I know many of us know how, but when I"m out shooting ( which is often) I run into tons of scopes that are mounted incorrectly and are causing the shooters problems.

Sooo, I made this video about it.

Nice video

Well done sir!

Its amazing the amount and severity of poorly mounted scopes you will see at a rifle range in the 2 weeks before deer season.

Cool video.
Never thought about using a deck of cards to keep it level.
Always seem to have the scope turn slightly as I'm tightening the rings down.

And yes, loc-tite on the base screws is a good idea, just don't go crazy with it.

Your scope may be level and you're simply holding the rifle slightly canted as most people do. I've had people look through the scopes on my rifles and swear the crosshairs were tilted from horizontal. Rather than try to convince them otherwise, I just blow it off.

There's an easy way to check if you tilt your rifle when shouldering it, given the scope is mounted true horizontal. Take a level and draw a horizontal line on the wall in your garage, or simply find a horizontal surface. Shoulder your rifle and point it at the line or surface with your eyes closed. Don't be surprised if you find the crosshairs slightly tilted once you open your eyes.

or you can buy the level tools to get it right in the vise

Ryan,

What's your thoughts on bedding the pic base?

If you snug the front screws down and the back is off the rear then bed it. I haven't had one yet that didn't need bedding.

I've never bedded one. Low hold Locktite in the screws, torque them down, done. If it'll make you feel better add some Locktite to the under side pic rail, also. I've never done that either.

Hoss, now I use the Sphur leveling wedge. It's flipping awesome and fast.



What poke said.

After I finished shooting I spent an hour at Elm Fork today helping people with rifles and scopes.

I saw

Rings were not all the way on the base (hanging 1/2 off from the 2 pc base and not in the "groove")

Scope resting on Mini14, he figured i'd just be alright.

Patch left in gun, can't figure out why it won't chamber, I'm glad it would not chamber. With the patch in it could have been a big danger!

Just to go back briefly to my earlier point, I suspect there are many who don't use a level at all but simply level the crosshairs by looking through the scope while shouldering their rifle. Perhaps because of the mechanics involved in adjusting the neck relative to the shoulder, this causes many shooters to cant or tilt their rifle, usually to the right. If you don't use a level first, you will probably never be aware of it.

After shouldering my rifles, I always have to rotate them very slightly to the left to compensate for the tilting created from a more natural position.

The level doesn't lie while the shoulder often does.

i would never level off a base or the turret of a scope,
plus not everyone has a picatinny base to do that

Please explain how YOU do it for us. Most all vids I have seen do it just how you say not to.

level off inside of reciever, theres a level just for that, then use a plumb line out in front of scope and set cross hair straight up and down to that

this is the level for the rifle
i would never trust a scope cap to be square with cross hairs
i plumb my cross hairs

Oh OK. Now I understand what you were talking about. I have the same level level system. However this is the first time I have heard of the plum line technique and like the suggestion.

I take the caps off like I mentioned in the video.

I also have the level level level level, but I already have levels on the rings.

I don't know if you precision guys will consider this precise. If you don't have a level you can put the rifle on a solid surface such as a table where the gun is upright and steady. You can then look through the scope and put the cross hairs on a perfectly level horizontal surface to level the scope. Works for me.

I bore sight similarly. I have the gun on my kitchen table with the bolt out and look through the barrel at a small object on my shop building out back. I then move the cross hairs to the object. Its simple and I'm always on paper with this method.

this will not work in every case....

Personally, I could care less whether the scope is precisely leveled in relation to the rifle. In some cases, this can be actively counterproductive, making it hard to shoot the gun accurately.

My rule of thumb is to set up the scope so that when you shoulder the gun and put your cheek to the stock with your eyes closed - and then open them, the scope should be the proper distance from the eye and level for YOU - not the gun.

If you have to move your head or fool around with the rifle position in order to get it to look right, then that means somebody probably used a couple of levels on it.

With some of my guns, the crosshairs are canted slightly to the right in relation to the gun - but not always. A lot of that depends upon the height of the comb, height of the scope, etc..

Remember: The gun the should be adjusted to YOU for quick, accurate shooting in the field - Not the other way around.

Every gun is different, and every shooter is different. This is the reality that we must work with when adjusting the gun to fit the shooter.

Charles, I don't understand what you mean, by if you have move your head around then someone prob leveled the scope?

Just to be clear, I'm making the scope level to match the level that is built into those sphur rings I have. Most of the time I have a level attached to the scope, but in this case It's not needed because the rings have the level.


