Do you really Need 1/4 MOA Adjustment??

N

Nalapombu

New member
Hey all,
I was doing a bit of thinking here. Someone suggested that I check out the IOR Valdada scopes. I have read a few good things about them and I noticed that they have 1/2 MOA adjustments on the knobs. Is that a problem or a hindrance? I know that the Leupold and most other tactical scopes have 1/4 MOA adjustment.
I am going to ask one more question here and it might sound totally ignorant but here it goes. Please don't laff, I am trying to learn. What if you mount your scope and you go to sight it in and lets say you have have the IOR scope and you are sighting it in at say 100 yards. After shooting your test target you see that the bullet is hitting 2 1/4 inches low. You then move your scope 4 clicks, which equals 2 inches on the IOR scope, and you are still hitting 1/4 of an inch low. One more click and you are 1/4 inch high, leave it alone and you are 1/4 inch low. Is that correct? What do you do? Do you just leave it like that or do you get different mounts or what? I used 100 yard just because of the simplicity, you get the idea though.
I mean what do you do when you cannot adjust that final amount to get "right on" your target? I suspect that you would run into it more with 1/2 MOA scopes than 1/4 MOA scopes so that is why I am asking.
Like I said, this question may be totally stupid but I don't understand it. I hope someone can help me get it. Man this long range stuff is complicated, especially when you have no gun to go out and see how this stuff works out.

Thanks for the help.

Nala
 
Nala, many tactical scopes, especially those developed for military use, have 1 MOA click adjustments, or 1 inch at 100 yards. The real question is, what do you intend to do with the rifle? You lose precision with the bigger clicks, but lose speed with the smaller clicks.

Can you shoot 1/4" groups consistently? If not, then I'd not worry about being 1/4" off at 100 yards. If you plan to use the tactical scope as designed - that is, dial in for elevation and windage so you can hold point of aim, you will be resetting from zero all the time as you shoot at different ranges. The question translates roughly into "how precise is precise enough?" For military snipers who need to hit a man size target out to 1000 yards or more, one minute clicks let them range from 100 to 1000 yards with one turn of the elevation turret. A quarter-minute click might require three full rotations of the elevation turret to get you on target, and then you have to remember how many turns you are away from your zero. Is speed or precision more important?

Most police snipers, in contrast, need the ability to drop their target with a single well placed shot at ranges typically inside 100 yards (someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the current statistic is 70 yards for police sniper engagements?). They tend to favor the 1/4" clicks.

FWIW, I have 1/4 minute Leupold M1 on one of my rifles, and plan to put a 1 minute M3 on my next.

The I.O.R.'s 1/2 minute click seems a workable compromise. Yes, not quite as precise as the quarter minute scopes, but probably precise enough for most applications. Clearly adequate for military or hunting use.
 
The importance of the fineness of the scope adjustments relates to the use, as indicated by Legionnaire.

In 50 years of hunting with a scoped rifle, I have yet to re-set the crosshairs while preparing to shoot a deer.

For sniping work, assuming longer ranges, any notable variation in the breeze or wind will move the point of impact more, horizontally, than any 1/4-minute of vertical adjustment would move it. That is, the horizontal error would exceed the vertical error. Mostly, people are vertical targets...

Purely opinion, but I'd think precision is more important than speed. For all that I guesstimate Kentucky Windage in my hunting, I like my sight-in point of impact to be "just so". I use the center of a three-shot group as my point of impact--but that's with a rifle that at best shoots 1/2 MOA.

$0.02,

Art
 
My opinion on the 1/4" dilemma part of your question is that I would leave it on the setting that is 1/4" high simply because bullets drop. It just seems wrong to me when a shot ever hits low on a target at a known range - just me I guess.

In my book, 1/4" high (or low) is "right on target"!
 
1/4" versus 1/2" or 1" MOA

Concur with above posts. One thing to remember is the application of the scope. 1/4" allows for more precise adjustment, but is slower and requires more effort (both physical & concentration). The Leupold Mark IV No. 3's 1" MOA allows for quicker adjustments - something which may be critical to a military sniper.
 
read ctdonath's post on Storm mountain training
http://www.donath.org/Rants/StormMountain
there is a good point about counting clicks to come up a few hundred yards

- One-minute scopes are more convenient than quarter-minute (or
third-minute, in the case of our German-Italian student) scopes.
Having to keep cranking the turret multiple revolutions is annoying,
slow, and sometimes dedrimentally confusing (sucks to keep missing
a target, only to find the scope is set a full 15-MOA-turn off). Better
to have a one-turn turret which is totally clear and settable with a
single spin
(make partial-MOA corrections with holdoff).
Click to expand...
 
1", 1/2", or 1/4". Maybe 1/8"

I have many scopes in 1/4 click. They are set dead on at the sight-in distance, and then when hunting I hold over using the subtensions of the duplex reticle. No problem if you know your trajectory. I have never changed the windage once set.

I have a Leupold 3.5-10X40LR M3 with mil-dots. It has 1/2" windage and 1" elevation. I have found it accurate and precise enough. (Mal, you have it right!) I bought it figuring that IF the 1" click was too coarse, I could have Leupold or Premier Reticles install the M1 elevation with 1/4" clicks and keep the 1/2 for windage for two reasons: 1. I do not generally tinker with the windage and, and 2. the M3 knob does not stick way out like the M1 knob to catch on brush or gore you in the back.

I have a 1/8" on a precision target rifle in .22RF and on an Air Arms airgun where the small adjustments can be meaningful.

Often the smaller click adjustments can result in a smaller adjustment range. Often, NOT always.
 
The Schmidt & Bender PMII scopes are a very good compromise between precision and speed (but a bit pricey).

One click equals 1 cm or 1/10 mil at 100yds, depending on the way your mind wants to work it. The adjustments are fine and precise yet still allow adjustment to 1000yds within one revolution. S&B's "gearing (?)" and click system is excellent.

My math sucks and I get confused with the metric system so I don't bother with it.

Instead, I use yards for distance and mils for all my adjustments. My drop chart is in mils- I can use the turrets for adjustment or just holdover with the mil dot reticle.
 
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