Seeking Vortex Strike Eagle users (especially EBR-7C MOA reticle ones!!)

[Big_Sparky]

How’do All!!

I’m having a little bit of a mind melt moment and hoping for some assistance!

So…. I’ll try and keep this first section fairly brief - as this will eventually turn into a ballistics question and that might need me to have had some more sleep!! Ha ha! I’ve have a Vortex Strike Eagle set up on my Bergara .308 on a 20MOA rail - I plan to use the rifle for some longer range work (my stalking .308 is a much lighter affair!). Finally (I won’t bore anyone with reasons!) I got round to some range time last week in order to get it bore sighted and zeroed in at 100m. I discovered that I essentially wasn’t able to do this - as with the vertical adjustment set to zero I was still high. I’m assuming this is the effect of the 20MOA rail? In order to hit the target successfully i was using the marks in the top half of the reticle - pic attached to hopefully explain - with the line marked “22” as my point of aim.

In the first instance, I’m trying to understand what that “22” equates to. It can’t surely be 22MOA can it? I can’t have been almost 2 feet high? Any help would be wonderful / the booklet that came with the scope does little to nothing to explain the reticle and most of the info I’ve found online is either nonsense or quite confusing - SA80’s werent really complicated at all….


Basically - I’m intending to go on a local range and fire at 300m - according to the ammo ballistics data I’d expect a max drop of 125mm at 300m. So I’m wanting to dial my scope to take that drop into account - BUT - also taking into account putting the point of aim as the crosshairs not the “22” mark. So I first need to understand the reticle markings!

Any, clear, sensible answers would be gratefully received!

Picture beautifully marked up to show the little line I’m referring to!!

Cheers!!

 

[xavierdoc]

Does the scope have a zero-stop? There may be lots of "down" elevation left in the turret that you can't access if the zero stop is set/engaged.

There's no way a 20moa rail should use up all your elevation adjustment to zero "down" to 100yds unless there is some other problem (like mounts or rail incorrectly fitted.)

Which Strike Eagle is it? Is FFP? If so you're reticle pic suggests you are holding under by 22moa to be on at 100yds: for my 308Win that would mean I was zero'd at 650m.

 

[Big_Sparky]

It does have a zero stop - but not fitted - scope is brand new & the zero stop is still in its little bag. And yes - it’s a FFP - 5 - 25 x 56 and in MOA.

Ok - so you’re saying those marks are 1MOA per mark?

 

[xavierdoc]

It does have a zero stop - but not fitted - scope is brand new & the zero stop is still in its little bag. And yes - it’s a FFP - 5 - 25 x 56 and in MOA.

Ok - so you’re saying those marks are 1MOA per mark?

I'm not sure which marks you mean specifically (there are many) but the values are in your pic (on the vertical cross hair above the centre dot the smallest increment marked with a hash are 1MOA up until 12MOA, when they become 0.5MOA.)

That model of scope advertises 110MOA of total adjustment and you've used all of its downward travel plus 22MOA hold under in the reticle to get zero'd at 100yds. Something ain't right.

How much elevation do you have if you dial all the way up from your current "0" setting? It should be about 110MOA if you really are at the lowest limit of elevation.

If you have the full 110MOA upward elevation available then there is a significant problem somewhere else in your set up which is hoovering-up your downward adjustment. If you only have about 47MOA of elevation available it suggests the zero "rev-stop" is installed (despite there being the collar in the bag!) Removal/fitting of the zero-stop is covered in the manual.

What mounts are you using? Do they have any angle built in or added with inserts?

Have you shot this rifle, rail and load at 100yds with a different scope?

Not wanting to teach your Granny to suck eggs but do you understand that for range work you would normally zero the rifle at 100yds and then dial elevation adjustment "up" if you wanted to shoot further? So for my 308Win shooting 155gr Amax, zero'd at 100m, to shoot 300m I dial 5.2MOA up if I want to aim directly at the target with the centre of crosshairs OR, I don't touch the turret and hold over 5.2MOA with the reticle markings (less precise, but quicker.)

My 155Amax load drops about 450mm at 300m so I'm puzzled your value of 125mm- it seems unlikely to be correct unless you're shooting v light bullets very fast (my lightest 308Win load is 125gr and that still drops 16" at 300m) or that drop is based on a zero at a further distance than 100m.

So clearly something is amiss here (pun intended).

 

[trickie]

Daft question……maybe.
Did you fit the 20mg a rail yourself? If so did you fit it the in the correct orientation? The 20mm higher end at the butt end bot the muzz end?

 

[Big_Sparky]

Ok - hopefully to answer your questions - as for the marks - the line at the 12 o’clock position going up from the very center of the reticle - I’ve circled that in yellow on the pic I’ve used and also added a little yellow line on the 22. So that line starts at 0 at the centre and goes to up to 32 at the highest mark.

As for the adjustment up - I’m assuming I’ve got the full 110MOA but (honestly!) I haven’t tried - the scope came out of the box set to zero elevation and zero windage. As mentioned the zero stop clear isn’t attached but I haven’t “done” anything else either to the scope turrets so happy to accept theres something I should have done (I’ll go through the manual again in the morning)

So - the rail is a Britannia 20MOA rail - fitted as per the (well - it only goes on one way lol) - and a set of 34mm Dolphin High Rings - again - followed the little sheet Mik sent with the rings as I’ve never set up a brand new rifle from scratch before. That point made - no - I’ve never fired the rifle set up any other way. It’s also brand fire new out of the box.

