Re: Best Anti-Cant Device
Here is the problem(s)
1. People automatically assume using a level they need to first level the rifle. This is incorrect, in absence of everything else, the most comfortable and natural position behind the rifle is right. Example, the first line of the new quick start guide from David Tubb:
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Level your DTR scope to your natural position</div></div>
Level to your natural position, if you level everything to square / Level, under time or any other reason that takes you even slightly off your game you're gonna cant the rifle. In other words, if your mind wanders your gonna cant it naturally.
At the last SH Cup, 8 out of 10 people had levels, when given 30 seconds to drop down and shoot, only 1 out of 8 of those was even close to level via the bubble. Because they dropped down to the prone position and canted the rifle as they naturally would, they didn't think they just went to their natural state.
What started the level craze was the fact the Tubb gun had a level on it, because the rifle was canted and you wanted to lay in the same way every time. The rifle was not designed to be used straight up and down, that is not the natural place behind it. You set it up for comfort, so the level helped you maintain that position as it went against anything previous.
I have shot to a lot further than 300m, try 2000m without a level and never had an issue. People try to demonstrate the effects by grossly canting the rifle and saying, "see" look how far off. But they never acknowledge what happens micro seconds after you look up, when you are now looking through the scope or sights and your body subconsciously moves.
When a majority of people have problems with trigger control, canting is the least of their worry and is really only an issue when they address the rifle inconsistently each time. Which a level can be a tool to help you, but if you ignore your natural inclination you're always gonna fight the urge to move the rifle. That was one of my issues with the video mentioned. The shooter has terrible trigger control, clearly visible and when he missed the 800 yard target the first thing said was, "oh must have canted the rifle" no, your trigger control was bad. There are pages and pages of posts with the SH Dot Drill on here. The majority of misses are to the right, and the shots are pulled. if you miss left on a consistent basis as a right handed shooter I would suspect a small amount of canting, but if you miss right, the odds you are canting the rifle outboard is slim to none. You'll cant the rifle inboard. So any blown shots right are probably not a canting issue as most like to say. More right handed shooter miss right, which is why they cite, SD, CE, Canting, etc... everything but trigger control the number one error method.
Leveling the scope is simple, a plumb bob does the trick well, and if you quarter the target no matter what size or shape you can cut a target into 4 equally sized pieces. This is more of a clue than taking your eyes off the target to check level. Then putting your eyes back on target at which point you body will move to relax and cant your rifle. This is what I see happening on more than one occasion.
The idea, you're cutting a variable is pure BS... the human body is not square, the shoulder pocket is not square and asking you to hold it square is not gonna happen every time, but you can learn to hold it in a natural, relaxed way. Holding the rifle naturally and squaring the travel of elevation / reticle to the fall of gravity is much more effective than square on square with a human body.
I have nothing against people using them, good on ya, but square on square is wrong... you'll fight that feeling every time and as soon as your aren't looking the body and mind will move you back.
