Scope leveling questions
- Thread starter blacklab1
- Start date
Yeah forgot to mention I do this at about 50 yds, not within the confines of a basement. Normally looking out the back door of my shop. Also gotta have a pretty windless day unless you hang a 10 lb weight or so.
Level the rifle to the world, and plum bobs don't lie.
Please take this in the spirit of trying to help:
All this “level off this an that” stuff detracts from the main point: You are not going to purposely cant the rifle to compensate for a misaligned scope.
Level the rifle according to the interface: the STOCK
Now level the crosshairs to a plumb line and secure- done.
All this “level off this an that” stuff detracts from the main point: You are not going to purposely cant the rifle to compensate for a misaligned scope.
Level the rifle according to the interface: the STOCK
Now level the crosshairs to a plumb line and secure- done.
What brand of scope base do you have mounted? All scope bases are not created equal. I’ve run into this before, in fact on the same rifle action. The first base I put on was not level. It was level at the rear but off at the front. I removed and retorqued, no difference. Took it off put a different brand on and it was level everywhere. So it’s worth trying.
Really I just want to address the scope Canted stuff. A canted scope, assuming you always cant it the same, at 100 yards 300 yards 600 yards etc. won’t make a difference. I look at it this way and I think it’s pretty simple and correct. Take a shot at 100 yards put the crosshairs over where the bullet was. Sure do a group. Then do a tall test target. A canted scope assuming you always cant it the same way won’t make a difference
Things can be level, or not. It's pretty black or white.
However, I'd be lying if said there isn't some art involved in what should be all science. Some scopes just seem canted, even when they're not.
However, I'd be lying if said there isn't some art involved in what should be all science. Some scopes just seem canted, even when they're not.
I see that Spuhr has a little triangle thing to level a scope. I'm assuming that works out very well.
Why not just go with a method like that?
Why not just go with a method like that?
String with a couple washers. Hang against a white wall. Level rifle on a table next to the wall pointing away from wall. Mount scope loosely in rings . Point flashlight into OBJECTIVE. Adjust magnification ring and Ocular focus to project onto wall. Align vertical cross hair with string. Methodically tighten rings to scope.
This gets you virtually perfect indoors. Take to range and do a test at 50 or 100 (preferred) on a leveled sighting in target.
Yeah, that was discussed as well. I haven’t personally done that, but my Theta is my only scope that doesn’t focus close so I’ll try that when my new mount comes in.
I’m sorry I wasn’t clear. If you slightly cant the rife to improve your hold And then level your scope To The Fall of gravity As long as you’re consistent with your hold the adjustments on the scope will be true and there will be no significant difference in the point of impact.
Yes. That absolutely isn’t what you originally said.
What matters is that the reticle is level to the earth when you fire the rifle. If the reticle is level your POA will go straight up as you dial. If the reticle is canted in relation to the earth your POA will go left or right some amount when you dial up. This is what matters. The relationship between the rifle and the scope is much less important and makes little difference on the target.
All of my rifles are set up with a fair amount of cant toward my head. This is a much more comfortable/natural way to address a rifle for me. Put a plumb line at 100 yards, ignore the reticle and get comfortable on the rifle. Once you like the feel of the rifle connection- level the scope to the line down range. This is the way. To make sure you got it right you can address the rifle a few more times while not letting the reticle influence how you're connecting the rifle to your shoulder. Once your comfortable take a look and see how level the reticle is. There's nothing wrong with having the rifle and scope level at the same time but that creates a system where you are forced to address the rifle in a certain way. That's removing an aspect of adjustability/rifle set up on the table IMO. Rifle set up is of massive importance and is overlooked a lot because a large majority of shooters aren't truly connecting the rifle to their shoulder....but that's a whole other rabbit hole!
A canted reticle will fail a tall target test no matter how consistently you hold it.
Shit fire, I’m cheap and use business cards between the rail and scope bottom flat to level things….
What the heck, I’ll throw a monkey wrench in here.
Leveling off the turret caps or using a feeler gauge between the rifle and flat bottom of the scope, only helps if the cross hairs are aligned with the scope.
I’ve had a few that were not.
Level the rifle. Then, level the scope using the plumb line method.
As others have stated, what’s important is the crosshairs being level with gravity when gently squeezing the trigger.
I happen to like the rifle and scope to be leveled together, but that’s just me and not necessary.
An anti-cant level, always attached to the scope, can come in handy while in the field, shooting longer distances.
Leveling off the turret caps or using a feeler gauge between the rifle and flat bottom of the scope, only helps if the cross hairs are aligned with the scope.
I’ve had a few that were not.
Level the rifle. Then, level the scope using the plumb line method.
As others have stated, what’s important is the crosshairs being level with gravity when gently squeezing the trigger.
I happen to like the rifle and scope to be leveled together, but that’s just me and not necessary.
An anti-cant level, always attached to the scope, can come in handy while in the field, shooting longer distances.
Look through it from the objective lens.
In the end, as long as your reticle tracks what you feel is level, you can be consistent and get hits all day long.
I feel like more often than not, guys struggle holding everything level when they should be leveling the scope to their natural hold.
I use the clamp on style for my ftr and f open rifles. They work great for that application. (at least for me) agree as to the no difference, that was my point, I do think it’s important and nice to have a plumb level reticle but to what degree…(cant) matters to a certain point but repeatability is king
Try to get a light with an adjustable beam . Like the one I linked. It allows you to get the best image of the reticle by tweaking the light and ocular adjustments. Just a little trial and error will produce the cleanest projection. Good luck.
https://nebo.acgbrands.com/en_US/newton-500.html
Similar threads
