I learned from watching and asking, making mistakes, and achieving success. Remember how many clicks are on your windage turret, so you can quickly come back to zero should the wind die down, or switch direction. …and it will hit the target in a spread of inches according to its MOA. 1 MOA increment at 200 yards is 2″. These crosswinds have different values, which range between 0 and over 10 miles per hour (we are going to consider how to gauge wind speed and direction later in this article). In a left wind (from 9 o'clock), picture the bullet landing on the right side of the target. And likewise, 1/2 MOA is 1/2 of those 3″ increments, or 1.5″. Good long-distance shooting, even on steel targets, takes hard work and extensive practice. If you don’t, some giant buck or bull will jump up right in front of you and you’ll miss him because your scope is still dialed for a 500-yard shot. Now, let’s go back to basic trigonometry (you’ll need it for long-range shooting).

For the long pass, you’re going to give the ball a higher angle in order to reach the receiver.

But there are crosswinds, which can sway your bullet from side to side. It doesn't matter, because the angle itself is devoid of units, it's just an angle. © 2017 Barney Outdoor Outfitters.

When hunting the wide-open spaces of the West, being able to dial the turret on your scope so you can hold the crosshairs directly on vitals for a shot is a huge advantage. For instance, your 500-yard group may impact 0.5 MOA low, and the 1,000-yard group 0.75 MOA low. You need to hear 9 clicks to make the correction. If 1 MOA is 1″ at 100 yards, how many MOA is 2″ at 200 yards? Crosswinds have different values.

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For example, 1 MOA at 300 yards is 3”.

In our context I'll use the term “minute” to be interchangeable with MOA. how many clicks would you need in order to hit your target?

Of course, combining the systems creates the perfect marriage. Six days I’d been hunting one big mule deer buck; six days of cat-and-mouse maneuvers among the sagebrush and pinyon/juniper breaks of southern Utah. To understand the minute of angle, let’s consider an hour. So don’t scrimp on research or funding when you’re scope shopping.

Think in MOA and not in “clicks” on your scope. There are other, more precise (and more complicated) ways to adjust your data, but for our purpose, just use the velocity input. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Now, as a contrast, let’s say you have a rifle capable of shooting a 1/2 MOA. These cookies do not store any personal information. Ideal chamberings for long distance western hunting include the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, .280 Ackley Improved, 7mm Rem. Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. One degree can be further subdivided into minutes. Are you going to be able to gun it to the receiver in a straight line? Almost all optics companies build scopes with adjustable turrets, but not all scopes are created equal. If your bullets are impacting 16″ to the left at 800 yards, and ignoring any wind effect for now, how many MOA do you need to adjust and in which direction? Similarly, of you have a reticle with MOA graduations, like the Leupold reticle featured at the beginning of the post, you can hold for windage using the hash marks in your scope. Develop your DopeOkay, you’ve got your your scope mounted and your rifle’s favorite diet figured out. Thus, 1 MOA at 300 yards is 300 yards. It’s precise so long as you know exact atmospherics, but it’s slow. The shot opportunity was small, but it was all I had, and all I was likely to get. Hit save. Minute of Angle (known as Minute of Arc in mathematical terms) is also known as MOA in reference to marksmanship. Mag., and .300 PRC.

No more holding “a body-width over his back.” Just range your quarry, dial the appropriate “come-up,” aim at the vitals and shoot. Shoot another 3-shot group on a target 800 to 1,000 yards distant, using the appropriate come-up. The angle itself is dimensionless, but it can be defined by trigonometry, calculated using the length of a line drawn from the source to the target, and the radius of the circle (from the center line to the circle's edge) at the target. (Distance to target in yards) / (100) = inches per MOA at that distance, (Number of inches of adjustment needed) / (inches per MOA at that distance) = MOA adjustment, (Number of clicks per 1 MOA on scope) x (MOA adjustment) = adjustment in clicks on scope. ¼ MOA at 300 yards would be ¾”. But the fine MOA adjustable optic is perfect for short-range benchrest. Monday, April 15, 2019. Now enter your environmental data, including temperature and elevation where you zeroed your rifle.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. If you’ve got a scope with a ¼MOA calibration, then ¼ MOA at 100 yards is ¼”. Always think in increments of 1 MOA at whatever distance you are shooting. That is, you’ll understand what deviation from target your round would make at a certain longer-range distance than 100 yards. For a long-range shooter, it’s crucial to make hold-overs and hold-offs. When you draw a line from either point to the center of the circle, the length of the line gives you the radius. © 2018 PrecisionShooting.com - All Rights Reserved. Remember, a MOA is an angular measurement that gets bigger with distance. 18 / 6 = 3. Now that you’ve understood what MOA is, let’s see why it’s used in scopes and what they mean for your turret adjustment. bullseye, at a chosen distance, say, 25 yards, ​Fire a three-shot groupingat a bullseyeas accurately as possible, ​Note the spacing between the point of impacts of the three shots, ​Measure the average deviation (in inches) from target – it could be above, below, left or right of the bullseye, ​Make corrections for windage and elevation based on the correction, ​Repeat the procedure if there’s deviation, ​Determine as usual distance to your target, ​Determine the angle between the horizontal distance to the target and the hypotenuse, ​Resolve that distance by multiplying it with cosine of the angle. Deer lungs are about 6 inches in diameter, so we would want to be able to shoot within a 6-inch spread so we don’t miss the lungs. Check out my turret in the photo above: it features two rotations of yardage markings around the circumference and MOA markings around the top rim.