giggitygiggity
Member
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
- Messages
- 2,251
I often see people say that their gun will shot “1 MOA at 100 yards.” Technically, the “at 100 yards” portion is incorrect. I will explain.
I suspect that most people who state that a gun will shoot “1 MOA at 100 yards” really mean “1 inch at 100 yards,” but want to sound sophisticated or as if they are gun savvy. “MOA” is not a synonym for “inch.” Minute of Angle (MOA) is a measure of the spread of a gun’s projectiles; it is an angular description. 1 MOA equates to approximately a 1 inch group at 100 yards. At 200 yards, 1 MOA equals about 2 inches; if you said, my gun shoots “2 MOA at 200 yards” and your gun consistently produced 2 inch groups at 200 yards, you would be incorrect because 2 MOA would equate to a little over 4 inches at 200 yards.
Think of a triangle with a 1 inch hypotenuse and two 100 yard legs that meet at the gun’s barrel. Those legs can then be extended to 200 yards to produce a 2 inch hypotenuse and so on and so forth.
The point is that if a gun shoots a certain MOA (ie 1, 2, 3, etc), it does so at all ranges. The actual measurement, in inches, of those shot groups will vary depending on your distance.
I hope this helps those who might not fully understand MOA.
I suspect that most people who state that a gun will shoot “1 MOA at 100 yards” really mean “1 inch at 100 yards,” but want to sound sophisticated or as if they are gun savvy. “MOA” is not a synonym for “inch.” Minute of Angle (MOA) is a measure of the spread of a gun’s projectiles; it is an angular description. 1 MOA equates to approximately a 1 inch group at 100 yards. At 200 yards, 1 MOA equals about 2 inches; if you said, my gun shoots “2 MOA at 200 yards” and your gun consistently produced 2 inch groups at 200 yards, you would be incorrect because 2 MOA would equate to a little over 4 inches at 200 yards.
Think of a triangle with a 1 inch hypotenuse and two 100 yard legs that meet at the gun’s barrel. Those legs can then be extended to 200 yards to produce a 2 inch hypotenuse and so on and so forth.
The point is that if a gun shoots a certain MOA (ie 1, 2, 3, etc), it does so at all ranges. The actual measurement, in inches, of those shot groups will vary depending on your distance.
I hope this helps those who might not fully understand MOA.