is it a gimmick or does it really help


And what exactly is canting?

How do you know if the Turrets are in alignment with the barrel?

Quoted: How do you know if the Turrets are in alignment with the barrel?

Best way is to pick yourself up a couple "string levels" at your local hardware store , (I use the old aluminum covered Stanley ones, with the little string hooks removed). Place one on top of elevation turret, (with cover removed) and one on a flat portion of the upper reciever, (on the AR, try just above the charging handle). This method works very well for aligning crosshairs with bore, use one to level the rifle while benchrested and the other to level the scope.

Mike

I have a mil-dot III generation Springfield Armory scope on two of my AR10’s with internal levels and always check for level before I shoot. After about 200rds it becomes second nature and you just do it without even thinking about it.

THISISME

Quoted: A lot of people assume that if they line up their reticle to a plum line, that the scope is straight.  I learned from Dick at Premier Reticles that this is not true.  If you want to ensure that the scope tracks correctly, the Turrets have to be in alignment with the barrel.  Even if your reticle is canted to 45degrees and looks like an "X" and not a "+", it doesn't matter.  It's the mechanical turrets that make the reticle track properly for elevation and windage. -Red-

I kinda tried to touch on that in my post, didn't want to make it too much longer than it already was.


If the reticle gets into that perfect "+" alingnment along with a plumbline while rifle is perfectly level, going to the range it is possible to test to see if the crosshair and mechanical tracking are following together in the same planes by doing that little test that I described.    While holding nice and level and using the same point of aim, as you crank on the windage those bullet holes should track right across the paper along the same plane as the horizontal crosshair suggests they should.


Succesfully shooting that precisely is another matter though depending on the capabilities of shooter and equipment.   I'm sure that this is an easier test to perform with a seriously sub-MOA rifle and capable shooter than say with something as silly as a Remington 710 and your average hunter who only shoots it 2-3 times a year before a big hunt.



It's just kinda a fun game to play from time to time to test things out if you think you and your gear is up to it.



Another fun one is to test the mechanicals of the scope for repeatability.    Using same point of aim for all groups fired start at the upper left corner of the paper and fire a 5 shot group, then get on the dials and do as follows:

Put in aprox 10-15MOA of right windage and shoot a 5 shot group, put an equal amount of MOA clicks of down elevation and shoot a 5 shot group, again put an equal amount of windage but this time go back in the left direction and shoot a 5 shot group, and finally put in an equal amount of up elevation and shoot one final 5 shot group.

Did the last group wind up impacting to the same point of aim as the first group?   If the mechanicals of the scope are good and truely repeatable then all that monkeying around on the dials should get you right back to the original zero, what you just did was test the system to see if it is true.    If the gun is accurate enough it should be very clear to see what's going on while doing this scope check.


Results can either be entertaining or frustrating.




The things you learn on snipercountry.com, some real good stuff over there with some true wisdom and knowledge.    Just giving credit to were credit is due, comments I've made here are basically echoing statements that I first saw posted over there on the DutyRoster.    It's been some time since I've been back over there and posting regularly, to anyone who heads over there it's wise to head into the archives and read through atleast 2-3 weeks worth of posts to catch up on the current conversation and to catch anything that they may have recently covered.

Plainsman,

I level my gun based off of my Badger base.  Then I mount my rings and scope without moving the gun.  Before I lock my scope in, I use the top of the elevation turret to level it.  I've got a Leupold Vari-X III M1 with the big turrets, so it makes it easy to lay a level across it.  After locking the scope in, I check it again to be sure.  Then all that is left is to mount the scope level.

-Red-