Thread: Scope alignment methods

I've recently purchased a new scope for my Howa 1500, and have run into the familiar problem of knowing how best to align the scope to the bore to minimise scope cant.

Every time I do this, I end up stuck in an obsessive vortex (excuse the pun) about whether the scope is properly aligned to the rifle. Part of the problem is the action doesn't seem to sit perfectly vertical in the stock, and the rings/bases don't appear perfectly aligned with the action either. So using the scope bases as a horizontal reference has resulted in what looks to be a wonky alignment.

In this case, I ended up taking the action out of the stock and using the flat base of the Howa action as my reference, then aligned the crosshair to a vertical reference - it looks ok, but still feels like it is canted one way.

Probably the easiest (or simplest) answer is to stop obsessing - but it got me curious about what other people's methods are, especially when there isn't an obvious flat reference on the top of the action?