I have the opportunity to try my hand at a longer-distance shoot. But I need to verify that I understand how the scope, base, distance, Stelok, and shooter would all function. Let me tell you what I’ve done so far, what I think I would need to change, and you can correct me or explain the rest:
I have a Vortex Diamondback Tactical, with the EBR2C reticle, in MOA. (I know, I know, converting everything over to MRAD would be better, eventually).
With the scope sighted in at 100 yards on the crosshairs, Strelok has the “hold overs” down the reticle. Of course, I can only hold over so far, before I lose the target off the bottom of the scope, right? So I thought, well, what if I zeroed the scope for 100 yards, at a hashmark near the top of the reticle. In Strelok, I added a 32MOA offset, so the app would match the rifle's new zero. Now I have enough holdover to shoot out just past 1100 yards, according to the little numbers on the screen.
Why did I initially try to stick with holdovers? Because most of my rifle shooting is done at multiple, fixed distances, and it makes sense to memorize 3-4 holdover points, than to be spinning dials as I transition from target to target and back again, especially on timed stages.
So my setup above is probably not professional, but I could live with it. But here’s where everything falls apart, and I need to start doing this "the right way”:
I mentioned my rifle is ready, out-of-the-box, to engage anything from zero to 1100+ yards, with no adjustment other than re-zeroing for daily conditions. But, let’s say I want a 1400yd shot… So now I’m looking at adding 20MOA base or rings. Doing so means my 100yd zero is going to have to be fixed (not a big deal, just fix it on the dials, but I’ll still have the same holdover maximum on the reticle, not helping me much, because Stelok and Vortex can only do so much without moving turrets!
Thanks for reading so far. So now, holdovers are not looking so hot, and I will have to use the turrets - so let's erase the board and start again. (Let’s consider the 20MOA base installed, right now). The 4-16 Tactical has 85 MOA available, so let’s say a normal middle would be 42.5 MOA up and down. So adding the rail would give us 62.5 MOA up to play with, if the 100yd zero was in the centre of the scope, right? (let’s forget offsets, for now).
Strelok, since I took out the 20MOA offset, would now show the 100yd on the crosshairs, as it should. I have a 20MOA rail, which (as far as I can tell) Strelok doesn’t care about at all (the rail just transfers some up from the turret to the base). So in the app, I key in “1400yd”, and calculate. It tells me I need 82.2 MOA up (329 clicks). Of course the reticle screen has the turret on top, so I dial it up to 82.5, and it looks like we’d be on target (plus or minus a dozen other factors).
Now, I mentioned that with the rail and scope, I would normally have only 62.5 MOA up available, if I used the crosshairs as my zero (would this be why long range shooters buy more expensive scopes - to get more vertical?). But if I went back to zeroing using a hash mark near the top (adding offset 32MOA), then I could get enough “up” to get that 82.5, right? Is that how long range shooters would accommodate for a scope that didn't have a huge vertical adjustment?
I think I might have it all figured out… Now, I don’t have a 20MOA rail right now, so looking at the 85MOA max in the scope, and in theory I would have to do my 100yd zero at almost the max down of the turret, accept where that appears on the reticle, as my new zero, then dial all the way up to almost max, to put that same hashmark on the target at 1400yds, and get a shot.
In fact, even with the 20MOA, that would only give me 62.5 MOA from the crosshairs, so I will still need to offset my zero to get out to 1400yd. A 20MOA offset would do it, and still give some adjustment at 1400yd. If I understood everything above correctly.
Does all that sound like I explained it to myself correctly? (Obviously a 20MOA rail is not optional at those ranges, and will be ordered!!)
I have a Vortex Diamondback Tactical, with the EBR2C reticle, in MOA. (I know, I know, converting everything over to MRAD would be better, eventually).
With the scope sighted in at 100 yards on the crosshairs, Strelok has the “hold overs” down the reticle. Of course, I can only hold over so far, before I lose the target off the bottom of the scope, right? So I thought, well, what if I zeroed the scope for 100 yards, at a hashmark near the top of the reticle. In Strelok, I added a 32MOA offset, so the app would match the rifle's new zero. Now I have enough holdover to shoot out just past 1100 yards, according to the little numbers on the screen.
Why did I initially try to stick with holdovers? Because most of my rifle shooting is done at multiple, fixed distances, and it makes sense to memorize 3-4 holdover points, than to be spinning dials as I transition from target to target and back again, especially on timed stages.
So my setup above is probably not professional, but I could live with it. But here’s where everything falls apart, and I need to start doing this "the right way”:
I mentioned my rifle is ready, out-of-the-box, to engage anything from zero to 1100+ yards, with no adjustment other than re-zeroing for daily conditions. But, let’s say I want a 1400yd shot… So now I’m looking at adding 20MOA base or rings. Doing so means my 100yd zero is going to have to be fixed (not a big deal, just fix it on the dials, but I’ll still have the same holdover maximum on the reticle, not helping me much, because Stelok and Vortex can only do so much without moving turrets!
Thanks for reading so far. So now, holdovers are not looking so hot, and I will have to use the turrets - so let's erase the board and start again. (Let’s consider the 20MOA base installed, right now). The 4-16 Tactical has 85 MOA available, so let’s say a normal middle would be 42.5 MOA up and down. So adding the rail would give us 62.5 MOA up to play with, if the 100yd zero was in the centre of the scope, right? (let’s forget offsets, for now).
Strelok, since I took out the 20MOA offset, would now show the 100yd on the crosshairs, as it should. I have a 20MOA rail, which (as far as I can tell) Strelok doesn’t care about at all (the rail just transfers some up from the turret to the base). So in the app, I key in “1400yd”, and calculate. It tells me I need 82.2 MOA up (329 clicks). Of course the reticle screen has the turret on top, so I dial it up to 82.5, and it looks like we’d be on target (plus or minus a dozen other factors).
Now, I mentioned that with the rail and scope, I would normally have only 62.5 MOA up available, if I used the crosshairs as my zero (would this be why long range shooters buy more expensive scopes - to get more vertical?). But if I went back to zeroing using a hash mark near the top (adding offset 32MOA), then I could get enough “up” to get that 82.5, right? Is that how long range shooters would accommodate for a scope that didn't have a huge vertical adjustment?
I think I might have it all figured out… Now, I don’t have a 20MOA rail right now, so looking at the 85MOA max in the scope, and in theory I would have to do my 100yd zero at almost the max down of the turret, accept where that appears on the reticle, as my new zero, then dial all the way up to almost max, to put that same hashmark on the target at 1400yds, and get a shot.
In fact, even with the 20MOA, that would only give me 62.5 MOA from the crosshairs, so I will still need to offset my zero to get out to 1400yd. A 20MOA offset would do it, and still give some adjustment at 1400yd. If I understood everything above correctly.
Does all that sound like I explained it to myself correctly? (Obviously a 20MOA rail is not optional at those ranges, and will be ordered!!)
