I understnad a 1" moa give you a 1 inch group at 100 yards, if I have it right, but what does moa stand for?

Dan

Minute of Angle (MOA)

The angular unit of measure generally used to describe the accuarcy capability of ammunition and guns. It equals 1/60 of a degree, making 21600 minutes in circle. One minute of angle subtends 1.047 inches at 100 yards, twice that amount (2.094 inches) at 200 yards, and so on. For all practical purposes, 1 minute of angle is considered to be 1 inch at 100 yards, 2 inches at 200 yards, 3 at 300, etc.

Sight adjustments are generally established and regulated in minutes of angle or fractions thereof. A sight described as having 1/4-minute click or adjustment is one in which 1 click or graduation fo movement will shift the line of sight--in relation to bullet impact--1/4 inch at 100 yards.

Thats out of my firearms encyclopedia from outdoor life. According to Ruger Arms their rifles are up to manufacturing specs if they shoot under 3 minutes of angle at a hundred yards. Thankfully almost all do much better than that.

I hope that answers your question.

I think ya pretty much summed it up!
:D

Remember geometery class?...well...rememeber it well enough for a circle to be 360degrees?

OK...each degree can be broken down into 60 minutes. One of those minutes is 1/60th of a degree...which works out to be about 1.05" at 100yards...but we use 1" in firearms-world.

IDea here is that it is an angle...so 3" groups at 300yards is still 1MOA perfomace (as would 1/10th inch groups at 10yards). Beacuse it is an angle, the value in inches grows with distance, but the angle itself (1/60th of a degree) stayes the same.
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Ever use GPS? Longitude and latitude are broken down into hours minutes and seconds....they're angles too.
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This use to make a lot more sense when clocks were analog.

Remember when folks are talking about groups and MOA, they are measuring the "diameter" of the group, and figuring the MOA. If a group measures 2" at 100 yards, then the rifle is capable of (approximately) 2 MOA. If a 2" group was shot at 200 yards it is 1 MOA.

Also, since theoreticaly the group is centered around the crosshairs or sights, a 1 MOA capable rifle can put all of the shots with 1/2" of the point of aim at 100 yards (the crosshairs are at the center of the group)

Minute of Angle (MOA)

The angular unit of measure generally used to describe the accuarcy capability of ammunition and guns. It equals 1/60 of a degree, making 21600 minutes in circle. One minute of angle subtends 1.047 inches at 100 yards, twice that amount (2.094 inches) at 200 yards, and so on. For all practical purposes, 1 minute of angle is considered to be 1 inch at 100 yards, 2 inches at 200 yards, 3 at 300, etc.

Sight adjustments are generally established and regulated in minutes of angle or fractions thereof. A sight described as having 1/4-minute click or adjustment is one in which 1 click or graduation fo movement will shift the line of sight--in relation to bullet impact--1/4 inch at 100 yards.

Thats out of my firearms encyclopedia from outdoor life. According to Ruger Arms their rifles are up to manufacturing specs if they shoot under 3 minutes of angle at a hundred yards. Thankfully almost all do much better than that.

I hope that answers your question.



Thanks so much for the help,

Dan