I’ve read and heard about a 20moa style base for rifles in order to give them enough vertical adjustment to get out to 1000 yards. Well, last weekend and this weekend got me thinking. I took the 204 out and shot it at 450 yards, according to my parallax adjustment. I know, it’s not the most accurate way to measure distance, but it is pretty close. So, I shoot at this Turkey silhouette that I have, same size as the military / handgun silhouette Turkeys that are placed at 400 meters. Roughly the same distance I was shooting. Ok, I held my aim in the upper 2/3’s of the turkey’s back, and was hitting a little low on the breast. This makes since to me with the load and distance. Roughly 3800fps and about 6 to 8 inches low. So, I have roughly figured that the Turkey is at ~450 yards.
So, this weekend I take the 264 out and shot it at the same turkey at the same exact spot I put it last weekend. I parked my truck in the same place also. I took my 140g Hornaday SST (57.3g IMR - 4831, ~2980 - 3000fps, B.C. 0.520) load and fired a round at it holding a little high, fully expecting it to drop into the turkey. Basically I put the start of the duplex dead center on the turkey. Well, I shot right over it. OOPS, it would seem my gun is zeroed a little farther then I thought. So, I shoot again but this time with a dead center hold. Well, this shot went to the left of the Turkey. The damn wind was blowing pretty hard. On the third shot, I put the horizontal left side duplex dead center and squeezed off a shot. PING. I nailed it dead center and punched a hole clean through it too. The 264 is pretty rough on plate steel!!!
This got me thinking. I don’t think my scope has enough vertical adjustment to reach the 25 to 26 MOA that I need to hold dead center. I am not talking about the Leupold VXIII (which is the current scope on it). When I put the SS 10x42 scope on the 264 I was thinking about shimming the base at the rear.
If I were to take a soda can and cut a shim out of it and placed it under the base.
Would this be a suitable solution to not having to purchase a 20MOA base for the rifle, as I will never use the base again.
Would it give me enough adjustment to reach 1000 yards without holding over?
What kind of stress do you think it would put on the action and base, considering that the base is a one piece and would now be cocked to achieve the desired MOA vertical adjustment?
Do you think that the aluminum can shim would be crush resistant enough to withstand the pressures and forces that are placed on an action during firing? (In order to maintain a repeatable point of aim.)
So, this weekend I take the 264 out and shot it at the same turkey at the same exact spot I put it last weekend. I parked my truck in the same place also. I took my 140g Hornaday SST (57.3g IMR - 4831, ~2980 - 3000fps, B.C. 0.520) load and fired a round at it holding a little high, fully expecting it to drop into the turkey. Basically I put the start of the duplex dead center on the turkey. Well, I shot right over it. OOPS, it would seem my gun is zeroed a little farther then I thought. So, I shoot again but this time with a dead center hold. Well, this shot went to the left of the Turkey. The damn wind was blowing pretty hard. On the third shot, I put the horizontal left side duplex dead center and squeezed off a shot. PING. I nailed it dead center and punched a hole clean through it too. The 264 is pretty rough on plate steel!!!
This got me thinking. I don’t think my scope has enough vertical adjustment to reach the 25 to 26 MOA that I need to hold dead center. I am not talking about the Leupold VXIII (which is the current scope on it). When I put the SS 10x42 scope on the 264 I was thinking about shimming the base at the rear.
If I were to take a soda can and cut a shim out of it and placed it under the base.
Would this be a suitable solution to not having to purchase a 20MOA base for the rifle, as I will never use the base again.
Would it give me enough adjustment to reach 1000 yards without holding over?
What kind of stress do you think it would put on the action and base, considering that the base is a one piece and would now be cocked to achieve the desired MOA vertical adjustment?
Do you think that the aluminum can shim would be crush resistant enough to withstand the pressures and forces that are placed on an action during firing? (In order to maintain a repeatable point of aim.)
