.5moa vs. .25moa elevation adjustment

[ST42]

Gents,

I'm looking at US Optics to scope my .338LM project. I'm thinking 35mm tube and I'm wondering which adjustment would be better to use. I have always used .25moa in the past on various rifles. Is there any advantage to .5moa adjustment? Application is long range hunting, paper for fun. 300 grn. SMK's out of a Rock 26" barrel 9.5 twist.

Thanks,

Shawn

 

[ss7mm]

One way to look at it would be that if you were shooting at 1000 yards and you weren't dead on would you want to:

• Move the bullet 5" each click or
• Move the bullet 2.5" each click???

Personally I want the finest adjustment I can have as long as the scope has the required internal adjustments that I need. I dial for all long shots and I dial in MOA or IPHY, depending on the scope, and not clicks.

The only advantage, for me, to a .5moa scope click adjustment would be the fact that I could get the total elevation change made quicker, but I've never felt that that was an area where I needed speed.

Just my personal opinion. I sure others use and like coarser adjustments. To each his own.

 

[ST42]

Thanks Dick.

I guess they offer the .5 option for more of a tactical application where speed might be needed.

 

[long ranger]

Thanks Dick.

I guess they offer the .5 option for more of a tactical application where speed might be needed.

Correct. At closer ranges 1/2 moa adjustments is not quite as big a deal, but at long range the finer the adjustment would be the route I went.
A 5" adjustment at 1000 yards is pretty big.

 

[Blacktail2]

+1 on the .25

 

[30-338]

.5 Moa

If you will be counting clicks and getting your elevation come ups that way you must decide how fine you want your adjustment...keeping in mind that if you dial you must move the dial twice as far with the 1/4 MOA clicks. So it is a function of speed vs. precision and do you want to move the bullet 2.5 or 5 inches per click at 1000yards as has been said. Will you be doing more hunting or target? Lets say you are shooting at 1000 yards with your new Lapua at 2700 FPS and have a 300 yard zero...you will need about 24 minutes ( depending on elevation, etc...taken fron Sierra software) If you have 1/4 MOA clicks that is 96 clicks as opposed to 48 with 1/2 MOA clicks...so this might be an issue(?)

US Optics will also give you the option of the lower vertical stadia line in the reticle having hash marks in MOA rather than mils so they will match your dial and you will not have to convert Mils to MOA ( a cool way to go IMHO)...Check out their EREK knob which is a very cool and fast way to adjust elevation...good shootin' 30-338...You will be spending some pretty serious cash here... have you checked out the Nightforce or the Schmidt Bender ? I use a combination of the reticle and the dial for hunting and it is pretty fast...congrats on the new rifle...choosing the right optics is a great problem to have. 30-338

 

[ST42]

I am planning .25 moa. I just happened to see a USO sn3 over on the Hide that was for sale at a very good price. But I really prefer the ability to make smaller adjustments. My plan is moa reticle and moa adjustments. Now I just have to decide on magnification range.

Shawn
​

 

[SES50]

You are pretty much building the same rifle I am about to reciever from my gunsmith. This is my second USO scope and I am really happy with my first one but there were somethings on the first one that I would do over. My first one is a 3.8-22 SN3 with a 35mm tube that I put on my 50 BMG. This had the adjustable objective front lens and I did not care for the fact that the buttler creek scope cover was always in a different location as I adjusted for different distances. Plus the scope is close enought to my barrel that if the scope cover is open and I am adjusting the objective, the scope cover sometimes hits the side of the barrel and does not allow me to fully adjust the objective to where I want to go with out removing the buttler creek cover. So this time I ended up going with a SN3 T-Pal in the 3.2-17 so that the front obective would be fixed.

