Every time I mount a scope I fret and struggle with getting it horizontally level with the rifle’s action. I’ve got a scope leveling kit and it works ok. I wish scopes and scope rings both had light marks at top dead center that we could simply line up and be assured that the scope was mounted level.
-
Having trouble using the site?
Contact support
Rifle Scopes I have an idea
- Thread starter pharmvet
- Start date
That’s not a bad idea at all. I guess the problem is you don’t know exactly where a ring is going to be on the scope for a given rifle, so you’d end up with a long line - continuous or dashed, either way - that probably wouldn’t look great and might be distracting. As humans we’re just wired to notice any discontinuity in a surface.
In the meantime, though:
Step 1: Get a scope level and mount it to the scope so the level and reticle are aligned. Never remove it.
Step 2: Mount the scope so the scope level and a level on the action agree.
If you use something like the American Rifle Company M10 rings, you won’t need to worry about the scope spinning when you torque the rings down, which at least makes that part easier.
In the meantime, though:
Step 1: Get a scope level and mount it to the scope so the level and reticle are aligned. Never remove it.
Step 2: Mount the scope so the scope level and a level on the action agree.
If you use something like the American Rifle Company M10 rings, you won’t need to worry about the scope spinning when you torque the rings down, which at least makes that part easier.
I gave up on leveling kits years ago.
Plumb bob or known plumb door jamb. Takes me longer to adjust eye relief than level the reticle. I also don't concern myself with leveling the turrets. So long as the reticle is level and tracks straight I don't care where the turret caps come out at.
Plumb bob or known plumb door jamb. Takes me longer to adjust eye relief than level the reticle. I also don't concern myself with leveling the turrets. So long as the reticle is level and tracks straight I don't care where the turret caps come out at.
Crimson Trace does this. The only issue I could see is the engraving on the body assumes the turrets and reticle are installed in alignment with the body engraving. I would still suggest verifying it against a plumb line. Hang a fishing weight off some 550 cord, it's pretty simple to level.
We'll wait for Mr EneXCess to weigh in.
www.snipershide.com
Gunsmithing - Scope level to a rifle
I have a Precision Extended Cantilever mount (1 piece) and I'd like to install it on AR10 - DB10 but I have a problem. I can't mount a scope leveled to a rifle properly (without cant). Do you have solution for it? I have an Arisaka Optics Mount Tool but it won't works for me - surface on mount...
www.snipershide.com
Just get out your center hole punch and put them on there. I don't need or want them.
BR guys have been using marked scopes and rings for years.
That being said it is practice and repetition. Understanding the need to balance the forces left and right and not go hard from the start took me years. I know start at the screws closest to the ocular and get them right while checking the reticle. Once the scope cannot twist off that point it is slow and steady for the rest.
For six screw rings (urggh), I tend to do the middle ones first then work out, front and back. A bit of physics and a bit of habit.
That being said it is practice and repetition. Understanding the need to balance the forces left and right and not go hard from the start took me years. I know start at the screws closest to the ocular and get them right while checking the reticle. Once the scope cannot twist off that point it is slow and steady for the rest.
For six screw rings (urggh), I tend to do the middle ones first then work out, front and back. A bit of physics and a bit of habit.
Here's my strategy:
- Mount and secure the rifle in a gun vise with a wall a few feet behind the butt stock
- Use a small bubble level to ensure the gun is level on both axis ... tighten the vise
- Use a large bubble level to draw a true vertical line in pencil on the wall behind the rifle (stays there for re-use)
- Mount the scope generally close to level ... screws are gently snugged to allow some rotation under slight pressure
- Shine a bright flashlight in the scope to expose the reticle on the wall near the drawn vertical line
- Adjust by rotating scope to level the reticle parallel to the line on the wall ... and slowly tighten to torque specs
I don't understand all the angst over trying to level your reticle with a perfectly level rifle..? Is that the way you actually shoulder your rifle when you fire it, or do you have to fight around to keep it there? After about 100 dryfires, i aim at something plumb while the rifle is in the most natural, comfortable position, and batten the hatches. Done, and you'll never have to fight what feels right.
That's fine under 700-ish yards, but go out 1,000 and beyond, and a canted (non-level) rifle/scope will definitely and negatively impact accuracy. Shooting 100 yards for tight groups ... go ahead and stand on your head. Shooting 1,500 yards for steel hits ... true vertical matters.
Are you pumping canned rifle and optic together?
This has been mathematically proven that a canted rifle with a level scope shot per set up will have negligible affect at distance
Multiple times....And proven in the field, for those that disbelieve "mathematical theory". Those people that state seeing lots of people miss because the scope wasn't mounted "perfectly plumb" with the barrel have to realize that they missed the shot because they actually "missed".
Last edited:
If the scope is level when you pull the trigger, the rifle can be any cant and shoot the same. The problem is "knowing" when shooting long distances. If your scope and rifle are not level "together", then knowing your scope is level requires a way to verify at the scope. I agree ... electro-optic cant internal sensors (like on the SIG BDX line), or a bubble level on the scope (like the Flatline Ops Acu-Level - my personal favorite) ... solves that problem. I guess I just don't get why, if shooting "to infinity and beyond" ... you wouldn't level both rifle and scope ... it's just not that hard. But that's just my anal-retentive OCD admitting that I need "both" to be level in order to feel like I'm giving myself every advantage to hit that 24x24 piece of steel at 1,800 yards.
