Side Mount Scope Alignment

[RPRNY]

Savage 340 B 222Rem. Side Mount (Weaver) In factory mounting holes. Have changed scopes (old one has moved on), new one is a lower mid range Bushnell, nothing special, about right for rifle.

I am confused about scope alignment. When I use a spirit level to get rifle level and then align scope to level, also with spirit level, the reticle is markedly canted to the left when I shoulder the rifle.

I recall that Weaver side mount doesn't allow correct alignment to the bore axis - slightly right (or seem to recall) but this canting left seems another thing altogether.

Do I align as per above with spirit level so that plane of upper turret cover is perfectly level, or do I align so that reticle is correct when the rifle is mounted to shoulder and cheek?

 

[rcmodel]

The reticule Has To Be level with the bore / receiver, or you will run into all kinds of bad accuracy issues as range increases.

If it is mounted level with the gun, yet appears crooked when you shoulder the gun??

You are shouldering the gun crooked with the rest of the world.

rc

 

[RPRNY]

There's something odd going on. Although I may hold the rifle off center, a common issue as you note, it is not the explanation here. The spirit level shows receiver perpendicular to the ground and scope aligned accordingly, but in that position in the gun vice, the significantly canted reticle can be observed.

 

[Kp321]

Not all scopes are created equal. I have seen some on which the reticule is not squared with the tube. Just because the turret is level, the reticule is not necessarily level. On these, you have to use the older reticule alignment tool that has a line on either side of the scope to align the horizontal crosshair with. Good luck on finding a flat place on a 340 to square off of.

 

[RPRNY]

Luckily the previous owner deleted the rear site with a dovetail blank so there is one flat spot. Otherwise, not so much.

In any event, thanks for the good advice. I'm traveling all week so will have to wait until Friday to have another go at it.

 

[Jim K]

How do you align the scope? For that matter, how do you align the receiver?

Jim

 

[RPRNY]

Spirit level.

 

[RPRNY]

Well, seems like it was a single spirit level problem. I redid everything. Looks like after I leveled the rifle and the scope, in tightening the scope rings, I pushed them off kilter, not enough to be evident until I picked up the scope. That combined with the slightly off axis nature of the side mount and ... Voila!

Anyway, sorted.

 

[rcmodel]

I use two levels for things like that.

And turn both of them 180 a couple of times to see how bad they are lying to me.

It seems unusual to find two spirit levels that agree with each other part of the time.

And I have:
2 line levels.
3 Machinist Squares with levels.
3 36" & 48" carpenter levels.

I couldn't get all 8 of them level on the same level surface on a bet!!!

rc