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Rifle Scope Installation and Leveling

I use Jo Blocks and set the scope to the rail, but someone makes a wedge system that sits on the rail then you close the wedge until the scope is parallel with the rail, or the scope is level with the rail, do this with rings tightened just enough to turn the scope
 
I use a Bessy wood clamp to hold the butt part of the stock. stock. Doesn’t matter if level. I index off the bases with parallels to bottom of scope. IMO Spirit levels have too much user tolerance.
 
I put the rifle in the vise and mount the scope but don't tighten the rings. If it's a silhouette rifle or hunting rifle, I then hold the rifle offhand and look through the scope at my shop building 100 yd away. If the reticle lines up with the side of the building, I call it good. If it doesn't, I twist the scope in the rings until it does then tighten the rings.
If it is a prone rifle, I lie down prone, with the sling and look at the same building and set the scope using the same criteria. Now, I built the shop so, if I screwed that up, it's probably not the best reference. Before I built the shop, I just used the world and my own sense of balance. I started doing this with the first scope I bought, about sixty years ago, and was so happy with it, I kept doing it for the many hundreds of scopes I've mounted since.
In recent years, I've been made aware that I am doing it all wrong but, being set in my ways, I just keep it up. WH
 
Nothing at all. I have checked a couple of times after it goes back to the rifle, but it's always lines up with the verticle line when the rifle is level.
Is the level in your picture just resting there for the pic? I'd think it would need to be placed perpendicular to the scope for leveling. Just want to be sure I'm thinking of this correctly.
 
Years ago, I built a rifle vise, sort of an improved version of the Decker that a gunsmith friend made good use of in his business. It has served me well for several decades. My friend liked it so much that he had me build one for him.
 
Is the level in your picture just resting there for the pic? I'd think it would need to be placed perpendicular to the scope for leveling. Just want to be sure I'm thinking of this correctly.
It is just sitting on the base. When I'm leveling the base, I move it around to different sides to make sure the base is level. When I level a scope, I do it in the same place every time so it's almost always level when it is setup.
 
I use the Tipton gun vice in conjunction with the Wheeler scope mounting kit. That kit contains 2 levels. I set the gun in the vice and use the magnetic level to level the scope rail or mounts. I then clamp the barrel clamp vice on and insure that both level are in agreement. Then I clamp the gun and tweak it until both show level again. Install the scope with the tube loosely locked down. Pull the gun and check for eye relief. Put back in and level according to the barrel clamp level. Then use the magnetic little level on the scope cap or the turret top to level the scope and tighten the scope clamps. Then check it. Not all scope caps and or turrets are level so sometimes you need to adjust scope level to suit the shooter.
Never use the scope caps. I’ve seen the vast majority are not level to the reticle.
 

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