Yeah, this is a delicate subject with LL. I
think the condensed version is:
- Unless you have a 3 way adjustable butt plate, you’ll have some rifle cant because…shoulders
- So don’t worry about #1, just be “cant consistent”. Mathematically, #1 does not make a hill of beans difference at the target if one is consistent. It makes a “one bean” difference lol, not a hill of them.
- In your shooting position(s), level the reticle to gravity
- Go shoot
When I say “LL uses the Badger” I mean he uses it in his classes to get a baseline. He also stated he does adjust student’s scopes for cant if they want it. I assume that once mounted to the rifle, further adjustments may be made to level the reticle to gravity due to shoulder-pocket related cant.
Suffice to say the dude has been through this a million times and already knows what you think is new information. It’s just that it wears a bit and, like any expert, little bits of info get assumed by him and not passed on, which creates confusion in minds like mine.
It’s easy to stress and overthink. I went from anal as fuck to:
- Put rifle on tripod (tripods make this easy). I shoot off of tripods or benches, never prone.
- Mount scope snug on the rifle, not tight, so it doesn’t fall off
- Point rifle at plumb edge of neighbor’s garage because rotating throws off level step on #4
- Use EXD to get rifle/scope “unit” level enough
- Loosen ring caps
- Get eye relief right at min/max mags
- Put a tape marker on scope next to ring for reference so if I bump the scope, I don’t lose #6
- Use hopefully plumb edge of neighbor’s garage to get reticle level to gravity
- Tighten rings (Use Arc M10 rings to migrate scope rotating in rings while tightening)
- Go shoot
I went from hours of fiddling to 5-10 min.
Edit: sharp-eyed readers may see that I didn’t mention adjusting the rifle to my shoulder (i.e. creating an “unlevel” rifle) and then #8. That’s either because:
A. I seem to be able to hold the rifle level while using a tripod or bench. Or, the former is in my head and…
B. I just don’t give a flying fuck anymore
If you’re shooting prone, more attention upon rifle cant may or may not be in order. I simply do not know.
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