MINUTE OF ANGLE

What exactly is Minute of Angle? Minute of Angle is a unit of measurement that corresponds to a specific area on an imaginary vertical or horizontal circle. One Minute of Angle is 1/60th of one degree in a 360- degree circle.

Your LE counter-sniper scope is designed to move a bullets point of impact ¼ Minute of Angle (MOA) per click of elevation or windage. This said, it then makes sense that 4 of those ¼ MOA clicks would then equal 1 MOA. Remember- THERE ARE 4 CLICKS IN 1 MOA!

The exact distance of that 1 MOA (4 clicks) which moves the strike of your round is solely dependent on your distance to the target.

For ease of understanding this rule, we always use the example that 1 MOA equals one inch at 100 yards. (Actually, 1 MOA equals 1.047 inches at 100 yards. Because .047 is so minute, it is not taken into consideration.

The most confusion comes into play when a shooter starts to think that 1 MOA is always one inch regardless of the distance to their objective. Get this idea out of your head!! 1 MOA equals one inch ONLY at 100 yards. 1 MOA at 200 yards is two inches. 1 MOA at 300 yards is three inches. 1 MOA at 400 yards is four inches. 1 MOA at 550 yards is 5 1/2 inches and so on.

***GOLDEN RULE*** THERE ARE ALWAYS 4 CLICKS IN THAT 1 MOA

An example to understand how this works: If your sighted in on a Leupold target at 100 yards and then add 4 clicks of “up” elevation to your scope, you have just raised the impact of the bullet approximately one inch, or 1 MOA, which is 1/60th of one degree. Now for the sake of explanation, let’s just say you had infinite clicks on your scope. If you wanted to move the impact of your round up 60 inches at 100 yards, you would need to add 240 clicks up (60 inches x 4 clicks per inch= 240 clicks) onto your scope. You would have then just moved the strike point of your bullet one degree up on that 360- degree circle. With all this said then, it would then be possible to adjust your scope in a complete 360 degree circle and come back to the center of your Leupold target from underneath it by clicking a mere 84, 400 clicks.

How does understanding MOA help you as counter-snipers? Simply stated, by understanding what MOA is at every range, you better determine what kind of windage and elevation adjustments to put on your scopes in a faster, more efficient way.

EXAMPLE: If you start to get in the habit of thinking in terms of minutes (4 clicks in every minute, no matter what yard line you’re on), you greatly simplify the mathematical process to determine come ups or windage calls.

Try to quickly figure out what your come up would be if you were 12 inches low at 300 yards. If you know that each click moves the strike point of the bullet ¾ of an inch at 300 yards, then you must take the time to figure out how many times ¾ of an inch goes into 12 inches. But if you remember that 1 MOA at 300 yards is three inches, then you only need to figure out how many times three goes into 12 and multiply the answer by four.

If 1 MOA equals three inches at 300 yards and you are 12 inches low, then we need to come up four MOA to get on target. Since you will never forget that there are always four clicks in one MOA, regardless of yard line, then simply multiply the four clicks in each minute by the four MOA needed to determine your come up, then we need 16 clicks up on the scope to be on target. By using this formula, you have just reduced the mathematical calculation process by two steps and have gotten rid of having to divide fractions.

When you analyze your drop and drift information, you can calculate your come ups by measuring the distance of the drop and then figure out what one MOA is for that distance. Then, determine how many minutes you need to come up and simply multiply by four. Most counter-sniper teams do not use the “drop and drift” method and strictly go by the scope manufacturer’s suggestions that come with the manual. But you must remember that all rifles shoot differently, all shooters shoot differently, and the manufacturer’s suggestions are averages. For example, my scope manufacturer recommends that at 300 yards that I come up 16 clicks if the temperature is between 35 and 85 degrees. During my “drop and drift” at 77 degrees, I was approximately minus 15 inches from point of aim, giving me a come up of 20 clicks. Again at 300 yard and at temperatures below 35 degrees, the manufacturer has an average of 18 clicks, and after my “drop and drift” at 14 degrees, my come up was 22 clicks. So you can see why it’s advantageous to do a personal “drop and drift” exercise with your rifle. Now the question is does this discrepancy affect your ability to neutralize your objective? Depends… If you have a stationary target and you’re aiming at center mass, then several clicks one way or another probably will not matter. But because we should be training with moving targets and side shots, then several clicks will matter to eliminate your margin of error. Some units will do head shots at 300 yards, and there is not much room for error due to a smaller impact area compared to center mass. We certainly don’t endorse head shots at 300 yards, but that is a personal opinion and you must adhere to your unit’s policy, training and your own expertise.

