What's a mil-dot?

117783 Views 92 Replies 49 Participants Last post by Martino1, 3 mo ago

Scatch Maroo

Discussion Starter · Aug 11, 2004

I've searched the forum, but it seems everyone already knows what this is. :wink:

Scatch Maroo

21 - 40 of 93 Posts

mele

· #21 · Jan 4, 2005

It has nothing to do with power, and EVERYTHING to do with milradian measurements.

On most scopes the mil-dots are only accurate at a certain power. 10x or 16x, etc. YOU MUST MEASURE YOUR TARGET IN MILS WHILE YOUR SCOPE IS AT THIS CALIBRATED SETTING. Its all about measuring accurate mils. Of course, if your scope is calibrated for mils at 10x, you could power to 5x and then each mil-dot would measure 2 MILS. Again, its all about accurate mil measurements

MEL

Scatch Maroo

Discussion Starter · #22 · Jan 4, 2005

mele said:
YOU MUST MEASURE YOUR TARGET IN MILS WHILE YOUR SCOPE IS AT THIS CALIBRATED SETTING.

This becomes redundant if your reticle is front-focus, correct?

Scatch Maroo

mele

· #23 · Jan 4, 2005

Correct. But must scopes do not have the FFP.

If it is ever in question, look through your scope and change the power setting from one extreme to the next. (i.e. if its s 4-12x, look through the scope at 12x and then at 4x). If the reticle shronk or grew (it changed size) then it is on the front focal place and will always be calibrated no matter what the mag setting. If the reticule stayed the same size, it is not FFP and will only work at the calibrated power setting

MEL

Drew

· #24 · Jan 4, 2005

Mel I just got the Bushnell Elite 3200 the one you did a review on. Would the mills be accurate at the 10x since it is only a 10x scope. I hope they are I don't know why they wouldn't but just want to be sure.

muzzleblast

· #25 · Jan 4, 2005

Drew, if I can answer for Mel...I have that scope also.

If it is a fixed power, as in 10X and only 10X, they will indeed be calibrated for 10X.

A scope with variable power settings and a mil dot reticle will always tell you what setting the dots are calibrated to, either with a marking on the power ring of the scope or in the literature that comes with it. A fixed power scope only has that one setting, so its good to go

Drew

· #26 · Jan 4, 2005

Awesome thanks for telling me. I figured it was but just wanted to know for sure.

mele

· #27 · Jan 5, 2005

Nice job Muzzleblast, it seems my use around here is no longer needed.... must be time to retire :wink:

MEL

muzzleblast

· #28 · Jan 5, 2005

not getting away that easy Mel, I'm just handling the easy questions...What if someone starts asking about *gasp!* more expensive tactical scopes?

Crazdgunman

· #29 · Feb 24, 2005

To determine angle cosin, I just use a Suunto clinometer on a lanyard (with my lil' plastic-laminated ballistic tables) that I wear around my neck in the field.

Here in the Nevada high desert, there are lots of hills.

One peek through the lil matchbox-sized clinometer at the target and presto! The instant angle in degrees available for calculation on the table or my handy dandy (but nerdy, I only wear it when hunting 'yotes) Casio wrist-watch calculator!

shikaku

· #30 · Mar 30, 2005

hey,

just to reiterate on what ballistic said, not that it was a bad description, but to offer a more cut and dry equation/explanation here you go

COS(deg) = hyp/adj

thus to solve for your hypotenuse(the diagonal) you take the cos of the angle multiplied by the adjacent(baseline)

also you can use SIN(deg) = hyp/opp

which means if you have the angle degree and the distance above the target then you can solve the same way, by multiplying the angle degree but SIN, then multiplying that by how high above the target you are

(first post, hello all! my name is Joe)

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Fatty

· #31 · Aug 26, 2005

I'm new to target/sniper shooting and had never realized it was utilized for distance estimation.

I use it a lot for land navigation. There are 6400 mil in a complete circle and therefore 18mil/degree.

If you're off by 1 degree over an entire click, you'll be 18 meters off your desired point. Typical drift (and compass error) can be as much as 3 degrees which translates to 56 meters at at kilometer.

