MOA bases on tactical rifles?

[SabbathWolf]

I have a question about scope bases.
My rifle will take a 0, 10, 15, or 20 MOA base.
How do I pick the right one?

I understand the more MOA, the less scope adjusting you have to do at longer ranges. But what if you need to place an accurate shot or two up close at 100 yards or less sometimes too?

[1biggun]

well you said 400 meters was about all you plan on shooting so a 0 moa base would be about all you should need. A 10 moa likely would not hurt but you likely wont need it. how much adjustabilty does the scope you are using have???

most standard hunting rifles sight in fine with extra left with a standard base. when you are only shooting 400 meters I doubt you will be adjusting the scope to account for elevation. you will likely be just using hold over. the 308 only drops around 16-18 inches if zeroed at 300 meters and at that zero it will be 5-6 inches high at 100 meters. so from 100-300 meteres will be damm near dead on. after that you will want to know your range better. I shoot my 308 & 30-06 out to 400 YARDS with the zero at 1.5" high at 100 yards. the scope dont get touched for any reason. most shots are under 300 yards and I can estimate 6" hold over at that range with having to mess with the scope. if you have a mill dot scope you will likely never touch your dials. IMOA

I understand the more MOA, the less scope adjusting you have to do at longer ranges.

the angle the base is at has nothing to do with the "amount" of adjusting you do. the number of clicks to go from one range to another will still be the same. It has to do with allowing the scope to work beyond the elevation it can be adjusted to if mounted parralel to the bore..

If you scope will allow for a zero at 400 meters then that is all you will need. if you can Zero in at 100meteres with a 10 moa then it wont hurt to have it but you absolutly will want to be able to zero at 100.

[tanvil]

The bases are sloped uphill shall we say. Your moa correction is the same, they just make sure you don't run out of elevation because youe reticle is actually below center when zeroed at 100. How far are you shooting and what diameter tube will your scope have?

[SabbathWolf]

Yes. I want to zero @ 100meters. The scope I chose can be held over out to 800 Meters with 308cal...according to literature.

It has a 30mm tube, and has 22 mils of adjustment with an additional 10 mils of hold over built into the reticle itself. I'll have to figure that out in MOA.

1 mil = 3.6"
1 moa = 1.047"

I "think" that comes out to 75.64moa of adjustment?
If I'm wrong, somebody please correct me.

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Reticle looks like this:

[tanvil]

My first impression of the 'hold over at 800 yards' is just marketing hype. It will be drastically different from load to load. What bullet weight and velocity do they claim the hold over is calibrated to? Any one doing single round hits at long yardage is not using kentucky windage. Don't be misled. Learn how to use your mildot for what it was designed for. You can range out to 1000 yards, +/- 3 yards accuracy. Leopolds Tactical Milling Reticle eliminates alot of .3 0r .32 stuff that can really throw you off. Determine range, windspeed/direction, add correction, and let 'er rip. You'll need to make a come up sheet or 'dope sheet' as our invisible men call it. Once you have learned how to do that, if you can see it, you can hit it. Reliably. To answer your original question, you shouldn't ever run out of elevation with a 10* on a 308 with a 168gr load.
EDIT: Oops, for let's call that a 165gr for PC reasons

[SabbathWolf]

Originally Posted by tanvil

My first impression of the 'hold over at 800 yards' is just marketing hype. It will be drastically different from load to load. What bullet weight and velocity do they claim the hold over is calibrated to? Any one doing single round hits at long yardage is not using kentucky windage. Don't be misled. Learn how to use your mildot for what it was designed for. You can range out to 1000 yards, +/- 3 yards accuracy. Leopolds Tactical Milling Reticle eliminates alot of .3 0r .32 stuff that can really throw you off. Determine range, windspeed/direction, add correction, and let 'er rip. You'll need to make a come up sheet or 'dope sheet' as our invisible men call it. Once you have learned how to do that, if you can see it, you can hit it. Reliably. To answer your original question, you shouldn't ever run out of elevation with a 10* on a 308 with a 168gr load.
EDIT: Oops, for let's call that a 165gr for PC reasons

They don't "claim" anything bout exact marks on the reticle. I'd have to figure that out based on my load. It's not one of those BDC type reticles that suppossedly work for everything including Santa. They just say there is 15mils worth of hold over in the reticle and that will get you to 800 yards.

So you think a 10moa base would be fine?

[tanvil]

It's probably a little overkill for 400, but better safe than sorry because after you shoot 400 for awhile you're going to get creative in finding longer ranges

[SabbathWolf]

Originally Posted by tanvil

It's probably a little overkill for 400, but better safe than sorry because after you shoot 400 for awhile you're going to get creative in finding longer ranges

IOR Valdada makes a really nice heavy duty base for my rifle to go along with their scopes and rings. But it only comes on 0 moa for my gun. I am really torn between this and the Farrell 10 moa.

[tanvil]

Given the choice I would take steel over aluminum. Is one of them steel?

[SabbathWolf]

Originally Posted by tanvil

Given the choice I would take steel over aluminum. Is one of them steel?

They're both steel.
I also noticed that Badger Ordnance makes a steel base for my rifle too.