So I have this problem where I cant for the life of me leave the scope alone and go quietly into the night without wondering whether the scope is absolutely leveled. I've measured it with literally anything in this world that I believe is perpendicular to Earth. I've bought 3 different plumb lines, I've used the flashlight method, 6 bubble levels, I've measured it with every radio antenna, every visible straight line in every building that surrounds my apartment, not sure thats legal while the scope is mounted. I KNOW its leveled NOW but I keep going back to it every time im back from the range or when the rifle/scope bumps against something or a new accessory is installed on the scope. Its taking my precious time away from family, sleep, meals and leveling my scope. Help.
Help me with my scope level obsession.
- Thread starter SpawnLee
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Spawn, have you ever noticed why so many OCD shooters have no hair... 
We can obsess about way too much in this sport, I get it. Couple of thoughts here
Thomas came out with this over a decade ago and it's still a good lesson
We can obsess about way too much in this sport, I get it. Couple of thoughts here- It is okay if your scope reticle is canted, just make sure the bubble is leveled to the cant of the scope.
- Find your natural hold - if you do not have an adjustable cant in your butt (no jokes from the adult teenagers please ) then you should know that your shoulder pocket has a "cant" built into it and if you have your fundamentals down you should notice that every time you bring your rifle to shoulder and get your proper cheekweld you will notice the rifle/scope is canted slightly (if you level the scope to the rifle).
- When I am mounting a scope with a rifle that has no butt cant, I have the scope somewhat loose in the rings and set to max magnification, I close my eyes and bring the rifle up to my natural hold - is the sight picture clear from edge to edge, if not then move your scope forward or back - keep doing this until you get a clear sight picture - what you're doing here is ensuring that your eye relief is properly set up for best eyebox experience throughout the mag range (eyebox is worst at max magnification which is why we setup the scope this way). Now that you have your eye relief properly setup, set the magnification where you can see most of the vertical stadia line clearly (usually somewhere near bottom magnification but not all the way - you can have higher magnification but harder to pickup your level or plumb especially at closer distances). Close your eyes and bring the rifle up to your natural hold, is the scope reticle aligned with plumb? If not, then twist the scope in the rings (be careful not to push it toward front or back and mess up your eye relief), keep doing this until that reticle is plumb almost every time. Now your rifle and scope are setup to be plumb to your natural hold where you can be a lot more confident about your shots without checking that bubble every time. Don't let the bubble be a crutch, it is a training aid more than anything.
- When I have a rifle that has adjustable butt cant I will adjust that cant to my natural hold so that the rifle is perpendicular to earths horizon/plumb (as best I can), this way the scope can be level to the rifle and the rifle is level to plumb.
- If you do this but still find the bubble is "off" at times then you need to work on your fundamentals so that your natural hold is the same most every time regardless of what position you're in (your shoulder pocket should be pretty consistent)
- One other tip, when you are torquing your ring screws, put some downward pressure on the scope when you tighten because 4 screw rings tend to put some rotational force when you're tightening which causes the scope to twist slightly. For this reason my preference is for ARC rings and mounts as they have been the best at not twisting the scope when torquing but any ring will work as long as you put pressure on the scope when tightening to help it not move.
Thomas came out with this over a decade ago and it's still a good lesson
A lot of guys miss the point. Doing this has NOTHING to do with shooting, at least from a mechanical standpoint. It has to do with doubt and making yourself crazy!!!!!! I do anything and everything that the gun design will let me to make sure it's all in line and level.
If I don't, if I just eyeball it at home and say "that looks good", invariably when I get to the range and get it on the bench, I'll look at it and say "nope, damn it that's crooked!" Then I'll straighten it again. Then when I get home I'll look at it and say "That looks crooked!" I adjust it again. Next trip out, same thing, "You know, that looks a little canted." I know this because it's pretty much happened with every rifle, shotgun and pistol I've put a scope on in my life. So only a hundred times or more.
But if I make myself nuts all at once in the beginning, with ridged mounts, clamps, vises, with bubble levels and digital levels, lasers and plumb lines, when I get to the range... the same thing still happens. "That looks crooked". But damn it, I know it isn't, or at least I know that I can't do anything more to make it any more straight.
If I don't, if I just eyeball it at home and say "that looks good", invariably when I get to the range and get it on the bench, I'll look at it and say "nope, damn it that's crooked!" Then I'll straighten it again. Then when I get home I'll look at it and say "That looks crooked!" I adjust it again. Next trip out, same thing, "You know, that looks a little canted." I know this because it's pretty much happened with every rifle, shotgun and pistol I've put a scope on in my life. So only a hundred times or more.
But if I make myself nuts all at once in the beginning, with ridged mounts, clamps, vises, with bubble levels and digital levels, lasers and plumb lines, when I get to the range... the same thing still happens. "That looks crooked". But damn it, I know it isn't, or at least I know that I can't do anything more to make it any more straight.
The following is likely to make you even more crazy than you are now. Sorry.
You're leveling the reticle. Another, arguably better, approach is to level the erector assembly. It's not safe to assume that the reticle is installed with the vertical axis perfectly parallel to the direction of travel of the erector. I had a Leupy for a while, and the reticle was a full 5 ° off from the erector. Called them, they said it was within spec.
If you dial for elevation, you should probably level the erector assembly. If you're holding, level the reticle. On most good quality scopes I've tested the reticle lines up nicely with the erector, but not always.
I regularly have the experience of going to the range with a scope I know is perfectly level and having it appear like it isn't. Even a slight slope at the range can totally fool your eye. To convince myself I wasn't crazy, I took a 6' level to the range one day and set it out at 100y. Shimmed it up perfectly level. Looked at it from the shooting position and it confirmed all was well and the ground was just confusing my eyeballs.
You're leveling the reticle. Another, arguably better, approach is to level the erector assembly. It's not safe to assume that the reticle is installed with the vertical axis perfectly parallel to the direction of travel of the erector. I had a Leupy for a while, and the reticle was a full 5 ° off from the erector. Called them, they said it was within spec.
If you dial for elevation, you should probably level the erector assembly. If you're holding, level the reticle. On most good quality scopes I've tested the reticle lines up nicely with the erector, but not always.
I regularly have the experience of going to the range with a scope I know is perfectly level and having it appear like it isn't. Even a slight slope at the range can totally fool your eye. To convince myself I wasn't crazy, I took a 6' level to the range one day and set it out at 100y. Shimmed it up perfectly level. Looked at it from the shooting position and it confirmed all was well and the ground was just confusing my eyeballs.