I will say it does not matter if the scope is leveled to the rifle for not, but you want to shoot with your crosshairs level.

So if you level the scope off the rifle by installing a level that is plumb with the cross hairs then you can install it w/ some cant on the rifle to fit you best. For me it's easiest to just level the scope to the rifle and have a level on the rifle , rings or scope to look at before I take shots.

If you don't do this, you will not have accurate and repeatable shots. When you adjust your come ups and or hold over w/ cant in your scope reticle you are not coming up the proper amount of mil/moa/inches/hands/meters/ etc.

Here is a simple, yet exaggerated example of how cant in your rifle/crosshairs will effect your shot.

In all cases, I am of course referring to the crosshairs. Note that aligning the crosshairs to the action is what the levels are used for, when installing a scope.

By exaggerating the cant from slightly tilted crosshairs you can produce an imaginary accuracy problem. Fact is though that in actual use this accuracy problem is not apparent. My most accurate rifle in fact has the crosshairs slightly canted so that the scope comes naturally to the shoulder to fire, with the crosshairs in accordance with the horizon.

Shooting from the bench, it is no problem to adjust yourself to the rifle, more often than not. Under real-life situations that one encounters in the field though, the rifle should fit the shooter, and not the other way around.

If you bring the rifle to your shoulder with your eyes closed. and upon opening your eyes you find that you need to adjust your hold - then the rifle is not adjusted properly for field use, where one sometimes does not have extra time available to devote to adjusting one's hold.

I should have figured you would say that, but of course that's been tested to. At distances as short as 50 yards.


50 Yards 20 Degrees Left Cant, Produces 1.81” Left .6” Below Error



50 Yards 3 Groups, 0 Degrees, 10 Degrees, 20 Degrees on Same Target Shows Progressive Nature of Error




Also, levels are NOT just used to align the scope to the action, although it is a way to do it. You can level a scope in the rings and attach a level to the scope.

Of course you can set your rifle up however you want, and I'm sure plenty of people have hit plenty of things with canted reticles. When I miss, I like to know that it was me that missed, not do to something being improperly set up on my rifle.

I note that you are canting the scope - but not adjusting it to zero after you produce the cant.

And, as before, you are exaggerating the amount of cant involved.

Yes, that will create the appearance of an accuracy problem, no doubt about it.

I am not suggesting though that one zero the scope while it is aligned with bubble levels - and then cant it.

I am suggesting that the shooter shoulder the rifle with eyes closed, open the eyes and set the scope to appear straight and level to the horizon ( and positioned forward/back properly ) with their most comfortable and natural hold - with that particular firearm. - Then adjust for zero afterward, as a separate step.

This way, when you bring the weapon up to shoot ( as opposed to shooting off of a bench ) your eye and the weapon will be aligned naturally, with no hold-adjustments or awkward positioning required.

It allows one to concentrate on accurate shot placement in the shortest possible amount of time, in what may be a fleeting opportunity to make an accurate shot.

Hunts in my area cost close to 1k a day. - I do not plan to be wasting time fumbling the gun to get a sight picture when that trophy buck jumps up. I am sure that many shots are taken in situations where you can pretend that you are at the bench, and take your time at it. That's what I would rather do if I got my druthers - but you don't always have the luxury of time in the field. A gun that is adjusted to the hunter will work better when time and opportunity are brief.

With my hunting arms, I shoot at the bench for load development - but once I have a load worked out, all practice is then done either sitting on the ground or standing up on my hind legs, both with and without shooting sticks. I specifically practice taking the gun from a safe carry position to a shooting position - and then taking a quick but accurate shot.

Do much of this and you'll soon know why the gun should be adjusted to you - and not the other way around.

Some of my guns end up with the cross-hairs being level in relation to the action - and some do not. This is determined, as I have mentioned before, by shouldering the weapon with eyes closed - then opening my eyes to see what the scope looks like from that natural shooting position.

The human body is not generic, and neither are firearms. I'm more interested in what works fast and accurately in a pinch than I am about coming up with a generic method of scope adjustment that will work out fine with one gun - but throw you off and possibly cause you to miss a shot with another.

Each to his own, I say. Try shouldering your gun as if to fire it with eyes closed, then hold it in that position as you open your eyes to see if your scope is adjusted properly for you - or not. If you have to cant the rifle, change your hold or shift your view, then the scope mounting job needs work.

A few minutes working with the owner of the gun will give them an edge in the field. Folks I work with appreciate that consideration.