Rifle scope bubble level reviews

[Wind Gypsy]

Check the accuracy 1st level. It’s more precise than a straight bubble level.

Collections: Scope Level - 34mm/35mm Black Anodized Aluminum - Accuracy 1st

accuracy1st.com

I have a bunch of different ones, these ones from Accuracy 1st are my favorite. I do like the looks of those flatline ops ones too.

The really compact/light vortex one is a #@**@% to get perfectly level with your reticle because you only tighten one nut.

You definitely want one offset so you don't have to break position to see it.

I like the idea of a mount to a pic rail as it's more secure than a perfectly round scope tube but having it on a scope allows you to take your scope on/off rifle without having to make sure the reticle is plumb with the level again.

RE whether it makes a difference or not - Frank Galli (owner of snipers hide) will claim that your eyeballs/brain are calibrated well enough to plumb your reticle without a level. Maybe his are magic but ive shot enough rifles on broken terrain with a bubble level to know damn well my brain/eyeballs don't work well enough in that regard.

 

[BackofBeyond]

I have a bunch of different ones, these ones from Accuracy 1st are my favorite. I do like the looks of those flatline ops ones too.

The really compact/light vortex one is a #@**@% to get perfectly level with your reticle because you only tighten one nut.

You definitely want one offset so you don't have to break position to see it.

I like the idea of a mount to a pic rail as it's more secure than a perfectly round scope tube but having it on a scope allows you to take your scope on/off rifle without having to make sure the reticle is plumb with the level again.

RE whether it makes a difference or not - Frank Galli (owner of snipers hide) will claim that your eyeballs/brain are calibrated well enough to plumb your reticle without a level. Maybe his are magic but ive shot enough rifles on broken terrain with a bubble level to know damn well my brain/eyeballs don't work well enough in that regard.

Have you taken a gander at those Unknown Munitions rings? They've got the level built into the ring, and it extends out, instead of folding. Looked like a sweet set-up, but they sure are proud of them.

Link

I guess if you're starting from scratch, it's cheaper to get rings with level.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Here's this poor man's way of ensuring the crosshairs are level with the gun.

Step 1: Place rifle in cradle (I use a cheap Gun Butler). Mark the center of top and bottom of butt plate.


Step 2: With a straight edge draw a verticle line on butt plate connecting the two marks.


Step 3: Use a small carpenter level held against the line on butt plate to orient the gun vertically in the cradle.


Step 4: Check the scope's horizontal orientation by carefully setting the level on top of the elevation turret cap.


To keep the rifle vertical while adjusting the scope in the rings, secure it to the cradle with duct tape if needed. Of course, the proper eye relief should be set BEFORE leveling. Mark the spot on the scope where rings should be with a colored pencil. When leveling the scope, make sure the mark on the scope tube stays in line with the edge of ring.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Here's this poor man's way of ensuring the crosshairs are level with the gun.

Step 1: Place rifle in cradle (I use a cheap Gun Butler). Mark the center of top and bottom of butt plate.
View attachment 260551

Step 2: With a straight edge draw a verticle line on butt plate connecting the two marks.
View attachment 260552

Step 3: Use a small carpenter level held against the line on butt plate to orient the gun vertically in the cradle.
View attachment 260553

Step 4: Check the scope's horizontal orientation by carefully setting the level on top of the elevation turret cap.
View attachment 260555

To keep the rifle vertical while adjusting the scope in the rings, secure it to the cradle with duct tape if needed. Of course, the proper eye rifle should be set BEFORE leveling. Mark the spot on the scope where rings should be with a colored pencil. When leveling the scope, make sure the mark on the scope tube stays in line with the edge of ring.
View attachment 260558

That's a way to get the top of the turret cap level'ish with plumb'ish rifle, which doesn't matter.

The most important part is your reticle being plumb if you are dialing corrections or holding over. What you described does nothing to ensure a reticle is plumb when shooting at a target. Many people shoulder a rifle slightly canted because that's where it feels comfortable to them. A slightly canted rifle with a plumb reticle (when dialing/holding corrections) has notably less POA/POI error than a reticle that is perfectly plumb with a rifle but canted on target. I'd argue trying to make a reticle perfectly plumb with a rifle isn't even a good thing if one is likely to shoulder a rifle slightly canted and not have a level to know it.

 

[OntarioHunter]

That's a way to get the top of the turret cap level'ish with plumb'ish rifle, which doesn't matter.

The most important part is your reticle being plumb if you are dialing corrections or holding over. What you described does nothing to ensure a reticle is plumb when shooting at a target. Many people shoulder a rifle slightly canted because that's where it feels comfortable to them. A slightly canted rifle with a plumb reticle (when dialing/holding corrections) has notably less POA/POI error than a reticle that is perfectly plumb with a rifle but canted on target. I'd argue trying to make a reticle perfectly plumb with a rifle isn't even a good thing if one is likely to shoulder a rifle slightly canted and not have a level to know it.

"Notably less POA/POI error"? At what ranges? Presumably, if I hold my level-ish-in-the-cradle rifle reasonably level shooting offhand in the field, I still won't have a problem hitting a deer in the boiler room out to maybe 300 yards?

 

[Wind Gypsy]

"Notably less POA/POI error"? At what ranges? Presumably, if I hold my level-ish-in-the-cradle rifle reasonably level shooting offhand in the field, I still won't have a problem hitting a deer in the boiler room out to maybe 300 yards?

