The effect of crossbow tilt - Tac15 at long range

[Twanger]

I was at the range yesterday and got a first-hand lesson on the effect of crossbow roll on point of impact.

Admittedly this was at very long range - 125 yards.

I was shooting at the 3D elk at the back of the range and the point of impact (POI) was a good 8-10 inches to the right.

When I had set up I had noticed that the table I was shooting from had a mild tilt down to the right.

So I grabbed something to stick under the right-hand foot of the bipod to roughly level the crossbow... it was maybe 1/8 - 1/4" thick.

Bingo, the POI shifted 8-10 inches left and I started dropping them in the 10-ring again.

So I'm definitely going to order a bubble level for this thing.

The other thing I'm going to do is to see how this effect varies with range.
I would assume that at 40 yards the effect of crossbow roll on POI would be much smaller than at 125 yards, but it would be nice to confirm this.

[djdcsi]

It's great you experienced the effect of cant first hand in a training scenario. I consider the bubble level a must-have in long range shooting. I've been teaching extreme long range rifle marksmanship for a lot of years now, and early on we found the bubble a basic requirement.

Midway, Brownwlls, etc. sells perfectly good devices for about $15 or so. One other basic requirement for field prone shooters is a bipods ability to swivel. With a swivel bipod and the level, it's only a momentary check and adjustment in order to get proper level.