Leveling scope to gun

[Boisblancboy]

Does this sound like a decent way to your scope leveled to a gun. Being the gun I'm thinking of has a pic rail, I would use a level across the rail. Mount the rings, set the scope in, and the level off the turrets or possibly look through the scope at a know plumb object to adjust the vertical crosshairs to?

 

[jonbearman]

What kind of gun is it.The reason I ask is with savage's the reciever hole's are in alot of case's are skewed slightly and then it would be off slightly. You can use the rail but you still might have to adjust it slightly by eye.I have had to do that a few times and it is annoying. I would level it and scope it and see how it looks when you look through it.

 

[Boisblancboy]

Tube gun chassis. I know that it is close but I'm always looking for ways to do things better.

 

[dave7mm]

I use a piece of white string with a weight attached as a plum bob.
I hang it up at 100 yards and line up the verticle cross wire.


dave

 

[seanhagerty]

If you have a one piece rail under scope you can use a set of feeler gages to level a scope when installing it.

 

[jonbearman]

Sean,can you describe your process in more detail.

 

[seanhagerty]

On a lot of scopes, there is a flat spot below the turrets

I take a feeler gage

and insert it between the rail and the flat on the scope

I then tighten the rings. If you have the feeler gage set so that is is flush against the bottom of the scope and top of the rail, it does not allow the scope to cant at all. Assuming the reticle is true to this flat on the bottom of the scope, your reticle is now true to the flat of this rail.

There are a couple of assumptions here:
[list type=decimal]
[*]the rail is true to the horizontal of the rifle barrel.
[*]The flat on the bottom of the scope is true to the reticle
[/list]

The easy way to test these assumptions is to mount it, tighten the rings, then check it against a plumb horizontal or verticle surface visible against the reticle.

 

[Boisblancboy]

Very good idea if you ask me. Simplistic.

 

[mshelton]

Pretty neat, I'll have to give it a try next time.

Been using a bubble level by itself (pop one out of the plastic string levellers you can get at the hardware store) and a plumb bob.

Place the gun in a bench rest or cleaning clamp thing, for a 700, remove the bolt and place the bubble level in the bolt handle slot across the 2 lug raceways, level the rifle then level the vertical cross hair on a plumb bob (usually around 100yds away). Takes a bit of tinkering with and time but gives good results.


A good check is to draw a perfectly vertical line on a piece of 3' paper at 100yds, place a dot in the middle of the line. Make sure you scope is sighted in and shoot the dot, move the scope up 15 moa vertical, aim at the dot and shoot, move it down 30 moa (15 from dead on) and shoot another shot. All three shots should be right on the line. Allow some play for condition.

 

[Phil]

I use a piece of white string with a weight attached as a plum bob.
I hang it up at 100 yards and line up the verticle cross wire.


dave

THIS is my "NEW" way of checking....

I had a scope that gave me FITS!!!!!!!

Name brand,not junk, that the crosshairs weren`t in line with the turrets...

I did the feeler gauge routine(which works fantastic,most of the time) then i tried the bubble level on the pic. rail,then the scope turrets......NO dice with either of these.....

I finally broke down and took it to my smith.

He fought with it for a while before hanging a string and nailing it,as well as finding out why the other two methods failed.....


It`s always nice to have a plan,but a back up plan is just as necessary...

Phil.

 

[Bulseyetom]

I use the bubble on the rail method myself but the proof of the pudding is in the shooting so to speak. After getting the scope level in your opinion and sighted in at 100 yards, turn the elevation down so you are hitting the bottom of the target and shoot a 3 shot group, then crank it up until you hit the top of the target and shoot a group. All three groups should be vertical and if not, you need to rotate the scope ever so slightly to obtain the results. There is an article on that method on longrangehunting.com I believe. Tom

 

[jonbearman]

I want to thank Sean for his input and I owe him a debt of gratitude for his scope leveling method.This is why we come to this forum , to learn and share ideas. Thanks again. Jon lennon

 

[dave7mm]

I use a piece of white string with a weight attached as a plum bob.
I hang it up at 100 yards and line up the verticle cross wire.
dave

THIS is my "NEW" way of checking....

I had a scope that gave me FITS!!!!!!!

Name brand,not junk, that the crosshairs weren`t in line with the turrets...

I did the feeler gauge routine(which works fantastic,most of the time) then i tried the bubble level on the pic. rail,then the scope turrets......NO dice with either of these.....

I finally broke down and took it to my smith.

He fought with it for a while before hanging a string and nailing it,as well as finding out why the other two methods failed.....


It`s always nice to have a plan,but a back up plan is just as necessary...

Phil.

No matter the condition of turrets , rails , bubble levels and so forth....
You take the time to line up your verticle cross wire with a plum bob at 100 yards.
The bullets will follow.
Everytime.


dave

 

[1066]

This seems a good system although I've never used it myself.

http://shootingshed.co.uk/oscom/product_info.php?cPath=44&products_id=81

 

[Phil]

I use a piece of white string with a weight attached as a plum bob.
I hang it up at 100 yards and line up the verticle cross wire.
dave

Dave,

I found that out the hard way..... ;D

Phil.





THIS is my "NEW" way of checking....

I had a scope that gave me FITS!!!!!!!

Name brand,not junk, that the crosshairs weren`t in line with the turrets...

I did the feeler gauge routine(which works fantastic,most of the time) then i tried the bubble level on the pic. rail,then the scope turrets......NO dice with either of these.....

I finally broke down and took it to my smith.

He fought with it for a while before hanging a string and nailing it,as well as finding out why the other two methods failed.....


It`s always nice to have a plan,but a back up plan is just as necessary...

Phil.

No matter the condition of turrets , rails , bubble levels and so forth....
You take the time to line up your verticle cross wire with a plum bob at 100 yards.
The bullets will follow.
Everytime.


dave