The EREK knob is the only way to go. Going with the EREK knob and the .25MOA adjustment it is two full turns for full travel. if you go .5MOA then it is 1 full turn for full travel. I do not feel that the extra full turn is that big of a deal so I went with the .25MOA knob on this scope again. I also went with a 30mm tube on the new scope that I am getting. When talking to the guys at USO the light transmission through the 30mm and the 35mm scope tubes are exactly the same since they use the same internal mechanism. The only thing you gain on the 35mm tube is travel. If you put a 20MOA scope base on your rifle the 30mm tube should get you well over 1000 yards. Plus, this rifle ended up being fairly heavy in my opinion after putting the scope on. The 30mm Tube with the T-Pal option comes out to something like 2.25 lbs for the scope. I figured I did not need the extra weight of going to the 35mm tube and then the added weight in ringes and not really gain anything. The 35mm tube scope looks ok on my 50BMG since it is a pretty substantial rifle. IMHO I think the 35mm Tube would look too big when placed on a standard sized rifle.

I do not know where you live but I live in California and when ordering the scope for this rifle I would have had to pay tax on it. I talked to my gunsmith and he said he would order it for me since he lived in Iowa and would not have to pay tax. That save me a bunch of money. Then when he was ordering it he found out he could sign up to be a distributor and he got me another 10% off the price of the scope. So he saved me a bunch more money there. Just an idea for you if you are going to order one while you are having the rifle built.

Hope this info helps.
SES50

I am planning .25 moa. I just happened to see a USO sn3 over on the Hide that was for sale at a very good price. But I really prefer the ability to make smaller adjustments. My plan is moa reticle and moa adjustments. Now I just have to decide on magnification range.

Shawn
​

 

[ST42]

SES50,

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to decide if I'll go the 17X or 22X route. I'm really leaning towards the TPAL. I just really like not having to reach all the way up to make adjustments. I'm using a Seekins 20 moa base. I am considering the larger tube diameter for the extra elevation. I figure if your going to lay out that kind of cash for glass, I might as well make the scope as versatile as possible. As far as reticles go. I think that I will go with the PCMOA, .25 moa EREK along with the .25 moa M40 windage knob.
So I have to ask. Is the glass really as good as everyone says? I remember looking through my buddies S&B a few years back and it made me feel like my Leupold was smugged.

Best Regards,
Shawn

 

[SES50]

A while back a buddy and I were up on my property and he had never shot and night. So we deside to go out to the 150 yard range that we have on the property to do a little night shooting. It was a clear night and the moon was about half full. My Barret 95 has the 3.8-22 power scope that I explained above. My buddy has a Rem 700 PSS with a Leupold Mark 4 with target knob. At 125 yard there is a berm with a bunch of bowling pins sitting in a bunch of different locations all over it.

With my USO scope I could make out all the bowling pins even the one that were not in full view and some that were even in the moon shadows. With his rifle he and I both could not find any of the pins until we turned the truck lights on. After we turned the truck lights on you could find the ones that were in plain view but the ones that were obscured by grass or in shadows from the truck light were still impossible to make out. Ever since then I have opted for scopes with better glass than Leupolds. Now I own some leupolds but if I am going to buy a cheap scope it will usually be an IOR, and then if I buy an expensive scope it will be a USO. The big selling point for me on the USO scopes though are the fact that I can get a FFP MOA reticle with MOA knobs. I have called IOR a couple times and asked if they will make that combination and they say they have no plans in the future to do so. But they are making a FFP Mil Recticle with Metric knobs. I just do not want to go and have to learn the metric knob so I spend more money for the USO scope when it is a rifle I feel is worth the better glass.

SES50

SES50,

Thanks for the info. I'm still trying to decide if I'll go the 17X or 22X route. I'm really leaning towards the TPAL. I just really like not having to reach all the way up to make adjustments. I'm using a Seekins 20 moa base. I am considering the larger tube diameter for the extra elevation. I figure if your going to lay out that kind of cash for glass, I might as well make the scope as versatile as possible. As far as reticles go. I think that I will go with the PCMOA, .25 moa EREK along with the .25 moa M40 windage knob.
So I have to ask. Is the glass really as good as everyone says? I remember looking through my buddies S&B a few years back and it made me feel like my Leupold was smugged.

Best Regards,
Shawn