Yes - understand the basic theory of dialling up etc - 15 years as a range officer in the forces but, as mentioned, military sights are much simpler things! I’m using GGG 7.62mm NATO Ball - 147gr. I’m more than happy to have misread the data sheet and have the 125mm number wrong - but, in fairness, that wouldn’t alter my original question - ie what is the actual “distance” of the 22 mark.

Hopefully that’s cleared a few bits up! Please feel free to question away - I’m very happy to be treat as thick as can be! After all, no matter after how many years of shooting, everydays a school day!!

 

[Big_Sparky]

Daft question……maybe.
Did you fit the 20mg a rail yourself? If so did you fit it the in the correct orientation? The 20mm higher end at the butt end bot the muzz end?

Yes - but believe you me - I have checked

 

[Big_Sparky]

Thanks for the questions thus far - always good to double check everything but I’m reasonably confident it’s set up on (except for the zero stop element - but - again - I think that’s correct too but I’ll certainly re-read the book tomorrow! I’m on the range tomorrow with a gun club some of which have shot target and what not at Bisley etc etc for most of their lives - so I’m hopeful one of them will notice if I’ve done something silly (it wouldn’t be the first time!) I shall update!! Cheers

 

[trickie]

Ok, you have an moa reticule. Therefore the numbers going vertical or horizontally are moa’s so the 22 is 22moa. The divisions are half an moa, the centre dot being .14 moa.
An moa is 1” (a fraction more but to small to be a usable difference) meaning that 22moa is 22inches of adjustment at 100 yards

Vortex say the most common issue with the scope elevation or wind age is over tightening of the scope mounts 14 to 17 ft inches should be enough, ft inches not ft lbs.

Sorry if I’m teaching you to suck eggs, but it sounds like you no experience with scopes. SA85’s are a different kettle of fish. You should be able to dial out to at least 400 yards if not 800+ with 20 moa + half your scope elevation.
Id undo the scope caps and refit - if your using an Allen key fit the long end and twist the short end with a finger and thumb, don’t try to hard (especially if your used to exert lots of pressure) and try again.

the reticle is the same for the range of scopes but the elevation range changes with individual models.

 

[takbok]

@Big_Sparky you say that your scope came set to 'zero' elevation and windage from factory- which would mean the middle of the adjustment range. You then say that it's shooting 22 MOA high with the scope set on 'zero' elevation. That confuses me - it implies that you haven't adjusted scope elevation.

Why don't you adjust the scope elevation down 22 MOA and see what that does?

Put up some pics of your setup and also close ups of the scope turrets please. I'm sure it won't be hard to get it sorted out.

 

[takbok]

It's also interesting that your POI is 22MOA off with a 20MOA rail. There must be downward adjustment available if there aren't other glaringly obvious issues.

 

[disco_ike]

Hi

My vortex scope has shims that go in the turret it came with some in and some in a bag. Loosen the hex holing the turret on and check if there are shims in it already as this would limit further down adjustment potentially.

 

[Big_Sparky]

Well - that’s maybe answered part of the question already!! So - I’ve attached some pics - I’ve assumed, with the turret being set to zero that it wouldn’t go further down - and, as ridiculous as this might seem, I didn’t try and get it further down…. I simply used the reticle to aim off and get the rounds on the target. (See years of hitting the target being important rather than the technicalities!) But - yes - it will go further down!

So - really then - my original question is still the same - those marks in the top of the reticle are MOA? Therefore - if I now adjust down 22MOA (now that I’ve realised the turret is just set at that point and I can turn it down more - take it off and put it back on at any point )I should be bang on at 100.

Other comments - yes - scope and rings and rail etc all set up with a digital torque wrench as per the manufacturer’s setting because you’re right - I don’t have any experience with setting up a scope that wasn’t just issued to me! This is the only rifle and scope I’ve bought brand new - the rest have been complete packages bought second hand - I’ve therefore just had to zero them in to myself - but, in each case, they’ve actually not been far off when I’ve started

 

[trickie]

I’m happy it’s all sorted.

‘Yes. dialling 22 moa setting the zero and zero stop (if you never intend shooting below this range - if you do on occasions you’d need to know the hold under) As has been mentioned setting the Zero stop reduces overall available vertical adjustment.

When you’ve set to zero, how much adjustment do you have?

At a rough estimate a 308 (I don’t have one) will need about 36 moa to reach 1,000 yards - Guys correct me if I’m out on this please.
If you don’t have that much.

@disco_ike mentioned shims, you’ll need to have a look, should you have some, and your scope still has a full revolution below the 100 zero, then I’d consider a 10moa shim. In the base of the rear mount.

 

[trickie]

You might know me, as this applied, just older now and retired over 20 years

In the words of a rather bad tempered, old WO1..... “every day’s a school day”

 

[Big_Sparky]

Back from the range and happy to report a 2” grouping at 300m in fairly crappy weather. Ultimately (another case of me making an assumption and being a little dim ha ha - like the time I spent an hour and got quite stressed out trying to get my MOD on the rifle before an early start and eventually realised I’d picked up the wrong MOD……..) Also found a generic 7.62 NATO Ball Ballistic data sheet as the one I was using from GGG has a figure for 300m but it’s not a drop figure (to be fair im not sure what it is!) - so - down 22 and back up 4.5 - then a little fiddle around on the firing point and I was a happy man!

1000% - everydays a school day - there’s no such thing as a stupid question and the good folks of SD have struck again! Still need a reticle lesson mind cos there’s some weird stuff going on in there

Cheers!!!