danmayland
WKR
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2015
- Messages
- 489
The purpose of this post is hopefully to shed light on some myths about rifle cant and help potential long range hunters set up their rifles with confidence.
A while back a friend asked me take a look at his rifle as he was having difficulty making accurate long range shots from an otherwise very accurate rifle. The rifle itself was capable of .5 inch groups out to 200 yards but he was really struggling to connect at longer distances.
I stared with watching him shoot and shooting his rifle myself. Sure enough as soon as I started shooting his rifle I noticed the the installed bubble level appeared to me to be incorrectly leveled to his reticle. I inquired as to who or how he installed the bubble level. He informed me he had done it by using a level on top of the turret cap and had leveled the rifle action the the scope.
I won’t mention the brand of scope to keep things objective here but I’ll say it’s a well respected and widely used “popular” brand and model of rifle scope.
I took the rifle back to my shop and properly leveled the bubble level using the technique described below. It should be worth noting that the top of the turret was 3/4 of a bubble off of being level with the reticle. This caused me concern that the scope would track vertically correctly. I advised my buddy to run the scope through a tall target test to insure proper tracking after I leveled the bubble. The scope failed its tracking test and was ultimately sent back for a replacement which he immediately sold and upgraded.
During the course of problem solving his rifle the conversation of rifle cant came about. After properly installing his bubble level I asked him to shoulder the rifle for an off hand shot and close his eyes. I then adjusted the scope within the scope rings so that the scope and reticle were level when it was shouldered. He was initially upset because he’d taken great time to level the rifle action to the scope and this ended up causing him great concern and he believed his rifle would no longer by accurate at longer ranges.
I explained the mechanics and physics behind my madness and assured him as long as the bubble was level when he fired the rifle his point of impact would not be affected by the rifles cant. He simply couldn’t wrap this idea around his head and so we went to the range and I I showed him what I demonstrated here in the second video.
I won’t go into detail explaining in the thread you can watch the video for that explanation. The fact of the matter is rifle cant is insignificant as long as a properly installed bubble level present.
I put together the first video with hopes of helping folks properly install bubble levels. The vid had over 45,000 views and the sheer number of hate response emails and messages I received advising me I was incorrect about rifle cant was mind boggling. I still receive at least one email a week accosting me mentioning that rifle cant is insignificant. The second video was developed in response to all the “non-believers”!!!
It’s important to understand that rifle cant is only insignificant if a properly installed bubble level is present. Otherwise, yes rifle cant is very significant and will affect POI
I hope this clears some rifle cant myths and helps future or present long range shooters!
Cheers!
Dan
DIY Rifle Scope Leveling the Easy Way: Flashlight Method - YouTube
Canting your rifle. The truth: its not important - YouTube
Here is a video a friend of mine put together explaining the same thing more or less. He actually purposely cants the reticle in relation the the bubble level to account for spin drift!! Now that’s some bubble gum for you to chew on!! This way he doesn’t have to account for spin drift in his long range calculations and dope. I simply rely on my Sig Kilo 2400 for that!
Installing a level on a rifle scope for long range shooting/hunting, and advanced tips. - YouTube
1,390 yards!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
A while back a friend asked me take a look at his rifle as he was having difficulty making accurate long range shots from an otherwise very accurate rifle. The rifle itself was capable of .5 inch groups out to 200 yards but he was really struggling to connect at longer distances.
I stared with watching him shoot and shooting his rifle myself. Sure enough as soon as I started shooting his rifle I noticed the the installed bubble level appeared to me to be incorrectly leveled to his reticle. I inquired as to who or how he installed the bubble level. He informed me he had done it by using a level on top of the turret cap and had leveled the rifle action the the scope.
I won’t mention the brand of scope to keep things objective here but I’ll say it’s a well respected and widely used “popular” brand and model of rifle scope.
I took the rifle back to my shop and properly leveled the bubble level using the technique described below. It should be worth noting that the top of the turret was 3/4 of a bubble off of being level with the reticle. This caused me concern that the scope would track vertically correctly. I advised my buddy to run the scope through a tall target test to insure proper tracking after I leveled the bubble. The scope failed its tracking test and was ultimately sent back for a replacement which he immediately sold and upgraded.
During the course of problem solving his rifle the conversation of rifle cant came about. After properly installing his bubble level I asked him to shoulder the rifle for an off hand shot and close his eyes. I then adjusted the scope within the scope rings so that the scope and reticle were level when it was shouldered. He was initially upset because he’d taken great time to level the rifle action to the scope and this ended up causing him great concern and he believed his rifle would no longer by accurate at longer ranges.
I explained the mechanics and physics behind my madness and assured him as long as the bubble was level when he fired the rifle his point of impact would not be affected by the rifles cant. He simply couldn’t wrap this idea around his head and so we went to the range and I I showed him what I demonstrated here in the second video.
I won’t go into detail explaining in the thread you can watch the video for that explanation. The fact of the matter is rifle cant is insignificant as long as a properly installed bubble level present.
I put together the first video with hopes of helping folks properly install bubble levels. The vid had over 45,000 views and the sheer number of hate response emails and messages I received advising me I was incorrect about rifle cant was mind boggling. I still receive at least one email a week accosting me mentioning that rifle cant is insignificant. The second video was developed in response to all the “non-believers”!!!
It’s important to understand that rifle cant is only insignificant if a properly installed bubble level is present. Otherwise, yes rifle cant is very significant and will affect POI
I hope this clears some rifle cant myths and helps future or present long range shooters!
Cheers!
Dan
DIY Rifle Scope Leveling the Easy Way: Flashlight Method - YouTube
Canting your rifle. The truth: its not important - YouTube
Here is a video a friend of mine put together explaining the same thing more or less. He actually purposely cants the reticle in relation the the bubble level to account for spin drift!! Now that’s some bubble gum for you to chew on!! This way he doesn’t have to account for spin drift in his long range calculations and dope. I simply rely on my Sig Kilo 2400 for that!
Installing a level on a rifle scope for long range shooting/hunting, and advanced tips. - YouTube
1,390 yards!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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