How important is 1/8 MOA adjustments for F class shooting

W

Worker

New member
Ordered a S3 8x35x56mm with 1/8 MOA adjustments. Store just said "We only have 1/4 MOA adjustments. Will 1/4 MOA adjustments work for F-Class shooting ?
 
At 1000 yards, 1/4 MOA is 2.5". Do you think you can read the conditions well enough to take advantage of 1/8 MOA adjustments? You're going to be holding off a lot more than you'll be clicking in adjustments.

JMHO

Ray
 
Get the 1/8 MoA Adjustments

Worker,
I have to disagree with Ray. The better F-Class shooters can tell the difference in a 1/8th moa click at 1,000. If you watch the group as it starts to develop a 1k and it is a bit high I might not want to come down a full ¼, but I will come down an 1/8 almost without thought. A group may drift a bit as it develops during a 20 shot string, and you have to be able to make minuscule changes as the condition of the wind, mirage and the rifle change throughout the string. You can’t just say my zero is XX and expect it to finish at the same setting. If the conditions change you have to change with it. The wind and the mirage and the barrel heat will affect the impact of your ammo.

I have used both the NSX and BR models for F-Class for a number of years. I sold my last NSX just after the new F-Class targets came out. A major advantage of 1/8 minute clicks comes into play when you are off zero just enough to have to hold off for elevation to put one in the X-ring. I had to do this for an entire string at 300 one day during an SOA match using a 1/4 minute NSX. If I would have clicked down a ¼ moa it would have moved me from the top of the x-ring to the bottom. I could not center my group by clicking and had to hold off. The same thing applies at 1,000. I normally don’t click for wind, but hold off.

Buy the scope you are going to need inthe future, not the one you can get now.
Larry B.
 
Larry - We obviously have different shooting styles at long range. I would never (usually) make one-click adjustments at 1000 yards, or at 600 to 900 for that matter. Assuming that I could read conditions well enough to recognize that small of a difference, I simply hold off. I think that chasing conditions with scope adjustments leads to more lost shots than most anything else. Especially for new shooters or one who is easily rattled and loses all track of where he/she is.

However, I will agree that buying the best now saves crying later.

Ray
 
I agree with Larry. I have had Leupolds for the last 8 or so years with ¼ min clicks. And when conditions/gear etc. allow very good elevation, the adjustment is not quite fine enough, and I have to hold off vertically. To me this is the single biggest disadvantage of Leupold variables.

Alan
 
I just bought this scope from Big Bear Basin. They just today said "Sightron won't be shipping the 1/8 MOA click scopes until June " They're offering free shipping and best price of $829.00 . Of course its been said "Good things come to those who wait"
 
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A little off target question ???

Regarding the OP, he picked up an 8x35 scope. Any time I have mentioned upgrading my relic Tasco 6x24 to better glass and in the same breath mention a 30 or 36 magnification, the common comment is "Why the high magnification" "Why do you need more than 16X ? "

Any thoughts on that ?? Thanks for indulging the slight side track......

Edit: I have shot two matches so far, one 3 x 20 shots at 600 yards and a second recreational Plama of 15 shot each at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards.
 
I recently picked up an NXS with .125 moa clicks to replace my .250 model. I will be able to center up better now.
 
Flouncer said:
Regarding the OP, he picked up an 8x35 scope. Any time I have mentioned upgrading my relic Tasco 6x24 to better glass and in the same breath mention a 30 or 36 magnification, the common comment is "Why the high magnification" "Why do you need more than 16X ? "

Any thoughts on that ?? Thanks for indulging the slight side track......

Edit: I have shot two matches so far, one 3 x 20 shots at 600 yards and a second recreational Plama of 15 shot each at 800, 900 and 1,000 yards.
Click to expand...

There is no telling why they say that. Hard headed maybe? Or they may have read it on the internet? haha
More people than I would want to count use a 12-42x scope for F-Class. I almost never take mine off 42 power.
 
Another vote for 1/8 instead of 1/4.

It allows you to really centre your group without holding off which means a more precise aimpoint.

In some conditions where the wind steadily climbs and drops you can chase the wind and keep your group centred a lot more easily.
 
Maybe where you shoot the conditions are steady enough to 'centre your group without holding off'... more power to ya. But for me, I'm almost *always* holding off some amount.

Ironically, I'd rather shoot a NF BR than a NF NXS most days, mainly because I'm cheap and I don't think the SF parallax and all are worth the premium. If they made the BR w/ 1/4 moa clicks I'd probably get one.
 
