Can anyone explain MOA to me, i have read some stuff about it but it came out kinda murky

i'll quote "nosler reloading guide number four"

minute of angle- a unit of angular measurement equal to 1/60th of a degree. usually approximated as 1" (actually 1.047") at 100 yards, 2" at 200 yards, ect.

monty

One minute-of-angle is one sixtyth of a degree. (Also known as a minute-of-arc.) And one second-of-angle is one sixtyth of a minute-of-angle. Well, it just happens that one inch subtends (takes up) one minute-of-angle at a distance of 100 yards. (Close enuf, anyway ;) )

One minute-of-angle (MOA) accuracy in a rifle means all the bullet holes in the target fall within a one-inch circle when shot at 100 yards. Rather, their centers fall within that one-inch circle.

One MOA is considered the Gold Standard for big game rifles. Most shooters call three shots with a one-inch circle at 100 yards, 1 MOA. Three shots because that's about the most you'll ever get at a big game animal. However, lots of shooters have to do lots of shooting before they ever see that magic 1 MOA group so they can brag to their buddies that their musty truskets are "MOA guns". You'll see this a lot in the gun magazines, too.

However, small sample sizes can fool you. Do you want to know the truth or do you want bragging rights?

The NRA standard, in comparison, is the average of five, 5-shot groups for 25 shots. This is a much more valid statistical sample. They have a sterling reputation to guard and they refrain from shooting until they get that one statistical fluke of an anomolously small group and try to hang the accuracy of the rifle on that one group.

Group size is a statistical thing. I've seen a recommendation that you just keep putting up new targets over each other and shoot groups into it all through the year, at different times of day and in all kinds of weather so you'll get a REAL idea of how your gun shoots!

God bless and keep shooting!
-91

I realize that this is way off thread..BUT...I have read rifle adds that now boast sub-moa performence. The qwest for the elusive 5 shot, one inch group seems to be the holy grail of the American rifleman. Seeking the ultimant accuracy attainable is a sport in itself and americans spend megabucks every year on new guns and gear trying to find it. The "other side" says, if you can hit a 6" pie plate at a hundred 'n fifty yards every time then throw the ice chest in the back of the truck and let's go huntin'! (P.S. Yes, I have shot a 5 shot, one inch group.........once)

Just the way the world deals with circles...divide them into degrees, hours, minutes, seconds. In a world of digital clocks, we forget that circles are arranged in base 12 (which explains the 12, 24, 60 nature of time keeping...all divide into 360 evenly..of course if you punch a time clock, it divides by base ten, so your 12:30 comes out 12.5).

Idea is that an angle stays the same over distance...1 minute of angle has the same meaning for any range...the group is larger as range progresses, smaller as the range grows shorter, but the angle is constant.

Have to go look it up...but a "real" minute of angle is something closer to 1.047" than 1.0" at 100 yards...but 1" is the agreeded upon measure fro 1MOA at 100 yards (which would be 1/10th an inch at 10 yards or 15 inches at 1500 yards).

Could go to seconds if you've a need to avoid fractions...1/3MOA would become 20seconds.
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Ever use a GPS system...longitude and latitude are based on the same type of system...and your location is expressed in angles

The truth is MOA really means Mistakes On Average. It's an excuse to try different loads, barrels, powders ect. Some say it's a mythical goal for snobs. Others who shoot serious bench say it's like shooting a barn door. I try not to shoot MOAs as they are not good cooking. Seriously, I wouldn't own a gun not capable of it, there are so many that will in any flavor imaginable. More powder said the captian! Clyde

As the others have said, it BASICALLY amounts to 1" @100 yards, 2" @ 200 yards, so on and so forth. Shoot at a paper plate, at greater distances, until you can't hit it. You'll know how far you should be shooting at game animals.

Personally, I never brag about 1 moa groups. The guys I know would never know what the heck it means!

Yeah, Steve -

But, tell'um you can keep the shots in a dime, nickle or quarter and they'll understand! :D

Yeah, Steve -

But, tell'um you can keep the shots in a dime, nickle or quarter and they'll understand! :D
I'm all for the man who gets a thrill out of spending a great deal of time and effort at the range seeking that quarter size group, it is a sport unto itself. But I'm with KicH, if I can hit a pie plate at long range evreytime, the guns good, LETS GO HUNTIN'!