vertical sights

pj1

Well-Known Member
just read a clip in shooting times about how to check telescopic sights are vertical and in line with the rifles bore. ive always set the rifle as level as i can and put up a plumb line or used a know upright to check the scope is vertical.

well the wife is out so i thought i would have a play with the air rifle. i followed the instuctions in the artical and it turns out that my scope appears to not be vertical

the instuctions were. at 50 yards. take a three shot group. adjust scope to shoot 2 inch high. take 3 shots. adjust 2 inch right. take 3 shot group. adjust 2 inch down. take 3 shot group. adjust 2 inch left take a 3 shot group.

well i can only shoot 18 yards in the garden and adjusted by 20 clicks but ive ended up with a square of sorts. the fact is its not quite square. so which way do i move my scope to level it or which way do you guys check your scope set up

View attachment 23285

as you can see started bottom left corner. adjust up and it seems straight. adjust right and it rises slightly. adjust down it moves right slightly. adjust left back to the start and it comes down. pleased with the six shot group though:D

regards pete
 
thank you woodmaster. had been thinking about it but was going round and round in circles. just out of interest how do you check your scope is upright
 
i sit/prop rifle on kitchen table and lline the vertical roughly up the corner off wall which should be plumbish ;)(hopefully) or try and get vert on wall/window/door style and get the horz catching the other wall/ceiling join or top off door. But to be honest i'm not that paticular really, if there or there abots good enough for me.
 
Since I'm not a paper shooter other than for load development and the occasional need to hear some loud bangs if I haven't been able to get out on live targets I don't worry too much. I generally place the rifle in a stand on a level surface and with scope on low mag look through and check vertical line runs through center of muzzle and center of bolt. If it does this it's near enough for me.
Not very scientific I know but I don't seem to miss all that often. That is so long as it's a bl**dy great deer standing in front of me.
Glad to be of help.:thumb:
 
with you on the occasional need to hear loud bangs:). as said ive always set up rifle as level and sighted through scope to line up cross hairs with a window egde or door but thought i would give this method a go.

just out of interest i was out just getting used to the air rifle as its new to me. it is sighted in smack on at 18 yards in the garden but was shooting left at 25 and 35 yards. do you think this is due to scope being off centre. i adjusted to be in line at 25 and back in the garden it shoots right.
 
All I ever do is set the rifle level fir scope and level the scope with a small spirit level.
If after that it looks wrong, and won't shoot a box it goes back, simple really, touch wood never had a problem.

Neil. :)
 
Don't know what caliber it is but I would guess you getting a little wind drift at 25-35 yds, especially on .177. In the garden is probable alot more sheltered, and a good deal less range. It's easy to for get the effects of drift on a small pellet traveling pretty slow when compared to a CF bullet. I would suggest you zero at 30 yds it should then be fine at anything from 10yds out to 35.
 
thank you wood yes it was fairly still wind wise but not as stable as shooting at home. its a hw 100 in .177. stupidly accurate and quiet.
 
Hope you manage to find a few bunnies to stalk up on. They all seem to have drowned round here. Or they have just taken to hibernating. I've got a FX Cyclone which I love but it's got a seal gone at the moment. Must get it fixed as it's great fun.
ATB
 
If you have a flat top on your receiver and the bottom of your scope is flat also (some are flat under the windage/elevation dials), you can use a pack or two of playing cards between the receiver and the scope to stop it twisting as you tighten up the ring screws, just add or remove cards as necessary. This way your scope should be level to you receiver, the problem I find is that sometimes I slightly twist the rifle when its in my shoulder so even though the scope is perfectly alligned, sometimes it can look a little off.
 
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If you have a flat top on your receiver and the bottom of your scope is flat also (some are flat under the windage/elevation dials), you can use a pack or two of playing cards between the receiver and the scope to stop it twisting as you tighten up the ring screws, just add or remove cards as necessary. This way your scope should be level to you receiver, the problem I find is that sometimes I slightly twist the rifle when its in my shoulder so even though the scope is perfectly alligned, sometimes it can look a little off.

Good tip there, thanks!
 
If you have a flat top on your receiver and the bottom of your scope is flat also (some are flat under the windage/elevation dials), you can use a pack or two of playing cards between the receiver and the scope to stop it twisting as you tighten up the ring screws, just add or remove cards as necessary. This way your scope should be level to you receiver, the problem I find is that sometimes I slightly twist the rifle when its in my shoulder so even though the scope is perfectly alligned, sometimes it can look a little off.

A ruler will do the same thing. Thats what I use pop the ruer on the receiver or base (if its a 1 piece base) Then keppin an edge onto the base or receiver trun the rule upwards until the other flat edge shows no gap under the scope tighten re-check job done.


nutty
 
I clamp the action in a workmate and place a piece of plate glass on the bottom halves of the rings and then place a level on the glass. Aligne scope on a plumb line. Check all is level. Its a little more complicated but thats the essence.

Plate glass across the four bottom halves is very helpfull to seen if they are true, may need to remove and move arround to ensure glass is touching all four rings.

Shooting the box is the accepted method if you don't want to do the above.

If you search on here there is a smilar thread and it appears that quite often the vertical stadia is often out of vertical when they are installed it can be as much a several degrees out depending on the manufactuerer.

If you fit a spirit level to the scope/rail then as long as the bubble is in the same place you should be OK. Canting can be a major issue when shooting down/across steep slopes.

D
 
cyres. if the vertical staida are out when the scope is made is it better to shoot the box as this is setting the scope up to the cross hairs not the housing of the scope. just a thought mind.

the scope im using on my air rifle is a nikko mountmaster. 45 quid all in so i dont expect it to be accurate to say zeiss standards. do you guys reckon on a cheaper scope like this its worth shooting the box method.
 
I put my scope on look through it and if it looks level that will do, would hate to use a window or wall in my house, being 17/18 C every bxxxxy wall and window is slanted, I ordered a carpet for the bedroom measured the middle of the room only to be two foot out at one end:rofl:
 
As I live by the sea I use the horizon. Never checked it though...

Ha, ha! I used to take people from Dover to Calais by ferry some years ago and then back to UK from Calais to Dover. As you know there is a time difference between UK and France of one hour.

This always made it seem as if the out journey took two and a half hours and the in journey but half an hour. I used to explain to the clients that this was because it was usually low tide in Dover when it was high tide in Calais and so the journey out was uphill and the journey back downhill!


BUT>>>>

On many rifles the bottom of the receiver "should" be flat and level. So if you dismount the cation from the stock and set it on a true level you can then use a plumb line to give a true vertical and set your crosshairs accordingly.

On a Mauser type action I just align it with the middle of the bolt raceway at the rear of the receiver without dismountig the action from the furniture.
 
I use a couple of mini spirit levels bought from eBay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROLSON-MI...ccessories_Touring_Travel&hash=item2326e776ac).

This method is predicated on the fact that your rifle and scope both have flat, horizontal, surfaces, but typically I've found this to be the case (e.g. on top of the top turret, on the rifle receiver), or maybe I've just been lucky;).

With your rifle in a suitable rest, or on bipod, all you need to do is firstly level the rifle (using one spirit level) and then level the scope (using the second).

willie_gunn
 
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