Scopes and General Questions

[adelgado0723]

Hey,
I'm pretty new when it comes to rifles. bought my first firearm like 3 or 4 months ago and now I have three rifles. A 59/66 SKS, a Ruger 10/22, and a 91/30 PU Sniper Mosin-Nagant with the original scope mount and a weaver 3-9 scope. I know that these questions might sound stupid, but please consider how new at this I am.
How far out can you accurately shoot with a 3-9x 40mm scope?

What is MOA?

What scope do you need to shoot a mile out or 2000 yards?

How do you post pictures on this forum?

Thank you guys in advance for all your help!!!

 

[cbrgator]

How far out can you accurately shoot with a 3-9x 40mm scope?

That depends on you more than the scope. Several hundreds yards if you are an experienced rifleman. You said you're new to rifles so I'd stay under 200 for now.

What is MOA?

MOA is minutes of angle. At 100 yards 1 MOA is slightly larger than 1". It's like 1.07.... Shooting 1 MOA at 100 yards means keeping all of your shots within a 1.07..." circle.

At 200 yards 1 MOA is 2 something inches. 50 yards, about half an inch. Follow?

What scope do you need to shoot a mile out or 2000 yards?

I'd say something in the 16-20x magnification range and a 50mm objective. No rifle you own at the moment will be accurate at a mile. And even with the most accurate rifle on the planet, neither will you. That's a loooooooooooooooooong way. See how it goes out to a couple hundred yards and work your way back.

 

[adelgado0723]

Thank you so much! This really helps.

No rifle you own at the moment will be accurate at a mile.

I know, but I was just curious. You have no idea how surprised i was when i heard that mile-long shots were even possible!

 

[Birdhunter1]

To shoot a mile or 2000 yards requires a specialized scope base that has a tilted mount and a scope with alot of travel, basically it is tilting your scope in a manner so that you have to adjust for less elevation. Past 400 yards consider everything high dollar for optimal results.

Google "David Tubbs" and the "One mile shot". His first statement is "a shot at a mile is a shot at a mile" Lots of variables come into play and you have to account for every one of them; wind, humidity, temperature, elevation, barometric pressure, wind flags set up at multiple intervals between you and the target, spin drift, spin of the earth, how you hold your mouth, the angle of the dangle, angle to the target, subsonic shockwave, a fly in the bullet path, if you drank in the last 24 hours, your political preference.......


If you're new to rifles it'd be better to concentrate in the under 400 yards.

 

[cbrgator]

Yep, they are. But only with the most accurate of rifles, the highest quality ammo, and most skilled of marksmen.

What type of scope is the 3-9x40mm?? What is it mounted on?

 

[Big Bill]

For a shot a mile away, you should consider a Barrett Model 99 in .416 Barrett.

http://www.barrettrifles.com/rifle_99.aspx

 

[adelgado0723]

That's the Weaver scope that I have on my unissued Mosin. I need to post pictures of it. It looks great on the outside, but the bore is in perfect condition. I got it like a week ago and I'm taking it to the range for the first time on Wenesday.

 

[lipadj46]

How far out can you accurately shoot with a 3-9x 40mm scope?

A 500 yard silhouette shot with irons is routine for a well trained marksmen and snipers have been making 1000 yard+ shots with 10x scopes for years so a good quality 3-9x assuming you have enough adjustment can shoot out far but 500 yards would not be difficult.

What is MOA?

It is an angular measurement equal to 1/60 of 1 degree. Google for the best explanation but if you took trigonometry imagine a right triangle with the base parallel to the ground where the target is at the right angle end and you are at the other end. The angle you are at measures MOA and the farther you are away from the target the larger the side opposite of your angle is going to be.

You can therefore use trig to solve for MOA using the Tangent rule:

Tangent of angle = opposite length (this is your "MOA") / adjacent (distance to target).

So at 100 yards:

tan(1∕60) ∙ 3600 inches = 1.05 inches

So if your rifle shoots 1 inch groups at 100 yards it is said to shoot MOA. Don't you wish you paid better attention in math class?

What scope do you need to shoot a mile out or 2000 yards?

A damn good one. You are talking really nice glass, Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender, Zeiss, US Optics etc at 16-30x. It will cost you up to $2000 or more.

How do you post pictures on this forum?

Upload your pictures to photobucket and then copy and paste the IMG code that photobucket provides for the pic.