The Viper® XLR Reticle Designed to maximize long distance shooting and ranging abilities, the Viper® XLR™ MOA reticle can be used to effectively determine ranges, holdovers, windage, and moving lead corrections. Ultra-precision laser etching on the glass reticle ensures that MOA specifications will be kept to the tightest tolerances possible. The fine center crosshair subtensions on the XLR MOA reticle were carefully chosen to provide the optimum balance between precision aiming and low light visibility.
MOA Subtensions The XLR reticle is based on minute-of-angle (MOA) subtensions. MOA measurements are based on degrees and minutes: 360 degrees in a circle, 60 minutes in a degree for a total of 21,600 minutes. These angular measurements are used to estimate range and correct for bullet trajectory drop in riflescopes. 1 MOA will correspond to 1.05 inches at a 100 yard distance, 2.1 inches at 200 yards, 3.15 inches at 300 yards, and so on.
Ranging MOA measurements are very effective for ranging using a simple formula. To use this formula, the shooter needs to know the size of the target, or nearby object, in inches. Example MOA Ranging Formula Target Size (Inches) x 95.5 Range (Yards) = Measured MOAs Using either the vertical or horizontal MOA scale, place the reticle on a target of known dimensions and read the number of MOAs spanned. You will obtain maximum accuracy in ranging by calculating exact MOA measurements.
Elevation Holdovers Once the distance has been calculated using the XLR reticle or a laser rangefinder, the XLR can be used for rapid holdover correction for bullet drop of the cartridge being used. To get the most benefit out of the XLR equipped riflescope, Vortex Optics highly recommends shooters learn their bullet drop numbers in MOAs rather than inches.
Windage and Moving Targets The XLR reticle is highly effective when used for wind and moving target leads. Using the reticle for effective windage and moving target leads will require thorough knowledge of your cartridge’s ballistic performance under varying conditions as well as experience in reading wind strengths and target speeds. As in bullet drops, it is important for the shooter to learn a particular weapon’s windage/moving target corrections in MOAs rather than inches.
Basic windage correction using drop line on reticle When using the reticle for elevation correction rather than dialing, the windage dots will be used for windage and moving lead corrections. The windage dots are graduated in 1 MOA increments and provide increasingly greater span in the lower part of reticle, corresponding to the need for greater windage correction at longer distances. The supplied windage dots will accommodate crosswinds up to 20 mph for most popular high-powered applications.
Basic moving lead correction The MOA marks on the center horizontal crosshair and the windage dots can be used to estimate moving target leads. Estimating moving leads will require knowing yardage distance, wind speed, moving target speed and total bullet flight times including rifle lock time. Bullet flight times can be calculated using a ballistic calculator. Example Note: Correctly estimating moving leads is very difficult and requires considerable practice and knowledge. 3 mph 9.