Typically, most guys don't dead reckon that far, but it's useful for quick estimations of declination. I measure out to the point along a main cardinal (N,E,W,S) draw a perpendicular line to the target point and then do the calculation from there to get a general grid azimuth. This saves a lot of time and hassle when humping/running through the bush and recalculating every time you get a new point (using the old protractor and string) as I just need a general direction to get moving and then terrain associate along some recognizeable feature (and dead reckon/attack from a much closer point).

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Burner

· #32 · Jan 3, 2006

hey mele why we are on the subject of mil-dots. Are all mil-dots the same or are their specific mil-dots for specific round types. In other words if I buy a mil-dot scope will it work well for my 338?

Burner

· #33 · Jan 3, 2006

Fatty said:
I'm new to target/sniper shooting and had never realized it was utilized for distance estimation.

I use it a lot for land navigation. There are 6400 mil in a complete circle and therefore 18mil/degree.

If you're off by 1 degree over an entire click, you'll be 18 meters off your desired point. Typical drift (and compass error) can be as much as 3 degrees which translates to 56 meters at at kilometer.

Typically, most guys don't dead reckon that far, but it's useful for quick estimations of declination. I measure out to the point along a main cardinal (N,E,W,S) draw a perpendicular line to the target point and then do the calculation from there to get a general grid azimuth. This saves a lot of time and hassle when humping/running through the bush and recalculating every time you get a new point (using the old protractor and string) as I just need a general direction to get moving and then terrain associate along some recognizeable feature (and dead reckon/attack from a much closer point).

haha the heck with all of that just terrain associate with you map and go lol. Dont have for all of that junk when the rounds are flying hehe.

mele

· #34 · Jan 3, 2006

Burner said:
hey mele why we are on the subject of mil-dots. Are all mil-dots the same or are their specific mil-dots for specific round types. In other words if I buy a mil-dot scope will it work well for my 338?

Some mildots are of different physical size, BUT ALL MIL-DOT RETICLES HAVE DOT SERPATION OF 1 MILLRADIAN. So, every mil-dot scope out there is 3.6" at 100 yards between the center of each of the dots.

MEL

SRTS1

· #35 · Feb 28, 2006

Solution in yards

27.777 X target height or width in inches
__________________________________= distance in yards
number of mils covering target

DocMcKay

· #36 · Apr 11, 2006

Horus Vision Game

Wow. I am just learning about Mil Dot calculations. That Horus game is great. I haven't entirely figured out how to use the range estimator yet, but I can begin to understand the principles.

The game is fun too. I hope I can use it on the web site as a way to practice range estimation without using all that ammo

Doc.

mele

· #37 · Apr 11, 2006

Since the mil-dots topic was brought up again, I have a funny story.

I was at one of the smaller gun shows over the weekend with a few my kids and I came upon a new custom optics manufacturer claiming to use a "Modified Mildot" reticule on their tactical scopes that looked very much like every other mildot reticule I've seen. So I asked the gentleman who was the designer what was different about their mildots vs. a standard mildot reticule and he answered

"Our mildots cover 3.6" at 100 yards".

to which I replied:

"Um, that is the same as a standard mildot"

I recieved a blank stare.....

Odd

MEL

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Kaz

· #38 · Apr 11, 2006

Sort of like "These amps go up to 11"? THAT'S what I was getting at in the music thread by the way. I figured someone who's seen "This is Spinal Tap" would have said something. I'll keep an eye out for this one though, glad you brought that up on that off chance the thing spreads at all. If the dot doesn't cover "1 mil" (which he makes it sound like it wouldn't) , is it really even a "Mildot"? I would guess not.

mele

· #39 · Apr 11, 2006

I'm not sure what he was getting at. A millradian is one measure of unit at 1000 measures of unit. So, at 1000 yards, 1 mil represents 1 yard. So, reduce that to 100 yards, you get 1 mil covering .1 yard. 1 yard is 36", 36" * .1 = 3.6" between center of dots.... I'm still trying to figure out their marketing scheme

MEL

SRTS1

· #40 · Apr 13, 2006

mele said:
I'm not sure what he was getting at. A millradian is one measure of unit at 1000 measures of unit. So, at 1000 yards, 1 mil represents 1 yard. So, reduce that to 100 yards, you get 1 mil covering .1 yard. 1 yard is 36", 36" * .1 = 3.6" between center of dots.... I'm still trying to figure out their marketing scheme

MEL

I'm going to guess that their target consumer is someone who doesn't know anything about scopes and thinks the scope "looks cool". Buyer beware.

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