To cant or not to cant

A number of years ago I had the pleasure of shooting in Pe Ell, Washington at the Conard Bernhardt Cup.  For those who love the 1/5th game this is one of two matches you must make before retirement.  My shooting partner was from Canada and was a Master shooter.  I was watching his prep, always hoping to learn something.  I noticed he had a spirit level on his scope which seemed overkill.  As I understood it, spirit levels were for stool shooters, not two legged shooters.  I asked him why he had a level?

He replied that he has so much cant in his setup that he wanted to confirm is scope was PERFECTLY vertical on every shot.  In Silhouette, unlike benchrest, we are changing our elevation constantly which makes us that much more susceptible to the negative implications of any scope cant.  Cant of the scope will throw off your vertical when going from chickens to Rams.  The spirit level is just one more device he used to confirm as he settled in for a center punch on a turkey that he will not have any scope cant.  Just another "belt and suspenders" strategy to ensure no dumb mistakes happen and cost you one animal.  Master shooter don't take careless shots.

Fast forward 5 years.....

Last night I found this helpful article on cant and the images I thought were worth sharing.  If you have ever zeroed in on chickens and wonder why on a calm day you have to put in some windage when you get to rams, think about the implication of cant and whether that could be a contributing factor at the ram line.  It does not take much.

Before I close I will comment as to why some people purposefully cant their rifle.  In shooting Bill Motl's gun this spring in at the Texas State match I was amazed at just how much cant he put in.  Recall you don't want to lean your head to the stock, you want to bring the stock to your head.  Sometimes this is easier said than done.  To assist, shooters will cant the rifle to their cheek and then adjust the scope to be vertical as per the above article.  I find most folks in NH shoot zero cant.  I used to shoot canted but have returned to no cant to eliminate one more variable.  With a Pharr stock the need to cant the rifle is less IMO.  Something to try over the winter to find out what FEELS good to you.  If you can find a position that feels like you could hold all day, do it.  Worry about getting your zeros in the spring.  Last year I took my whole rifle apart to fit it to me.  But that is for another post.

Cant article.