what is moa

[bigben]

I know this might sound a little silly but not sure what MOA means. I know it is minute of angle But what do you mean when you shot a gun that is supposed to shoot MOA with factory ammo. I am kinda new so not sure. Thanks for any help.

[Shawn Carlock]

BigBen,
With out over complicating the definition, from the shooters point of view, 1 moa is an angular measurment that starts centered at the rifle's muzzle and extends forever, when this angle reaches the target it will represent a certain distance. 1 moa is roughly 1" (actually 1.047") at 100 yards. Now the same 1 minute of angle @ 500 yards is roughly 5.0 inches for practical use, 5.235" more exactly. Simply put 1 MOA accuracy is generally reffered to as shooting under 1 inch per 100 yards of distance, like under 3 inches @ 300 yards.

Note: Just because you have a rifle capable of moa accuracy at 100 yards doesn't mean it will shoot under 10 inches at 1000 yards.

Shawn

[bigben]

so basically if a rifle shoots .25 moa groups at 100 yds it will shoot within 1.25 groups at 500 yds.

Bigben...yes and no.

Yes in theory, but add in human error and no.

[Shawn Carlock]

BigBen,
The moa measurment is the same for everything. How well a particular rifle shoots is another. The only way to find out is to shoot the rifle at a given distance and measure the groups. Now just because a rifle shoots 1/2 moa (.50 inches @ 100 yards) doesn't mean anything other than it is a 1/2 moa rifle at 100 yards. Most rifles shoot progressively poorer as distance increases. Take your 1/2 moa 100 yard rifle, I would expect that it would shoot some where around 3.5 inches at 500 yards or .70 moa. The bottom line is you just have to shoot the rifle at the distances. If you are in the market for a 1 moa 1000 yard rifle the only sure way to know if you in fact have one is to shoot it at that distance.

Shawn

[bigben]

I kinda fiqured that it was without human error added in. So one more question for ya. How do you find out what a moa is on a rifle.