Best way to level a scope
- Thread starter bak2004
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I will second that idea...optical centering is a must!!! Move turrets not morevthan one full turn or use the adjustable mount to make necessary adjustments to keep turrets within that one turn
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I presume you’re referring to elevation. For windage, what you get is what the mounts dictate.
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Yall thinkin too hard. Just tape up a piece of paper then use a level and draw a line. Have your rings loose enough to rotate the scope but not skip if you let go and adjust to the line. Then cinch down. Bonus points if you want to make sure your scope is in the right position forwards and backwards, shoulder the gun with your eyes closed, get comfortable and open your eyes. Move your head back and forth to get the best sight picture. Whichever way you moved your head move the scope. Repeat till the scope picture is perfect when you open your eyes.
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I think you skipped the part where you aligned the vertical reticle to the bore. Or I missed it.
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Don’t laugh, this has always worked well for me! The pieces of paper taped to the wall always strikes up a conversation, backwards engineering, lol.
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There is no such thing as a vertical reticle. It's just a reticle. Its made up of windage and elevation crosshairs and if you have marks along the crosshairs, those are called stadia. If you set up a target and tape a plain sheet of paper to it and draw a level line, then go look through the scope at that line. Rotate the scope in the mounts until the horizontal crosshair matches the line you drew. The elevation crosshair will be 90 degrees to that. You can't adjust them independently. If you doubt your level or ability to draw a line using it, you can use a plumb bob, a string with a weight attached to it and align the elevation crosshair to that. The post above shows a good method too if you can't look through the scope while you rotate it, but it requires a bit more of a solid stationary setup.
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Neither this ^ description nor the previous one...
...aligns the reticle to the bore, thus the projectile's trajectory cannot be assured of tracking along the vertical bar of the reticle when shooting.
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But they do level the scope which is what OP asked. Getting into cant error, you need to shoot the gun. Could be how the gun is held or the rail not machined right, both are common. Zero at 30 yards. Shoot at 5 yards and at 55 yards to check vertical tracking. To the right at 5 and left at 55 its canted to the left. left at 5 and right at 55 canted to the right. Adjust accordingly and level scope again.
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I've been doing this for a spell, it's not that hard.... I've used the wedge and I've done the flashlight /level/plumb bob as well.
The key to any method (Pick one you like) is to shoot a ladder test and confirm vertical tracking and the POI follows. That's what is important. Not how you get there.
The key to any method (Pick one you like) is to shoot a ladder test and confirm vertical tracking and the POI follows. That's what is important. Not how you get there.
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Gotcha, it sounds like you have an understanding of cant error and a plan for addressing it and that's ultimately what matters.
* The popular phrase "leveling a scope" is at least partly to blame for maintaining the confusion around the topic of cant error. There is no way to level a scope, really. What we want is not to level it, but to align it to the bore. Once that is done, the actual leveling takes place when holding the gun so the reticle is level to the force of gravity. When those two conditions are met, there is no cant error. You are achieving the same thing, only in reverse.
Leveling the scope to a line drawn with a spirit level while holding the gun (read: barrel) at an arbitrary angle establishes a similarly arbitrary relationship between the scope and the bore...which is a perfectly reasonable approach if the plan is to then experimentally test and adjust out any potential cant error. We just had no way of knowing until you stated it in your most recent post:
Technically the initial "leveling" step in this case is not really leveling the scope*, it is to get it somewhere in the ballpark before moving on to shooting and tweaking as necessary to keep the trajectory on the vertical bar of the reticle. Like Harv said, the end result is what matters.
* The popular phrase "leveling a scope" is at least partly to blame for maintaining the confusion around the topic of cant error. There is no way to level a scope, really. What we want is not to level it, but to align it to the bore. Once that is done, the actual leveling takes place when holding the gun so the reticle is level to the force of gravity. When those two conditions are met, there is no cant error. You are achieving the same thing, only in reverse.
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I try my best to level the turret not so much the reticle. Imo the goal is to have a consistent height over bore cant, and the turret travel be straight up. If your turret elevation is at an angle your poi will shift left or right as you dial in drop. I use bubble levels because that is the best I have available. Its impossible to get it perfect but you can be pretty close. And then you can verify in the field at ranges so see if your turrets are straight.
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[edit] Sorry, I missed the part about dialing. Thane pointed it out in the next post.
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Elevation turret could be scewed from vertical reticle line.
If you are a dialer, you need the turret plumb more than reticle.
If you hold over using reticle, then you need reticle plumb over turret.
Pick your poison if turret and reticle are scewed.
I am currently shooting HFT so reticle rules for me, and having a USFT with canted grip adds to the mix.
If you are a dialer, you need the turret plumb more than reticle.
If you hold over using reticle, then you need reticle plumb over turret.
Pick your poison if turret and reticle are scewed.
I am currently shooting HFT so reticle rules for me, and having a USFT with canted grip adds to the mix.
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Assuming that each shot is at the exact speed (fps), barometric conditions, wind speed, rifle position, etc.
It is practically impossible to do an exact ladder shoot test, too many factors at play.
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