quarterMOA

quarterMOA is a term used in firearms optics referring to a quarter minute of angle, or 0.25 MOA. It describes a very small angular unit employed for sight adjustments and reticle subtensions. The expression is commonly encountered in the context of rifle scope turrets and ballistic calculations, where precise, repeatable increments matter.

One MOA equals roughly 1.047 inches at 100 yards, so 0.25 MOA corresponds to about 0.26175 inches at the same distance. The distance represented by a quarter MOA scales with range; at 200 yards it is about 0.5235 inches, and at 300 yards about 0.785 inches. In practice, many scopes offer 1/4 MOA per click, meaning each click moves the point of impact by that amount at 100 yards, with the effect increasing linearly at longer distances.

quarterMOA is commonly used to describe turret click values and reticle subtensions in MOA-based optics. It enables fine tuning of elevation and windage corrections and supports precise holdovers along a grid or by ballistic calculation. Some reticles are marked in MOA or sub-divided into 0.25 MOA increments to facilitate rapid adjustments without a calculator.

While 0.25 MOA increments provide greater granularity than larger adjustments, practical accuracy depends on rifle stability, ammunition consistency, and environmental conditions. Mechanical tolerances and parallax can limit effective precision, particularly at long range.