I've been reading a lot about leveling a rifle and then leveling the scope so that it is level with the rifle. As I understand it, this is the best way to set up a rifle. However, I have read that some people cant their rifle and then level their scope. This doesn't seem to me to be a good idea as you are introducing error before you fire the shot; that is, if you cant to the left your shot will be left as well as low. What I have not seen in any of the articles that I've article and would really like to know, what would be the effect of canting your rifle say 10 degrees to the left and rotating your scope 20 degrees to the right on the impact point of the bullet?

Here's a little demo you can play with to show you cant effects.

I got the worst kind of cant, can't shoot straight


http://www.arld1.com/impactpointvscantangle.html

Only problem with canting the rifle is you have to change the windage as you change the elevation and you have to cant the same every time.

Unless you have a severe can't don't worry about it, wind and other range conditions effect the point of impact much more. Concentrate on learning to hold the gun, pull the trigger when your on the target and follow through, all the other minutia just bogs your mind down and mentally defeats you.

Thaat/\/\/\/\

I cant my rifle to the right (I'm a lefty) then level my scope. I zeroed the windage at turkeys. I figure they are the hardest to hit so I'd give myself as little error as possible there. The difference at all animals is negligible. I straightened it out and re-zeroed and you couldn't tell one set of shots from the other. Someone did the math here one time and with a 10 degree cant the windage is within a quarter inch from chickens to rams.

So for me making my hold more comfortable is worth it, since my sloppy, jumpy hold is going to introduce 10 times the error the cant is.

Any errors due to your cant don't matter because you have zeros at each distance, and if you have the rifle canted and the scope level as you are looking through it windage errors are very small if you zero your windage on rams.

I find the whole cant thing blown out of proportions. Providing the scope is level and zeroed as such then there is no reason according to physics that you could not shoot a bolt action rifle upside down, sideways, ect.

Consistency, as everyone here knows, is key to shooting well. If you consistently hold the rifle with a 42 degree, 39 minute and15 second angle and your scope is zeroed for that with the vertical crosshair is orthogonal to the horizon then it should shoot just as well as someone who does not cant.


So cant away and have fun!

DavidABQ wrote:If you consistently hold the rifle with a 42 degree, 39 minute and15 second angle and your scope is zeroed for that with the vertical crosshair is orthogonal to the horizon then it should shoot just as well as someone who does not cant.

So cant away and have fun!

When you can't cant any more, it is time to just put the sights on the side.

Lol, homeboy night sights. I just snorted.....