YouвЂ™ve established a proper rifle zero when all six of those elements align to put the shot where itвЂ™s supposed to be. If you want to know more, read my thorough breakdown and comparison between MRAD and MOA. However, I canвЂ™t think of any iron sight that use this system. YouвЂ™ll often see this abbreviated as MRAD, or just вЂњmils.вЂќ This system takes advantage of a different geometry system and is very common with precision shooting optics. I would be remiss if I didnвЂ™t mention that there is another angular measurement system called Milliradians. ThatвЂ™s a much easy way to handle your iron sight zero. If your adjustments are in half MOA increments, then four clicks moves your point of impact 16 inches at 400 yards. If a half-minute of angle covers about half an inch at 100 yards, then it covers two inches at 400 yards. ThatвЂ™s the beauty of working in angular measurement as opposed to linear.ДЄs the distance grows, so does the amount of space covered by a given angle. If you compare columns 2 and 3 of the ballistic chart, youвЂ™ll notice that the deviation from the drop in inches grows way faster than the deviation in minutes of angle. This helps greatly speed up the adjustment process. If you do the math, that works out to 30 seconds of angle or 15 seconds of angle, respectively. Most modern iron sights adjust in increments of Half-MOA and Quarter-MOA. Since adjusting in single seconds of angle is impractical, we need a middle ground. Extending the imaginary lines out from 1/60th of a degree now means that the lines still diverge, but at a slower rate. This much smaller Minute of Angle (MOA) equates to 1.047 inches at 100 yards. One sixtieth (1/60) of a degree is a minute of angle. So rather than use a degree for our sights, we divide it into 60 segments. Those two lines would continue diverging until they were over 50 feet apart at 1000 yards. That five-foot distance between one degree and the next degree at 100 yards is impossibly coarse for a marksmanвЂ™s iron sight zero. Technically they would be 62.82 inches,В or 5.235 feet, but five feet works well enough for our example. By the time you both walk 100 yards, youвЂ™ll be about five feet apart.

You follow a line extending from the 270 degree mark and your friend follows a line extending from the 271 degree mark. Imagine you and a friend starting at the same point. But you have to think in terms of distance. On a compass, the distance between hash mark and the next is pretty small. The compass has 360 hash marks around the bezel, each one corresponding to a single degree of angle. Think of a compass, the kind you use for land navigation ItвЂ™s the easiest measurement system to relate to. I totally understand why they do it this way. Most of the time, they do this based on linearВ measurement. Most novices take their rifle to the range and fiddle with the iron sight adjustments until they end up at something resembling a zero. So what is a minute of angle, and why does it matter? Many optics work in 1/4 Minute of Angle, вЂњQuarter MOA.вЂќ The detachable A4 sight moves 1/2 Minute of Angle, вЂњHalf MOA,вЂќ for every click. The classic A2 sight, for example, moves the point of impact 1 Minute of Angle (MOA) for every click. Each model moves the point of impact a different amount for each вЂњclickвЂќ of adjustment you move the sight.

ItвЂ™s important to talk about angular measurements because not all iron sights are constructed the same. If you want, you could skip my explanation and jump right to my zeroing procedure.Д«ut a littleВ extra information never hurt anyone, right? Before I get to the how-to, letвЂ™s lay out a foundation for angular measurements. Most articles on this topic only go so far as giving you the procedure, but they lack an explanation of why youвЂ™re doing the steps youвЂ™re doing. The same thought process works for a simple set of lightweight fixed sights, folders, or adjustable carry handle sights. This article is about finding and setting a solid zero for your iron sights, regardless of their type. What I amВ saying is that irons can still work well while you save towards a well-made optic. Good optics provide a huge benefit over iron sights with regards to speed and capability. DonвЂ™t get me wrong here, IвЂ™m not saying that irons are вЂњjust as good asвЂќ a quality optic.

A2 carry handle onruger ar-556