Scope leveling

[Coopsdaddy]

I like that there’s many ways to get this done.
I am going to pick up a exd when there back in stock to try.
Can you clip in a tripod and use to level?
That’s got to be better than the cheap Tipton vises.

 

[Skydog]

Take aways from the below table: it takes over 3 degrees of error from plumb to bore to get an inch of windage error at 1000 yards. That's less than half a click in scope adjustment.

Much more concerned with getting a level on the scope correct when the reticle is plumb. I have the little plastic wheeler bubble levels, use em sometimes, but i can eyeball plumb with bore close enough to make me happy.


View attachment 807228

So...I have read this entire thread and a couple of other Rokslide threads on scope/reticle leveling. I'm trying to get a handle on all of this. Some folks seem really passionate/OCD about their preferred method and there seems to be quite a bit of contradictory info and debate on this topic...

But...based on the above chart, is it safe to assume that for an average Joe (like myself) just shooting whitetails at max ranges of 300 yards (and the majority at 100 or less), all of this is irrelevant? Assuming I have everything lined up reasonably well (nothing extremely canted, etc.) and close to level, it should be good to go...correct?

I'll soon be mounting a Trijicon Huron on a T3X Hunter using the UM rings on the integral dovetail. I hunt whitetails from tree stands at 100 yards or less (woods) out to 300 (clearcuts/power lines). How OCD/precise do I need to be about this stuff?

Thank you!

 

[BLJ]

@Skydog.

IMO. If you get it close you’ll be fine.
I use the Wheeler levels to mount my scopes.
Eyeballed it for a long time and killed plenty.

Where I live and hunt there are (guessing, but probably not too far off base) thousands of whitetail killed every year by placing an “X” on the animal and not a “+” at the distances you speak of. IMO.

 

[Skydog]

@Skydog.

IMO. If you get it close you’ll be fine.
I use the Wheeler levels to mount my scopes.
Eyeballed it for a long time and killed plenty.

Where I live and hunt there are (guessing, but probably not too far off base) thousands of whitetail killed every year by placing an “X” on the animal and not a “+” at the distances you speak of. IMO.

Thanks. I've been hunting with the same rifle/scope combo for 25+ years. Due to some chronic neck/shoulder issues I'm being forced to transition to a rifle with less recoil. So, I just purchased a Tikka .243 and ordering a Huron today. So, this will be my first scope install in over 25 years...trying to re-educate myself and do it properly this time. I will be using the instructions in the "Scope mounting to maintain zero" thread and other threads on this forum.

I stumbled across this forum a few months ago doing a Google search, started reading threads, and was shocked to find that I had been doing everything wrong for the last 25 years!!...wrong caliber and bullet (.270 Win), wrong rifle (not a Tikka), wrong scope (Leupold), improper scope installation (eyeballing stuff, tightening screws down without a torque wrench, etc.).

In all seriousness though...I love this site and have found it to be a very valuable resource and a wealth of good info/advice. And quite frankly, I have been doing some things wrong for the last 25 years and would have done them differently if I had known then what I know now. A good example...I've been constantly chasing zero during that time...not sure if that is due to the scope or the half-ass mounting job I did all those years ago.

So, this time I want to get the scope and the installation right!

But I also know that shooting whitetails at 150 yards from a tree stand is a totally different application than shooting them at 600 yards across a valley, dialing for elevation/wind, etc. So, I don't want to be more OCD than I need to be for my use case.

 

[wind gypsy]

So...I have read this entire thread and a couple of other Rokslide threads on scope/reticle leveling. I'm trying to get a handle on all of this. Some folks seem really passionate/OCD about their preferred method and there seems to be quite a bit of contradictory info and debate on this topic...

But...based on the above chart, is it safe to assume that for an average Joe (like myself) just shooting whitetails at max ranges of 300 yards (and the majority at 100 or less), all of this is irrelevant? Assuming I have everything lined up reasonably well (nothing extremely canted, etc.) and close to level, it should be good to go...correct?

I'll soon be mounting a Trijicon Huron on a T3X Hunter using the UM rings on the integral dovetail. I hunt whitetails from tree stands at 100 yards or less (woods) out to 300 (clearcuts/power lines). How OCD/precise do I need to be about this stuff?

Thank you!

I'd go without a scope level for whitetails 300 yards and in without concern. Especially on the flat areas I hunt where I'm less likely to big reticle plumbness errors.

 

[Tanner]

I drew a big plumb line on my shop wall with a sharpie and squared a level line off of it, basically looks like a big reticle that’s dead nuts P&L.

I throw the rifle in some bags, get it to where it looks “level” or use a level across the lower half of the rings, and then drop the scope in, plumb the reticle up with my marks on the wall, and call it good.