is the laser dot trace a
large or oddly shaped circle rather than a
stationary and clearly defined dot. It applies
TO ALL laser bore sighting tools regardless
of price point.
Trueing inexpensive lasers with the bore is
problematic at best. In most cases, the
process requires independently adjusting 4
set screws to achieve concentricity of the
laser with the bore easier said than done
and its quite likely youll experience your
embalming before you successfully
complete the process. In the mildly vulgar
vernacular, its a gargantuan pain in the ass!
So, if you want to reliably bore sight your
weapon, youll have to accept the need to
spend a few bucks on a quality borelight.
The upside is accuracy, repeatability,
Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

MBS-AA Borelight From Steiner eOptics

platform independence and compatibility

with night optics and thermal sights, which
brings me to Steiners MBS-AA Borelight.
At first glance, the MBS-AA is a precision
quality tool. Originally designed by Laser
Devices Inc., Monterey, CA. it entered
Steiners product portfolio with the
acquisition of Laser Devices, Inc. in 2014 military and government readers should
reference NSN 4933-01-564-2609.
The kit ships with two stainless steel
mandrels, one for use with pistols the other
for your long guns. Included in the kit are
inserts for the following calibers:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

.22 / .223 /5.56mm

.223 / 5.56 OVERSIZE
.270 / 7mm
.30 / 30-06 / .308 / 7.62mm
.38 / .357 / 9mm
.40 / 10mm
.44 / .45
.50
A single AA battery and a small
screw driver are also provided.

The mechanics behind mandrel style bore

sighting tools is concentricity of the bore

2015

sight with the bore, which is achieved

whenever alignment is based on two points
of contact. In this case, the appropriate
insert for the caliber aligns in the bore and
the cone shaped mandrel provides the
second point of contact at the muzzle. With
this arrangement anything short of a bent
mandrel assures concentricity with the
bore. However, a concentric mandrel does
not translate to a concentric laser. The user
must also align the laser to be concentric
with the bore.
Unlike devices that require independent
adjustment of 4 set screws radially
dispersed, Steiner provides two laser
adjustment controls similar to those found
on weapon sights - one for elevation and
one for windage this feature alone makes
alignment of the MBS-AA laser a cakewalk.
As with any laser bore sighting tool, the
laser must be checked for proper
alignment, fortunately this is a procedure
thats usually performed only once.
To center Steiners Borelight, I used a spare
barrel from a Ruger 10/22. I placed the
barrel in a bench vise adjusting it so that it
was completely level and parallel with the
floor. I placed a target 10 yards directly in
front of the muzzle and at the same height
then powered up the MBS-AA.
Next, using a black marker, I placed a dot on
the exact laser spot, which will serve as my
reference for the balance of the procedure.
I moved on from there following Steiners
recommended procedure1.
1

Steiner devotes several pages of the owners

manual to describing the procedure.
Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved

MBS-AA Borelight From Steiner eOptics

Per the owners manual, I rotated the

Borelight clockwise 90 and marked its
position on the target; I designated that
point as P1. If there is no noticeable shift in
the laser dots position from your reference
youre done. However, if there is a shift as
in my case, rotate the Borelight another 90
in a clockwise direction and again mark the
target accordingly. I designated the second
point P2. Steiner then suggests using a
straightedge to draw a line connecting the
two dots and determine the exact center of
the P1P2 line segment. Once this is done,
use the windage and elevation adjustments
to shift the laser to the midpoint of line
segment P1P2. Youll need to repeat the
procedure until you observe no shift in the
laser dot position. I ended up having to
repeat the process a second time to bring
the laser dot into alignment with the bore.
Once youve performed the alignment, your
laser should be concentric with any bore
thereafter, so I encourage you to be as
meticulous as possible when performing the
laser alignment procedure that Ive laid out
for you . Now youre ready to bore sight
with accuracy and repeatable reliability.
Conditioned by prior experiences with laser
bore sighting tools, I approached the MBSAA with a healthy dose of skepticism and to
assess reliability I checked Steiners
Borelight against a rifle that was perfectly
zeroed. The vertical reticle split the laser
dot in half and the horizontal reticle was at
its appropriate sight offset for the caliber
and range zeroed.

2015

I then removed the MBS-AA, separating the

insert from the mandrel and the mandrel
from the laser, reassembled everything and
reinserted it several times with precisely
the same results. You will never see this
level of performance with retail bore
sighting tools.
One of its many excellent attributes is
weapon platform independence. You can
use Steiners MBS-AA Borelight to bore
sight your AR with its A2 birdcage still
installed. Use it to dial in your magnified
optic, Aimpoint, EOTech or BUIS. The MBSAA will perform equally well across a variety
of long guns and handguns.
The bad news is its $424 M.S.R.P., which
could dampen some of your enthusiasm
until you frame it with some eye-opening
numbers like the following;
1.
2.
3.
4.

.308 Federal 168 = $26 per box of 20

300 Win Mag 190 = $45 per box of 20
338 Lapua = $90 per box2 of 20
50 BMG = $60 to $90 per box of 10.

You dont need to be a C.P.A. to understand

the financial dynamics. The potential
savings in ammunition costs alone make for
a very short payback period. Lastly, youre
also getting a precision tool that will
provide exceptional results, for years to
come, when it is prepped and employed per
manufacturer suggestion.
-SP.

This is an average price calculated across 5

manufacturers. Lowest price found $65 highest
$117.
Copyright 2015, Twobirds Flying Publication, All Rights Reserved