Ok Guys. In this modern day world of ballistic calculators and info I need to figure out how to take the marks on my reticle and convert them to distances.

There has to be a way right?

I have a First focal plane scope and I have a turret that is at .5 moa increments. My 0 is set at 100 and it takes 2 clicks to be 1 inch high at 200.

I assume my first click will be somewhere around 170 but I sure would like to figure how to take my bullet and figure out the distances on my hash marks exactly.

I have no place to shoot but the range. My choices there are 50 100 and 200 and nothing in between so I cant just go set up and test it somewhere.

Can anyone point me in the right direction?

What scope and what reticle do you have? And caliber and bullet details will help.

Sure. Get the iSnipe app, pick your reticle, input the required data, and it will tell you what each Mark means. Pretty simple.

Caliber
Bullet weight
Ballistic coefficient
Muzzle velocity

Ask for corrections in MOA

www.jbmballistics.com

fc-moa nightforce nx8
factory hornady 6.8 120gr sst
.400 bc
2460

the isnipe app looks interesting but i couldnt see where it says to enter your reticle

Another question for you gurus.

Do my clicks on my turret correspond to my hash marks? 1 click per hashmark maybe?

Looking at the NF FC moa reticle, each hash mark is 2 moa. You could use the reticle or dial your elevation. Run your ballistics in a program and it will give you the drop data to dial for your shooting

Or, don't dial, and hold on the reticle, same same.

You just need to know elevation correction in MOA, since you have MOA turrets, and MOA reticle. Throw inches out the window. It doesn't matter how many "inches of drop" you're looking at. Find the correction in MOA.

Or, don't dial, and hold on the reticle, same same.

I would like to become efficient with both, I will try with the app and see if I can make it work

thanks
I figured there was a way

that reticle, the center is void until 2 moa down. On a 6.8 I would learn my holds in moa and just hold in the reticle for elevation. Each hash mark appears to be 1 moa

Not only "there is a way" MOA/MOA and Mil/Mil scopes are designed to do exactly this.

Put the same scope on a .22 lr, .223, .308, 7 Rem Mag, 50 BMG, all merely require a new set of numbers. Elevation in MOA for each distance.

NX8, is this their new 1-8X?

If each click is .5 moa wouldnt it be better to use the turret system? 2moa is 4 clicks down so that is past 200 yards already. On that gun I would be only interested in the yardages on clicks 3 and 4 since that will already be above this rounds capabilities.

yea Buzz thats it. I bought a new Nightforce and trying to learn how to use it. you shamed me before on my cheap scopes so I am upgrading both of my hunting rifles.

It is best to stop thinking about clicks. Just go to the proper number on the turret. If a 300 yard correction is 3 1/2 MOA, dial to 3 1/2. Dont worry about it being 7 clicks on a 1/2 MOA turret.

If I'm going to use a .1 Mil turret, a 6.5 Creedmoor and shoot a thousand yards, the correction is 8.3, so that is where I am going to dial to. I am not going to count 83 clicks. There is no need, the turret is labeled.

First, never count "clicks". Count in moa. With the specs you provided, below would be your moa drop data. With a proper 100 yard zero, you need 2.45 moa come up for a 200 yard shot. With a turret value of .5, you would need 5 "clicks", but that's the wrong way to think about it. You need 2.5 moa come up, so you dial to 2 plus .5. For 300 yard, you dial 6 moa up (5.91 moa rounded up to 6 moa). But if you look at the data, those are pretty even hold overs in the reticle also. 400 yard shot, hold 10 moa. It's that easy. But you need to confirm your velocity and not rely on what is written on the box. Those are easy and even hold overs on the reticle though. My AR's, I almost always hold using the reticle for elevation for the quickness it offers. Is it better to dial? Up to you. You can do either.

Range Elev
(yards) (moa)
0 ---
25 -2.8
50 -0.17
75 0.2
100 0
125 -0.45
150 -1.04
175 -1.71
200 -2.45
225 -3.25
250 -4.09
275 -4.98
300 -5.91
325 -6.88
350 -7.89
375 -8.95
400 -10.04
425 -11.18
450 -12.36
475 -13.59
500 -14.87

Here's what I'm talking about. Here's a video of me holding using the reticle and never dialing on the turret. Rifle is my Surgeon 308. 200 to 700 yards, once shot each distance and no misses.



Here's my 11 yr old son doing the same thing with his 308. Once you learn how to use your reticle, it's pretty easy. He shot 2-500 with one miss, and wanted to do it again. We added 600 yards and I recorded it, and he shot them all. This is how you use a proper mil (or moa) reticle.

If the ballistic info chad provided is correct for your load, 2 MOA or 4 clicks would put you somewhere between 175 and 200 yards, but yes you could be more precise using the turrets if the reticle goes by 2 MOA divisions.

I would make sure to try it at distance before you count on it in the field. Had never shot my 243 at further distance. Shot it out to 400 yards the other week and was getting some odd results, hitting way high. Unlike my sendero which shoots the same off sand bags and a bipod, my 243 shoots 2 inches high at 100 yards compared to the zero off sand bags.

Thank you chad for explaining the MOA. I was definitely not seeing it that way before and that makes a ton of sense now.

I think something isnt right on the numbers. 2.5 moa would be way off at 200 since right now 1 moa is 200 yards at 1 inch high.

Sight offset is input wrong.
MV is input wrong.
BC is input wrong.
Rifle not perfectly zeroed at 100 yards.

Any one of the three, or multiple.

Probable 200 yard correction is 1 1/2 MOA to 2 MOA.

Welcome! I was wondering why your numbers didn't line up with the chart. I can tell you from experience, that if you are properly zero'd at 100 yards, there's no way for a 6.8 to be 1 inch high at 200 yards with 1 moa dialed. For example, my 300 WM running a 190 SMK at 3050 fps was exactly 1.25 moa come up from a 100 yard zero at 200 yards. My 308 Win was 1.75 moa come up at 200. The 6.8 is going slower than both with a lower BC bullet than both, therefore gravity and drag would cause more drop. So yes, something is not lining up correctly. Next time you go to the range, just re-verify your 100 yard zero and 200 yard come up again. But you are on the right track!!! The more you shoot, the more you learn. Save all your brass to reload it multiple times.

Not saying it is the issue, but could it be scope height throwing it off? If you use really high rings/scope mount I believe it could cause some of this.

Only a 1/4 moa or so, but not enough to make a big difference to cause being that far off.

I plugged one of my loads in and used 1.5 inch and 3.5 inch for sight height and the come up in MOA was 1/2 the amount with the 3.5 sight height it was with the 1.5 inch sight height. Changed from 1.9 moa with 1.5 to .9 moa with 3.5.

I know 3.5 is high, just a possibility.

The only scope height of 3.5" I know is Mikei (only poking fun, not an insult!!), and some thermal scope rifles. But 3.5" is crazy high and extreme for a standard AR platform, which skews the results. The standard scope height on a AR is 1.75". At that scope height, the correct come up would be right at 2.5 moa for 200 yard come up with a 6.8 with those specs.

Good deal no interest, thus no experience with AR's I just knew they sight height was typically higher.