20 MOA base

[LabRat2k3]

Just rattleing a few things around in my head and was wondering, if you aren't going to be shooting past 600 yards wouldn't it be better to go with just a standard 0 MOA base? I always thought that you wanted your crosshairs as close to the physical center of your lens as possible. It just seems everyone is going with a 20 MOA base all the time and I wonder if that is always best. I don't know, maybe more people are shooting out past a 1000 yards than I think. 1000 yard ranges are pretty rare in my neck of the woods, as far as I know there is only one in my state. I know that isn't the case everywhere though, I'm sure some of you guys out west don't even need weathermen you can just look way off in the distance and see what weather is coming for tomorrow.

[benfranklin]

You got me there...I have never hear of such a thing..How can one adjust the base for
moa...I need to hear more about this...Or are you thinking of having shims under the base
to get more elevation? Now that I know of as I have done it myself...John

[seanhagerty]

When I got my base, I didnt get it for what I wanted to shoot, but got it for what I felt the rifle would be cabable of. That way, I would be covered no matter what I wanted to do (short or long range).

I put a 20 MOA base on it. I havent shot it past 800 yds, but know I can get way out there if I want to!!

[pitsnipe]

I agree with sean. Put a 20 MOA base on my .308. And the only thing I was "concerned" with was a cross hair center POA/POI for "ease" of 100 yard fun shoots (club bug shoots for example) Other than having to use Kentucky "under" windage for those close in shots. Turns out that I will be able to dial a 100 yd zero if I wish, after dialing the scope to a more overall usefull (for me) 300 yard zero. Just get the scope as physicaly close as possible to the gun and you will have the best of both worlds. And to my knowledge, it doesnt matter to the scope where on its range of adjustment the "zero" is. Just I figure why not have it as far down towards the bottom as you can.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

[LabRat2k3]

Ben/John a 20 MOA base has a taper built in to it to allow you to adjust your scope to near the bottom of its elevation range for your 100 yard zero and then have the whole adjustment range to come up for shooting at longer ranges.
http://www.egwguns.com/moa-faq
Maybe the whole best view in the center of the lens thing is just "old-school" and it don't matter with new scopes, I don't know that's why I was asking. I honestly would like to know how many people need them and how many buy them just because that is what the cool long range guys are using. Of course "just in case I need it" is a good enough answer for me, I have a buddy who bought a big honking magnum rifle "just in case" he ever gets to go out west on an elk hunt, seems logical to me.

[benfranklin]

Yeah,now I know what your up to...I have heard of them now..
I used to just put a .010 under it and it worked great out to 1000
with my 30-338

[earl39]

It would depend on your scope also but you could split the difference and just use a 10moa base.

[barrel-nut]

I agree with Sean also. I only shoot to 600, but if I ever get the opportunity to go longer I can. And the only real downside I've seen so far has already been mentioned; if you are using a scope with very little total adjustment, like say 30moa, then you basically have 15moa up and 15 MOA down from center. With this setup, you may not be able to achieve a 100 yd zero, but still it depends on your individual setup (scope height, receiver trueness, etc.). As far as the optical centering matter, while it is certainly theoretically true, I have never noticed much real-world difference, and certainly never to the point of feeling handicapped by it. Like most things in life, the 20MOA rail is a trade off, but one I personally consider to be worth it. Another thing to consider, with the above-mentioned setup, is that if you shoot farther out, you will be cranking that elevation back up closer to center for the longer ranges, and this is where I need my scope to be as clear as possible anyway.

[lal357]

i just put a egw 20 moa base on my 6.5 creedmoor with the intent to be able to shoot out to 1k but one of the matches i want to shoot in you start shooting @ 100 yds and work your way out to 1000yds. problem i have is first time i sighted it in @ 300yds it was 25" high with the up turret at the bottom (bushnell elite 4200 series 8x32x40mm(i know they dont have alot of travel )) the strange thing was i went and put a set of burris rings on with inserts and the best i could do is 19" @ 300 yds. this week i removed them and put a set of luepold qrw rings on and use a aluminum can for shims (2 pcs.) got it down to 10 " high at 100yds. i couldnt figure out why the burris rings wouldnt let it move the impact lower?. i ordered a set of scope base shims and i'm going to try and get it closer @ 100 yds maybe 4-6"high and go from there.i know its in the scope travel since i also have a 20moa base on my 308 with a sightron scope and have no problems going down to 100 with out running out of turret travel.

[Grit #1]

Take a look at the Burris Signature Rings. They do a couple of things for you. 1) they have inserts front and rear in the ring that self aligns the scope eliminating the need to lap the rings. 2) The inserts come in 5,10, and 20 MOA increments so you can adjust the amount of rise in the rear ring. Eliminates the need for an MOA mount. If you wanted to you could adjust the front ring too. Why? I don't know. The system is very versatile.
Best regards,
Grit

[lal357]

those are the rings i used crazy part is after the rifle match next week i'm going to try using 1 scope on both rifles since they have the same base and i have burris extremes on the sightron it should work i'll keep the scope set zero'd for the 308 and put it on the creedmoor zero it and put it on an index card so i can adjust from one to the other.