Maybe where you shoot the conditions are steady enough to 'centre your group without holding off'... more power to ya. But for me, I'm almost *always* holding off some amount.[Milanuk]
Click to expand...

I'm with Monte on this one. I've never been able to 'centre a group' in a match, not with the wind conditions we have here. On the very rare occasions we do shoot in near calm conditions and the POI is only moving gently, I'll aim off a smidgeon and if the pattern persists, change the appropriate adjustment only after (a) I'm sure it's happening, and (b) when I need a 1/4-MOA change or more to take me back to a centre-aim. After initially been an 'aim-offer', I've become a 'turret clicker' after several seasons, but need to see at least a quarter-MOA change before I touch the scope. I don't believe you can either see an eighth-MOA in the plot, nor can you aim with that degree of precision at least not at the longer ranges. When I use my Nightforce BR I have to constantly remind myself throughout the match that it is 1/8-MOA, otherwise I'll end up under-adjusting and like Monte wish it had 1/4-MOA adjusters for this application.
 
Heck, some (many) days at the nearest 1k range (Rattlesnake) I'd happily take 1/2 moa windage knobs!

Like Laurie, I usually hold off until I'm hanging far enough out there that I need to click back into the middle - it gets tough to hold off as precise out yonder in the 8 ring and beyond as the 'terrain features' are pretty far apart. Inside the X-10 ring and into the 9 ring... pretty easy to hold *very* precisely.

It may be one of those F/O vs. F/TR things... for me, it boils down to this: take a B155.5BT @3000fps, full value 10mph wind. Look at the wind drift @ 1k (86.7" according to JBM). Then change the wind speed by a mere 2mph, and look at the wind drift again (104.0"). It's not easy (not impossible, but not easy) to reliably 'see' that small of a change in the wind. Some ranges more so than others. You just went from one side of the 9 ring to the other, cleanly missing the X/10 in between. And I'm supposed to worry about 1/8 moa clicks?!?

P.S. Yes, I know there are ballistically 'superior' combinations, even for F/TR, out there but the 155@3k is fairly 'standard' for the purposes of this example.
 
For the short ranges you have a handicap with 1/4 moa vs 1/8 I have only cleaned Target once at 300m 15 vBulls on 1/2moa target/shot at |Nationals with 15 bulls 13 where v bulls. with 1/8moa nightforce BR 12x42 /223 rem and 90grs at 2800fps and I always use 39x if mirage not bad
but at 1000 like others have mentioned 1/4moa works okay, I have shot many F/TR shoots and only once where the winds calm and steady.
I has a 24x scope I used when started f class it worked okay but not as good as a 12x to 42x56mm. Trigger is very important for good scores
manitou
 
I'd like to have 1/8 moa adjustments for all the Mid Range I shoot, 300-600 yds. is where in the right wind conditions you can make a 1 or 2 click adjustment and stay in the X ring.

I also wish for Pits for our local 300 yd. NRA Matches, once the boil starts there is no seeing your shots on the target face, it's like shooting blind. Best i've ever managed is 150-13X, can't break 13X, get close, but just not there.
 
LarryBartholome said:
Worker,
I have to disagree with Ray. The better F-Class shooters can tell the difference in a 1/8th moa click at 1,000. If you watch the group as it starts to develop a 1k and it is a bit high I might not want to come down a full ¼, but I will come down an 1/8 almost without thought. A group may drift a bit as it develops during a 20 shot string, and you have to be able to make minuscule changes as the condition of the wind, mirage and the rifle change throughout the string. You can’t just say my zero is XX and expect it to finish at the same setting. If the conditions change you have to change with it. The wind and the mirage and the barrel heat will affect the impact of your ammo.

I have used both the NSX and BR models for F-Class for a number of years. I sold my last NSX just after the new F-Class targets came out. A major advantage of 1/8 minute clicks comes into play when you are off zero just enough to have to hold off for elevation to put one in the X-ring. I had to do this for an entire string at 300 one day during an SOA match using a 1/4 minute NSX. If I would have clicked down a ¼ moa it would have moved me from the top of the x-ring to the bottom. I could not center my group by clicking and had to hold off. The same thing applies at 1,000. I normally don’t click for wind, but hold off.

Buy the scope you are going to need inthe future, not the one you can get now.
Larry B.
Click to expand...

X2 get the 1/8
 
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