Canted reticle

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Ghys_T3LSS

CGN Regular
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Location
Sherbrooke, QC
Good evening,

I recently installed a Redfield Revenge 6-18 scope on my rifle, and paid a good attention to level my rifle first, then level my scope with the upper turret. I had a big surprise when I placed my eye in the scope... reticle is canted maybe 1-1/2 degree. Sounds not too much, but enough to be a pain... with a brand new scope paid over 300$.

I went through a lot of websites and forums talking about this being pretty common, especially with Leupold products. (heard about weaver and Bushnell too...) most of the people said: If you don't need the turrets for adjusting in the field, just place the crosshair plumb and don't bother with the canted turrets. Other folks said they returned the scope to be fixed, but came back as bad as it was firts, or even worse...!!!

I contacted my seller, and he told me the scope could be replaced for free (will take a couple weeks, and may be the same situation, cause seems leupold has a plus or minus 3 degrees tolerance on this.)

Then my question is: would you bother with this? I hate buying new and getting something not perfect, but knowing it can be the same very often, and it does not affect the rest of the product quality, I would maybe keep this one. Anyone ever lived that too? could this scope have someone else badly manufactured or it would be surprising?

thanks!
 
Eh, if you want perfection I'd have to say all you could do is get the scope mounted on your rifle in-store and probably increase your budget to reduce the chances of an imperfection.

Wait to see what the warranty response is, then evaluate what that 1.5 degrees is worth to you. Is it worth sending the scope back and waiting weeks or months to receive something that might be the same or worse?

I would imagine you could sell it on the EE for an easy 80%, then use that money plus some extra to get a slightly fancier scope.
 
I've got a night force that is a lot farther off than a degree compared to the turrets. It does seem to track up and down squarely when the reticle is plumb though.

Each second hash mark on your wrist watch is 6 degrees. Are you sure you can see one?
 
Not likely that you'd be able to see 1.5 degrees, but it's likely that the scope is off a wee bit. Not the reticle. You use a bore sighter?
 
I've got the same problem with a Burris, I levelled the scope and left the recital slanted. The center of the crosshairs stay centered anyways so WTH.
 
I'd keep it - I have meticulously tried to line scope reticles to vertically level reference points. I usually do this with a bipod on a level surface, once perfect and tight I (and others) find that in a standing position the reticles (of 5 different rigs-Burris x2, Leupold, Sightron and Vortex) appear canted. Sit back down and level again - a slight offset of reticle to turret means nothing for a hunting rifle - all mine shoot sub-MOA out to 450 yds so there's no reason to be bothered as shooting positions in the field are far from level in most situations.
 
I have one with the crosshairs slightly off with respect to the turrets (it's a Leupold) which I purchased used. My local shop informed me that they had previous experience with this, and found that Leupold did not consider a slight cant a defect and would not repair it under warranty. I leveled the crosshair, and simply ignore the very-slight-but-still-noticeable cant of the turrets. It has functioned perfectly like this on a hunting rifle for years.

Even a very slight discrepancy is easy to see if you look for it. When buying a scope now, I do it in person and check the individual specimen before taking it home. I don't see very many with a problem.


sunray said:
...but it's likely that the scope is off a wee bit. Not the reticle. You use a bore sighter?
Click to expand...

Wow. That's deep.
 
I personally find that if I mount a scope with the reticle dead plumb, that it looks off to me when I shoulder the rifle LOL.

When I mount a scope so that it looks right to me, it's obviously out of plumb if I reference it to a plumb line like a wall corner or something.

I mount so it looks right to me, except on precision rifles which will (almost) never be shot from field-expedient positions.
 
This might be because of how you are holding the rifle to you shoulder. I have the same problem unless I concentrate on making sure to hold the rifle properly. I have a few times thought that my scope was canted, generally to the right, but after looking at my stance I realized that it was me.
 
Of course it's due to how I shoulder the gun. I don't have straight up and down shoulders, so... LOL.

I prefer to mount the gun comfortably and adjust my setup to suit. As I mentioned, with LR precision guns, I mount everything level and square, and use a bubble level on my rail as well. The rifle doesn't feel odd to me when prone or sitting on a bench.

A couple of degrees cant makes a difference at 1K; not so much firing from field positions at intermediate ranges.
 
blauber said:
I'd keep it - I have meticulously tried to line scope reticles to vertically level reference points. I usually do this with a bipod on a level surface, once perfect and tight I (and others) find that in a standing position the reticles (of 5 different rigs-Burris x2, Leupold, Sightron and Vortex) appear canted. Sit back down and level again - a slight offset of reticle to turret means nothing for a hunting rifle - all mine shoot sub-MOA out to 450 yds so there's no reason to be bothered as shooting positions in the field are far from level in most situations.
Click to expand...

If you rrifle is perfectly level when you plumb your scope then it is good to go. If you pick it up and shoulder it and you find the reticle is no longer level it means that you're holding the rifle off level. Can't blame the rifle or scope...it's all you.
 
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