Why 1/4 MOA, when theres 1/8 MOA ?

Pietro Beretta

Pietro Beretta

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Why are most scopes featuring 1/4 click adjustments when there is the option of having 1/8 (Which in my opinion, seems more precise)

At 100 yards, to move the point of impact 1 inch you must give your scope 4 clicks either windage or elevation. But by having to make 8 clicks to move 1 inch, you can better pin-point where that round is going, especially at greater ranges (500 yards+) this effect is enhanced.

Mabee I'm missing something??? can anyone shed some light on this matter
Thanks.
 
Average big game hunting would be done inside a kill range of 300 yards for offhand shooting making 1/4 moa acceptable for 1" POI correction @ 300 yards. Also consider the vital area of large game animals is 6"'s or greater, hense the term hunting accuracy.

Now if your a varmint hunter its a whole different set of rules. Usual kill range is out to 500 yards most times using a rest of sorts. Fine MOA adjustment for windage and elivation are required to hit your 3" or smaller vital area (HEAD poking out the hole) ....and that's why varmint/target scopes tend to have 1/8th MOA adjustments. Range of adjustment is also increased with 30mm tubes over 1" tubes...hense the 30mm tube on Leupold VXIII LR scopes for example.
 
Exactly as Dustin said.

Switch your range from 200yds to 850yds with the 1/4

Now do it with the 1/8......





..........still turning? :D
 
What Farmboy said. Now try shooting at 500 yards or more with a 5 minute fishtail wind. You will never keep track or keep up with 1/8 clicks.
 
The other thing there is more adjustment ie:elevation with a scope in 1/4 MOA than a scope with 1/8 MOA and when you are shooting past 500 m it is hold over time Ha Ha Ha Ha
 
Assuming that the turrents track as designed, I prefer 1/8 MOA over 1/4 MOA for LR shooting. The 1/4 click is too coarse for me. I find I move either turrent with equal speed.

As to quickly changing conditions, I just use the mildots or hashed reticle and hold off. If it's too quick to move a turrent a few extra clicks, you got a very strong nasty changing wind and all I would be doing is chasing my scope instead of watching the conditions.

I use the reticle and it works for me.

Jerry
 
Instead of fiddling around with 1/8 MOA adjustments, I prefer the use of a target dot reticle. Sometimes It's just easier to move my POA by a dot or a half dot than it is to dial-in the scope.

Ian
 
Actually the Leupold sniper scopes have 1 MOA clicks for elevation for speed. If you change range from 300 to 900M you are going to do a lot of clicking.

Brian
 
How precise is a BDC cam if you change loads? Would you need to re-zero?
If you are shooting 300m with a slow ISU load, then switch to you regular faster load for shooting 1000 yards with a lighter bullet, will the BDC cams work?
Are they set for each distance ie 100, 200, 300...1000 yards? What about meters?
I don't know much about them. Please do tell.
 
BDC cams are - let's say for 7.62x51 - set for factory loads LC 168 grains. #2200 I presume.
The advantage is that for a certain load, your rifle will shoot @ POA up to 800 m in a matter of seconds.

2 seconds max to crank up the scope to any given distance.
the windage adj. are 1/2 MOA usually.

they are set for meters, as far as I know.

BDC cams were not designed for target shooting. Well....not minuscule paper target.

How precise are they?
not very.
Imagine that the whole thing is initially designed for a certain rifle, with a certain load.
You don't have that rifle, but then again - you don't have to necesarily fire that load either. It is up to you to find something that will shoot as close as possible and hopefully that load is accurate in your stick.

One other possibility: On scopes with regular target knobs (but with 1/2MOA increments preffered) you can use a sticker taped to the knob to replicate exactly what you want in the field.
While not as fast, it is certainly more accurate than the factory BDCs.
There's a company that customizes these turrets, but is chaper in a do-it-yourself version.
hope this helps.
 
The BDC cams on the higher end scopes are designed primarily for snipers not target shooters although with the correct ammuntion they are a good combination for first round hits if you input the correct distance
 
Sorry but on most scopes the the BDC tracks in 1 MOA for elevation ans .5 for windage I know that US Optics can do the Cam in any format if you like but be warned $$$$$$
 
As far as I know the BDC cams are designed for one caliber only and one load only.
The one I've seen are calibrated in meters and the windage in 1/2 MOA.

There's no reason to call the ones with 1MOA increments - bullet drop compensator, as they achieve the same goal as the 1/4 MOA ones , just faster and with less adjustmens.

A real BDC requires the operator to know the distance to the target and dial it on the horizontal cam (unlike Sniper movies that let you see them doing otherwise). No other calculations are necessary.
There's no MOA - MIL transofmation, no " how many turns did I crank my scope 4 hours ago - when it was still daylight "

Not a realy precise item , as humidity, temperature, altitude and few other factors can change the trajectory and so get you off track with this system.

designed mainly for DMR - it is fast and relatively accurate for the distances/conditions it was designed to perform in.
 
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