Picanitty Rail choice?

[Cafard]

Hello everyone i got big question for all the pro out there. I got a Steyr Prohunter in 300wm and i want to instal a Swaro Z3 4-12X50 Ballistic Turret (1"tube) on it. I want to get Picanitty rail and TPS rings. I want to be able to zero the rifle at 200 yard and use the 3 other quick setting from the Ballistic Turret to shoot at 300, 400 and 500yard. Rifle is for hunting mainly and i won't shoot anything over 500yard.

My question is should i get the 0 moa rail or the 20 moa rail??? In the best world i would be able to zero the scope at 200yard and still have couple adjustment left.

I ask this because i went on swaro website and the ballistic calculator tell, with the the ammo i picked, i will run out of adjustments at 540yard.

Any pro opinion or advices for my situation is greatly welcome.

Thanks

 

[scottyboy]

i've had a 0 MOA rail before and after a while, i realized it didnt make much sense (to me at least) ever since then, i have gone with 20 MOA rail and never looked back.

also, i would err on the side of caution with the ballistic calculator and give yourself some room on the elevation - - meaning, just because swaro says you run out at 540 yards, real world results might tell you differently once you start verifying everything.

lastly, the 20 MOA rail will let you stretch out the legs on your win mag...should you ever decide to do so

 

[Cafard]

Thanks for the reply! According to Swaro ballistic calculator i run out of adjustments at 540y with 180gr nosler partition and at 580y with 180gr Barnes TTSX. Im young and new to this and i would like to go in the right direction with my setup. I want to use the rifle for more "long range" shots but if a moose get out of the bush in front of me at 50yard it still need to get the job done.

The z3 4-12X50 has an elevation adjustment range of 43" at 100yard. Cut that in half (21.5) with a 20moa rail i will be pretty much close to my max setting. How good it is to leave adjustments that cranked, still get a clear vision at 100-200y? No over time cons to the internal of the scope?

Thanks!

 

[el matador]

Many people don't realize that it takes about 6 MOA of elevation to get zeroed at 200 yards (if you start out with scope exactly parallel to bore axis). I would use the 20 MOA rail.

 

[FEENIX]

Get the 20 MOA. Below is from an optics SME ...

Even though the scope adjustment range may be large enough to get to 1,000 yds, you should use a 20 moa base. That's because off-axis optical aberrations that degrade resolution increase with incidence angle. You should set up your rifle so that the incidence angle is minimized for long distance shots (where resolution matters most).

Assume the base is within +/-10 moa of alignment with the rifle bore. Let's also assume your bullet drops no more than 30 moa at 1,000 yds, and you like to zero your rifle at 100 yds. With a standard base, you would need up to -40 moa of adjustment to get to 1,000 yds. That means you need a total 80 moa of adjustment.

With a 20 moa base you would need up to -20 moa to get to 1,000 yds, but up to 26 moa to get to a 100 yd zero (worse case boresight alignment in each case). That means you need a total 52 moa of adjustment. With a 20 moa base, however, the incidence angle at 1,000 yds is 20 moa less, so the image will have less blur.