Best base for beginner target shooting 10moa vs 15 vs 20

[GottaEatCheese]

Hey, I'm a beginner target shooter, I have a Remington 700 SPS tactical in .308. it has a 20" target barrel and vortex viper 2-10x44 mrad scope. I'm currently able to easily shoot precisely out to 250 yards with a 200 yard zero (max distance at my local range)

Next weekend I'm planning to try to push out further and make a dope sheet of some sort.

I have a zero moa rail tho. So I'm thinking I will quickly run out of adjustment on my scope. This is what my scope looks like right now with a 200 yard zero.

Should I be looking for a 10 moa rail? According to my math that would allow me to keep my nice 200 yard zero for the flat range and have enough adjustment to push out to around 700, which is as much as I can probably find to shoot locally. Thoughts? Am I missing something? Is my YouTube and Google education flawed? Thanks for your time!

(Scope is in mrad)

 

[26Reload]

Does that turret cap not come off?..now that you have the scope set for 200...cannot the dial be reset to zero also?

 

[GottaEatCheese]

Yeah the cap comes off with 3 Allen bolts, I will just turn it so zero is zero and put it back on, my worry is that according to the horizontal lines on the turret I only have 2mils of adjustment up remaining (point of impact up for longer shots)

According to an online dope sheet calculator that is only enough to dial in a 450yard shot.

I want to be able to try to reach out to 800 with this setup once my skills are there.

Also it looks like I have 4 mils of downward adjustment I don't need. if I mounted the scope on a 10 moa rail I would still be able too zero it at 200 with wiggle room and still reach out pretty far (700ish) before switching to holdovers (10 moa is under 3 mrad)

However 10 moa rails don't appear to be as easy to get as 15 or 20. If I'm gonna spend big bucks on a nightforce 10moa rail shipped from the states I wanna make sure I'm not ******* up, especially if I can get a decent 15 at Cabela's or something.

 

[johnnyk]

My thoughts? go with a 20 MOA rail. You should have enough to do your 200yd zero and still make it to 700 with extra.

 

[GottaEatCheese]

Cool, thanks! I think I'm going to try it out as is and see if it sucks, I'll keep my eye out for a 20 moa rail and get some shipping quotes, Canada+covid sucks for getting stuff.

 

[yobuck]

From your existing zero.
Look in the scope as you add elevation and be (counting the clicks.)
When the reticle stops moving thats it, your done.

But now you know whats still left after your zero.

 

[GottaEatCheese]

I ended up doing this last night, I had 10 mils of adjustment up remaining, which would probably be ok, but when I looked through the scope with it maxed the optical quality wasn't as good, and since I have a bunch of room to go down I ordered a 20 moa rail, that way I'll stay more in the middle where the optic is supposed to be. **** there's a lot to learn about this stuff lol.

 

[xsn10s]

It looks like 4 mils downward elevation is around 13 moa. So 10 moa rail. But here's my suggestion, save your money and upgrade the scope for more elevation. A scope where you could put on at least a 20 moa rail later on. 40 moa would be even better. Then as your range increased you'd already have a scope which would allow for more rail options.

 

[xsn10s]

Maybe I'm wrong but something isn't adding up. Is this the model scope you have? https://www.binocularsnscopes.com/Vortex-VIPER-PST-2-5-10X44-EBR-1-MRAD-p/v-pst-210s1-m.htm

 

[yobuck]

Just add the 20 minit base and go shoot the gun.

 

[xsn10s]

I ended up doing this last night, I had 10 mils of adjustment up remaining, which would probably be ok, but when I looked through the scope with it maxed the optical quality wasn't as good, and since I have a bunch of room to go down I ordered a 20 moa rail, that way I'll stay more in the middle where the optic is supposed to be. **** there's a lot to learn about this stuff lol.

If you have 10 mils elevation left you should be good out to 900 yards. You should probably do the same on the declination or down count and see how many mils you have in that direction. If you have a Viper PST then you should have total 25 mils of elevation range. I can't see why you couldn't do a 20 MOA or 40 MOA rail.

 

[GottaEatCheese]

Maybe I'm wrong but something isn't adding up. Is this the model scope you have? https://www.binocularsnscopes.com/Vortex-VIPER-PST-2-5-10X44-EBR-1-MRAD-p/v-pst-210s1-m.htm

The numbers on the turret 1-6 were number of turns, not number of mils as I thought

1 turn= 5 mils

Even tho the turret says 6 it only turns 5 times, 25 mils total adjustment.

So ya I was confused. By what the 1-6 numbers meant.

I ended up putting a 20 moa base on. Might change the rings cus the new base is about 1/8" taller, might get some low rings. Right now my stock is covered in 1/4" thick of tape to get a good cheek rest.

 

[Taylorbok]

I try to use a base with 1/2 the internal adjustment of the scope, or just a bit less. that way you get to use all of your dial. for your cheek weld you can buy some super cheap kydex cheek risers on amazon or other places that work fairly well. Mark and Sam have a few videos on setting up scopes you may want to watch, In the end it all depends on your goal.

 

[Cannon3440]

I'm putting a TPS 20 MOA on mine, finally as the range I was at only had up to 300yds, here 600 yds now.

On the cheap and quick, get some gorilla tape and some rubber sheet and make a cheek rest. Or, go out and buy a strap on unit to put on the rear stock. Amazon has some great ones for sale, in particular look up the "Tactical Sharpshooter Rifle Stock Pack | Cheek Pad | Buttstock Ammo Holder | Zippered Utility Pouch", I'm ordering one of those for my Rem 700. Nice for $35 and great reviews. You can slip rubber padding under it and re-adjust as needed.