You have a number of factors to consider when zeroing your rifles. Heat, humidity, cold, atmospheric pressure, gravity, and the selection of round your department may use. We suggest that you do your “Drop and Drift” twice a year, once in cold weather, and once in warm weather. Normally anything up to 150 yards is point of aim, point of impact. We then suggest that starting at 150 yards, you do your “Drop and Drift” every 25 yards (150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300), always using 3-5 rounds at your target and then taking the average of the grouping as your drop point. It’s imperative that you carry the data with you on all tactical operations to minimize the time you need to prepare your precision shot. It’s not uncommon here in the Midwest for the temperature at the start of a tactical operation to be 80 degrees and drop 30-40 degrees within a few minutes. Yes, the temperature drop will affect your come ups and you’re MOA. Remember, the data is specific to your rifle only. You may be asking yourself “what if I am 180 yards from my objective?” You can round off your yardage to the nearest “drop and drift” yardage, that being 175 yards and use that come up to be on target. At 190 yards, round up to 200 yards, 215 yards round up to 225, and so on.

WIND ADJUSTMENTS

Now that everyone has this MOA equation all figured out, here is an easy wind formula to start with.

Range Factor: 1 = 100 yards, 2 = 200 yards, 3 = 300 yards, 4 = 400 yards, etc…

For a full value (cross) wind take the Range Factor and multiply that with the Wind Velocity. Divide by the Constant (which is always 15 up to 500 yards). That will give you your adjustment in MOA. Remember, like the elevation, four clicks to one MOA.

EXAMPLE:

300 yards shot with a 20-mph full value wind

Range Factor is three. Multiply by Wind Velocity of 20. This equals 60?

60 is then divided by the constant of 15, which equals four MOA needed to correct for this wind. Remember that there are always four clicks in every MOA regardless of yardage, and multiply four (MOA) by four (clicks in a minute) and to determine that you need to put 16 clicks of windage on to hit your target.

If the wind is a half value wind (coming from an angle) you would divide by two. If you have a southwest wind at 20 mph and your 300 yards from your objective, you would multiply your Range Factor of three times 20 mph and get 60. Because it’s a half value wind, divide 60 by two and you get 30. Divide 30 by the constant of 15, which equals two MOA. Multiply two (MOA) by four (clicks in a minute) and find that we need to put eight clicks of windage to the right to hit our target. Competition shooters will dissect the wind value even further, into quarters, sixteenths, etc. But after years of counter-sniper training, we have concluded that there is no need to over- think the windage to strike your objective.

What have we learned:

1. What exactly is a Minute of Angle (MOA)?

2. How does understanding MOA help you as counter-snipers?

3. Is one MOA always one inch at any distance?

4. What is the “Golden Rule?”

5. Using the “drop and drift” method, and your rounds are 4 inches lower than your center aim point at 200 yards, how do you determine what your come up is to hit point of aim, point of impact?

6. Using the wind adjustment formula, while 200 yards from your objective, you have a full value wind at 15mph, left to right, what is your MOA?

Answer:

1. Minute of Angle is a unit of measurement that corresponds to a specific area on an imaginary vertical or horizontal circle. One Minute of Angle is 1/60th of one degree in a 360- degree circle.

2. Simply stated, by understanding what MOA is at every range, you better determine what kind of windage and elevation adjustments to put on your scopes in a faster, more efficient way.

3. 1 MOA equals one inch ONLY at 100 yards. 1 MOA at 200 yards is two inches. 1 MOA at 300 yards is three inches. 1 MOA at 400 yards is four inches. 1 MOA at 550 yards is 5 1/2 inches and so on.

4. THERE ARE ALWAYS 4 CLICKS IN THAT 1 MOA

5. 1 MOA equals two inches at 200 yards and you are 4 inches low, you divide 4 inches by 2 inches (MOA) and you get 2 MOA that we need to come up to get on target. Since you will never forget that there are always four clicks in one MOA, regardless of yard line, then simply multiply the four clicks in each minute by the two MOA needed to determine your come up, then you need 8 clicks up on the scope to be on target.

6. Range Factor is two. Multiply by Wind Velocity of 15. This equals 30. 30 is then divided by the constant of 15, which equals two MOA needed to correct for this wind. Remember that there are always four clicks in every MOA regardless of yardage, and multiply two (MOA) by four (clicks in a minute) and determine that you need to put 8 clicks of windage to the left to hit center mass of your target.

REMEMBER- “PROFESSIONAL’S PRACTICE”