MOA Questions

[XinnKoda]

Hey guys, I'm rather new to the long-distance shooting, and I had a couple of questions to ask to see if I full understand how this works. I got the ballistics from my .223 ammo (I'm shooting it out of a R4 Tac Entry AR-15), and I have a P4 Sniper/Rangefinder Reticle. According to my scope's manual, each mark on the reticle represents 5 MOA. My rifle is sighted in at 100 yards, which means 1 MOA at 100 yards equals 1 inch, is that correct?

If that's correct, and I want to shoot a target that is 500 yards away, I do the math and figure out that my bullet is going to drop almost 43 inches. Ok so I figure since I'm 500 yards away, 1 MOA will be 5 inches. So does that mean I'm doing to point the gun up so it's about in between the 2nd and 3rd mark on the scope? Which would be about 8 MOA?

Am I doing this math correctly? Or am I doing something totally wrong?

Thanks in advance,
George

 

[JoeSlomo]

My rifle is sighted in at 100 yards, which means 1 MOA at 100 yards equals 1 inch, is that correct?

Yes. 1 MOA = APPROXIMATELY 1 inch at 100 yards

Ok so I figure since I'm 500 yards away, 1 MOA will be 5 inches. So does that mean I'm doing to point the gun up so it's about in between the 2nd and 3rd mark on the scope? Which would be about 8 MOA?

Yes, you are pretty much correct.

Using a hold off is a technique, and that will get you in the ball park depending on the degree of accuracy you need.

I would recommend that you collect data on your shots at range, and compare your holds to the point of impact of your target, and adjust accordingly.

 

[Zak Smith]

Don't do drop data in inches - use the MOA (or MIL) column off the ballistic program output. This can be applied directly to the reticle or knob for elevation compensation.


article | Practical Long-Range Rifle Shooting, Part II - Optics

 

[XinnKoda]

Thanks for the info! What is a good program to use to figure out the ballistics? The site I'm using does not show MOA adjustments, only inches.

 

[Zak Smith]

http://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj_simp-5.1.cgi