Scope canted base or not?

[smokestick]

I am building a long range rifle for varmints and competition, I want to shoot 1 k, is canted base a must and what's the best under leupold lr scope, thanks in advance

 

[JohnKielly]

For me shooting competition, the issue is reliability of adjustment where it's needed most & that has to be at the longest distance. On all my rifles I have custom rails that result in the zero for that long distance being as close as possible to the mechanical centre of the scope - which hopefully is also the optical centre. Doing that guarantees me that the adjusting the scope will result on the zero moving to the full accuracy of the scope's mechanics.

A number of my scopes are Leupold VX11s with 90 off MOA adjustment but nevertheless, I have them railed up to achieve that result.

 

[smokestick]

Thanks for your input, what brand do you suggest, like everything some are better than others

 

[FatBoy]

The first thing you need to know is if the round is distance capable. For example, if you want to shoot a 223 at 1600 yards, no scope or base in the world is gonna help you. Once you know the bullet you intend to use has a high enough BC and enough velocity to stay supersonic at the intended longest range, you can work up a ballistic chart to see how much internal elevation you need to get there.

Then, choose the scope. The mk4/ultra 16x has 140 moa internal and likely won't need a tapered base. The 10x m3 (fixed) has taper built into the erector cell and can 't use a tapered base.

I decide the longest distance I plan on shooting, spec the magnification and reticle for that, ensure it has enough internal elevation to get there. If it doesn't, I add a tapered base. Most Leupold LR scopes have about 80moa internal so a 20 moa base is fine. For the built I'm in now, 1500 yards is my max so I went with a NXS (100 moa) added a 40 moa base. That will get me to 1600+ .

Getting the furthest zero around the center makes a lot of sense but I don't worry too much about that. If if doesn't track, it gets sent back for repair/replacement. Also, I don't know anyone who dials in more than maybe 10 moa of wind, so having full windage available is lost on me. As long as I can zero at distance and dial in 5-10 moa wind I will hold off the rest.

Almost all the bases now are great. What you will want to decide is how much weight do you want, now high or low can it be to work with your rings so your objective isn't touching or the ocular is so high you need a massive cheek piece to get proper eye alignment. Again, start with the scope, then base height and that will let you know how high the rings need to be for clearance.

 

[CatShooter]

You don't want a canted base (cant means leaning over to the side), you want a forward tapered base, or rings that allow you to add forward taper.

 

[JohnKielly]

I raw terms, if your come up from 100 to 1000 yards is say 25 MOA, then that's the lean you need on your rail in raw terms. However you might find as I did that recoil characteristics, barrel droop etc can vary that.

But starting off with an off the shelf 20 MOA rail will go a long way to giving you peace of mind.

 

[Sniper338]

Doesnt hurt anything..