Varminterror
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- Joined
- Jul 17, 2016
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- 15,143
@Varminterror - I edited the above for brevity. Hopefully, I didn’t break it up too bad or take things out of context.
TLDR: That 30moa rail is about as perfect as you can buy for your use of THAT scope at the ranges you have available to you. Nearly ideal for that scope in general.
I'm gonna break your quotes up too, to provide more detailed info:
I’m just about set to return my EGW 30 MOA rail. I was going to put it on my Ruger American Rimfire, Target model, and mount my Veridian Serac on top of it. Are you saying that maybe I don’t need to return it after all? [...] Please bear in mind that I will only occasionally shoot past 100 yards. There are only 2 ranges nearby. The one I belong to goes out to 100, and the other goes out to 250.
That Veridan Serac should have 55moa internal capacity, meaning +/-27.5 up and down from optical center. If you have 2" of optic height and zero standard velocity ammo at 50yrds, your zero will be ~12moa "UP" from optical center, eating 12 of the 27.5moa below center. Throwing a 30moa rail on top would raise your POI from +12 to -18, meaning you'd be dialing "DOWN" from optical center to hit 50yrds - but it CAN be zeroed at 50yrds. That would leave you with approximately 18+27.5 = 45.5moa of dialable range, out of your 55 total capacity, so you'd be able to dial out to 275yrds with no problem.
If you DO return that mount and use a flat base instead, then your 50yrd zero will be at +12, with only approximately +15.5 left to dial, so you'll run out of turret at ~155yrds and have to hold everything else past that in the reticle - and I generally don't like to hold more than ~15-20moa in the scope, and you'd need to hold almost 30moa in the reticle to get to 250 (not sure if your Serac is moa/moa, moa/mrad or how much you can hold). You CAN usually do that, hold 30, but it's kind of a train wreck waiting to happen, and you're looking through worse optical clarity in that bottom rim of the glass.
So yeah, I wouldn't return that 30moa rail - mount it up and party on. It's ALMOST perfect for your scope on your rifle to match your available ranges.
Also, you discussed map in terms of bases, rings, etc. Does it make any difference where that Mia is found? IOW, if I want 40 moa, do I need to get it all in the rail, or is it ok to get 20 in the rail and 20 in the bases?
Rings or rail, doesn't really matter. I have a 40moa rail on my ELR rifle and a 20moa 1pc ring mount, a couple of my 22's have 20moa bases plus 40moa ring shims. A couple of my 22's and centerfire rifles just have 20moa rails, a couple of my rifles just have 20, 30, or 40moa ring shims or 20moa 1pc mounts. Functionally, it all works.
A guy MIGHT make the argument that bases or 1pc mounts are better than ring shims, because a rail is always whatever angle it claims to be, but if you mount rings at different distances than specified, farther apart or closer together, you end up with more or less angle than expected, but in general, I find it's a non-issue. A guy also MIGHT make the argument that angled parts tend to cost more than a guy could buy in flat parts, so buying a 20moa rail AND a 20moa mount/rings might cost more than buying a 40moa base and normal/flat rings/mount, but eh... not a huge concern for me either... It's usually kinda hard to find stuff more than 20moa, so if a guy needs 40moa, it's pretty easy to get a 20moa base and 20moa rings. REALLY hard to find 60moa gear, so getting a 20+40 set up is much easier.
Please bear in mind that I will only occasionally shoot past 100 yards. There are only 2 ranges nearby. The one I belong to goes out to 100, and the other goes out to 250
At 100yrds, a 22LR will be VERY close to optical center if using a 20moa base/ring angle. We have ~17moa of gravitational drop compensation and 2" of optic height compensation, so ~19moa below optical center in a 100yrd zero, which means a 20moa base puts your 100yrd zero only 1moa off of optical center = about as perfect as we can ever expect.
With that 30moa rail you mention, you'll be approximately -11moa from optical center at 100yrds, and you'll still have room to spare below your 250yrd dial, not quite maxing out your turrets, so like I said above, that 30moa base is nearly perfect for your scope and your available ranges.