At any range once you're departing where POI and POA align. My point is simply that the process of getting a scope turret cap aligned to a plumb buttstock isn't particularly useful. A reticle might be slightly canted compared to where you think the scope cap is plumb. The butt pad of a stock might not be perfectly aligned with where the action screws are in the stock. The natural position you shoulder a rifle might not be plumb anyway.

If not using a scope level one is probably better off just shouldering a rifle as you would when hunting, setting correct eye relief, and matching the reticle with a known plumb building or reference and calling it good.

Also, I think that you, I, and 99+% of other hunters would have problems hitting deer in the boiler room consistently if shooting in the field offhand, at 300 yards. How our scope is set up would have nothing to do with it.

 

[Fire_9]

"Notably less POA/POI error"? At what ranges? Presumably, if I hold my level-ish-in-the-cradle rifle reasonably level shooting offhand in the field, I still won't have a problem hitting a deer in the boiler room out to maybe 300 yards?

I think what wind gypsy was trying to say is quit plugging up these threads with useless garbage. For how you’re shooting your rifle, your crosshair could be 45° out and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. For the people that want to twist turrets, your reticle needs to be in line with gravity. Not your turret cap, your reticle. So please, stop wasting your time and everyone else’s talking about this stuff

 

[mtmuley]

I think what wind gypsy was trying to say is quit plugging up these threads with useless garbage. For how you’re shooting your rifle, your crosshair could be 45° out and it wouldn’t make a damn bit of difference. For the people that want to twist turrets, your reticle needs to be in line with gravity. Not your turret cap, your reticle. So please, stop wasting your time and everyone else’s talking about this stuff

It seems like he isn't even talking about what guys are using a scope level for
mtmuley

 

[Carl]

I agree with Wind Gypsy's take, including not agreeing with Frank. On a nice flat square range, I think most people's brains do a pretty good job of keeping things level. If you're shooting on a steep side hill with no good references, you can be quite off at times.

The amount it matters is going to be directly proportional to how much your bullet is dropping (in angular measurements, MILS or MOA).

For big game hunting 500 yds and in, you'd have to be seriously canted to cause a miss. Yet, myself and my friends who are good match shooters all use them regularly, we don't want to add even .1 mil of error to the system if we can help it and have the time to spare.

Funny enough I was just talking about this with @SnowyMountaineer earlier today, unrelated as far as I know.

 

[Fire_9]

I agree with Wind Gypsy's take, including not agreeing with Frank. On a nice flat square range, I think most people's brains do a pretty good job of keeping things level. If you're shooting on a steep side hill with no good references, you can be quite off at times.

Any kind of ear problems or a head cold can really throw people out of whack too. Most levels don’t have the best resolution BUT it is such a quick, easy reference to let someone know they’re in the ballpark I can’t figure out why someone who twists turrets wouldnt have one

 

[mtmuley]

Any kind of ear problems or a head cold can really throw people out of whack too. Most levels don’t have the best resolution BUT it is such a quick, easy reference to let someone know they’re in the ballpark I can’t figure out why someone who twists turrets wouldnt have one

I don't have or want one. I like my hunting rifle system as simple as I can get it. I see the point, just not for me. mtmuley

 

[The Hedgehog]

Anybody have success with the bubble levels that mount directly behind the dial up turret?

Original poster has a pretty specific ask.

Yet most replies are why and how everybody doesn’t need/want one, how they hack together mounting a rifle scope, or if they serve a purpose. Funny stuff.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Have you taken a gander at those Unknown Munitions rings? They've got the level built into the ring, and it extends out, instead of folding. Looked like a sweet set-up, but they sure are proud of them.

Link

I guess if you're starting from scratch, it's cheaper to get rings with level.

They look nice, that level setup seems pretty neat. They are pretty wide so they might not play that nice in scopes with short tube mounting length but that’s usually not an issue with a full pic rail. Not sure how I feel about the cap screw setup. I really like the ARC rings so the idea is kind of similar but only hinges in one spot which seems less ideal. Doubt that’s an issue but it can be with vertically split rings.

 

[pyrotechnic]

I just have a few spuhr mounts. They have a level incorporated into them. I can't say I've ever used the level, but it is visible with you non-dominant eye.

 

[jeff_gibbons]

I have the vortex level and like it. I’m looking for a different one for my new rifle and this thread gave me a few options I wasn’t aware of before.

 

[jeff_gibbons]

He can't help himself. It's like groundhog day.

Why don't all scope have internal anti cant bubbles?

Shoot at reasonable hunting distances and it’s not an issue.

www.hunttalk.com

What good comes from putting another guy down?

 

[winmag]

What good comes from putting another guy down?

The goal was not to put anyone down but to attempt to keep this thread on topic by pointing out that we’ve already belabored the point that levels are useless to a certain HTer in the other thread that I linked.

But here we are again, arguing about why some people like levels and some don’t, instead of answering the OP’s question.

 

[noharleyyet]

Need a hack for getting the pencil line off my red pachmayr...new thread or no

 

[antelopedundee]

I see a few of these for sale, but it seems to me that it would require too much "guess" for it to be of much practical use. The bubble needs to be a lot closer to an exact fit between the lines. It also needs to be mounted using the first available slot in the rail and ring height could be an issue.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I see a few of these for sale, but it seems to me that it would require too much "guess" for it to be of much practical use. The bubble needs to be a lot closer to an exact fit between the lines. It also needs to be mounted using the first available slot in the rail and ring height could be an issue.

The issue of the bubble not being tight to the lines wouldn't concern me much, you can tell if it's centered enough to be useful.

However, it would be harder to see without breaking position than something that is offset to the side and that's why they wouldn't interest me.