1/4 or 1/8 scope adjustment

[KTM525]

Good evening all,

First time post here and just after some info.
I'm looking at getting into some long range shooting and I will need a new scope.
Main question I have is, for up 600 meters, is 1/4 moa adjustments on a scope fine or do I really need 1/8. A lot of the scopes I've researched that I like the look of all seem to only be available in 1/4 Moa.
Thanks very much for any advice.

[jasmay]

1/8 is the standard in my opinion.

I think of it this way, X ring in 1/2 a minute, that means from center to edge is 1/4. Well, the rest is common sense from there.

Do you need it! No

Dose it make it easier? Definitely

What sort of scopes are you looking at? Most suitable scopes have a 1/8" option.

[argh]

I'm with jasmay, sometimes you just need to bring your group up (or down) to the middle of the x ring. 1/4 moa just cant do that. My last scope was a special order just to make sure i got 1/8 click with the reticule i wanted

[plumbs7]

Jase is right , but you can start of with 1/4 Moa ! Later if you get to rep for your state ,1/8 Moa is a must!
I started with mills which is 3/8 Moa and did fine with it ! But I'm and odd fish !

[Tim N]

For long range 1/8 clicks are best, finer adjustment for accuracy in a game where 1 point can see you tumble way down the list.
If it has a dual purpose, as I've said before, this means it will be not so good at two things

[KTM525]

Thanks for the replies,
I was looking at a Sightron with the MOA-2 reticule that only comes with 1/4 Moa clicks but I have just found out that it is possible to actually special order it with 1/8 clicks.
I did look at Nightforce and March scopes that do have 1/8 clicks but they are fairly pricey. I have been wondering if they are worth the extra money considering I'm new to long range shooting.
I did have a go at a 300 meter shoot a few weeks ago and used my Leupold 6.5 - 20 X 50 and for me 20 power was only just enough at that range. I was thinking that I would like a max power of at least 40 something for ranges of 5 - 600 meters. Is there other scope recommendations that would fall into this class?
Thanks again

[argh]

Thats the exact scope i bought as i liked the reticle. And yes you can order it in through the importer with 1/8 click... mine took 10 weeks to get here though so dont hold your breath. The NF BR are the other option in that price range.
I shot for a fair while with a 24x and its not much of a difference or disadvantage remembering that in days with heavy mirrage you will probably wind back to 20x anyway. On a good day 50x is very nice though.
Shoot with what you have for a while as you learn the ropes (wind) , and then upgrade as you need
Adrian

[KTM525]

Thats the exact scope i bought as i liked the reticle. And yes you can order it in through the importer with 1/8 click... mine took 10 weeks to get here though so dont hold your breath. The NF BR are the other option in that price range.
I shot for a fair while with a 24x and its not much of a difference or disadvantage remembering that in days with heavy mirrage you will probably wind back to 20x anyway. On a good day 50x is very nice though.
Shoot with what you have for a while as you learn the ropes (wind) , and then upgrade as you need
Adrian

Thanks Adrian,
Good points and much appreciated.
I did just check some Nightforce prices and did notice the competition models are much cheaper than the NXS models. I thought they were all a similar price.

[macguru]

1/8 is better, definitely

[Old Trev-39]

Bite the bullet and buy once. N/F Comp. is the way to go. You will not be sorry.
Good Shooting,
Trevor.

[Jase PTRC]

Thats the exact scope i bought as i liked the reticle. And yes you can order it in through the importer with 1/8 click... mine took 10 weeks to get here though so dont hold your breath. The NF BR are the other option in that price range.
I shot for a fair while with a 24x and its not much of a difference or disadvantage remembering that in days with heavy mirrage you will probably wind back to 20x anyway. On a good day 50x is very nice though.
Shoot with what you have for a while as you learn the ropes (wind) , and then upgrade as you need
Adrian

On days with heavy mirage at lower light you would not be able to use 20 power. Even guys with 12-42 BR scopes struggle at min power to get a good sight picture.

[johnk]

On days with heavy mirage at lower light you would not be able to use 20 power. Even guys with 12-42 BR scopes struggle at min power to get a good sight picture.

Lowering the power doesn't make the sight picture any better; it just makes the shooter more comfortable.

I've never lowered the power on any of my scopes except when shooting at our 25 yard zero range necessitates it. I know I'm seeing crap just as well with max power as minimum.

[Jase PTRC]

On days with heavy mirage at lower light you would not be able to use 20 power. Even guys with 12-42 BR scopes struggle at min power to get a good sight picture.

Lowering the power doesn't make the sight picture any better; it just makes the shooter more comfortable.

I've never lowered the power on any of my scopes except when shooting at our 25 yard zero range necessitates it. I know I'm seeing crap just as well with max power as minimum.

John, If the black aiming mark is moving all over the place and the rings are not distinguishable on high magnification and i wind down to a lower magnification and all of a sudden it is not wobbling and has a crisp outline then i would say that the what i am seeing through the scope or sight picture has improved. I dont know if you have ever shot at our range in the summer but a famous quote from QLD shooter visiting lower light once was "Range officer they are using the wrong targets, there are no scoring rings on the target" the response was "welcome to Lower Light"

[johnk]

Quite a few times, but mainly over Match Rifle distances.

[AlanF]

You must have been a film director John. In action scenes they zoom in close - the same scene would look tame from further back . IMO the need for high scope magnification is overrated, particularly for those who aim at the middle and wind the knobs. I like to have my scope set to the minimum necessary for the particular target and conditions. There are multiple advantages to doing this e.g wider field of view for looking at mirage (and other targets ), less critical eye relief and eye alignment, brighter image. And in heavy mirage, less scarey.