A line transfer instrument and method for aligning a pipe laser's laser beam are disclosed wherein the instrument includes a base, a self-leveling scope rotatably mounted to the base so that it is capable of looking downward and slightly backward, a horizontal dove-tail slide for horizontally translating the base perpendicular to the line of sight, and a spotting laser for illuminating the pipe laser so that the scope can be centered more easily on it. The method includes positioning the scope over the pipe laser using the spotting laser and slide to illuminate the center of the pipe laser and center the scope over the pipe laser.