“Down” Elevation Turret Travel

[hkmp5ks]

Hello, first off apologies for not knowing the correct terminology but I hope I can express my question clearly enough…

I have an ATACR 7-35 on a 20 MOA rail with scope rings, meaning 0 compensation on the scope rings for a total of 20MOA from the rail only. My 100yd zero is 12 clicks up from the bottom of my elevation turret.

I went to shoot at 1760yds (1 mile) and the Kestrel said to I needed 37 mils of elevation hold. Having already used 12 for my zero, I only have 23 available on the turret dial, so I had to hold 14 after dialing the 23. Which got me thinking, if I add more elevation compensation via a 40 MOA rail (20 more than I’m currently running) plus a 20 MOA scope mount, I would gain all that wasted turret travel…

Is there a reason I should retain some ability to dial “down” with my turret? Or can I go ahead and eliminate all, or almost all, of the downwards travel on the turret using the combination of scope mount and rail without any issues? I doubt I’ll be using loads that will differ that drastically but what do you guys think? And if I should aim to retain some of that downward travel, how much should be “enough”?

Thank you!!

 

[Slides]

It's just wasted elevation. Pretty much anything other than 223 I mount a scope on get 40MOA+ between rail and unimount unless it's primarily a hunting/occasional target use rifle that will only be shot to ~1000yards.

I suggest you look at Unimounts as you get the cant you want and they are generally easier to use. Athlon do a mount that doesn't cost any more than a decent set of rings if you don't want to spend $400+ on a fancy mount.

 

[M8541Reaper]

I was running a total of 40MOA (20 base 20 mount) when I had my 735ATACR. That left me with 28.7 mils to dial on my elevation if I remember correctly.

if you want more and plan to need it a lot, a prism clip on would be worth it. You don’t want to bottom out your optic with only like .2 mils left under your zero. Some say it effects the internals and clarity, but I don’t know enough about that stuff. I just know that having a few mils under left never hurt my optic’s performance. …but never tried with having less than 1 mil under.

 

[Taylorbok]

I run a couple scopes very close to maxed out on their down travel and haven't had any issues yet.
Good rule of thumb is you can run a rail that is about 50% of the available travel in the scope to be able to zero at 100

 

[hkmp5ks]

I just ordered the NF wedge prism but am also trying to see if someone will make me a 40moa rail for my Axiom action

 

[Taylorbok]

I just ordered the NF wedge prism but am also trying to see if someone will make me a 40moa rail for my Axiom action

check with Mirage ULR

 

[Lite]

Common problem with shooting to 1 mile and most everyone I know including myself had to learn this too. Getting 40 MOA will get you sorted. Enjoy!