My First Mil-Dot Scope

[Quackerbacker]

Need some help from those without a mathematics impediment, i'm pretty hopeless.

On my new mil-dot scope the Reference chart says the following:

If a 36 inch target (shoulder height of average blacktail) shows 10 mils (dots) that's 91.4 meters or roughly 100 yards.

The same size target shows 5 mils that's 182.8 meters or pretty close to 200 yards.

Again, but with 3 1/4 mils = 281.2 meters or 307 yards.

This makes sense to me and i can work with that.

However, all of these measurements on the reference card are only good at 10x magnification. The type of hunting i plan on doing for both blacktail and elk this year i'm anticipating shots more than likely between 65 yards and 150 yards. For me, 10x limits my field of view way too much and i cannot live with that.

So my question is: If i set my magnification to 5x (imo perfect for my intended ranges) can i assume 5 mils = 100 yds, 2.5 mils = 200 yds, and 1.625 mils = 307yds?

I plan on taking a 36" target to the range and playing around with it next weekend. Again, these mil-dot scopes are new to me so i need lots of practice to get comfortable. It doesn't help being a mathematical dunce

Thanks for any assistance!

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[bwells]

Sorry I can't help with the math, but personally I wouldn't worry about it too much. Your anticipated 65 - 150 yard shots should be dead-hold shots. Anything much longer than that will most likely require something other than offhand, and the 10x may be nice.

If it were me, I'd play around with it at the range. Should be fairly simple once the targets are set up.

 

[NoAim]

Need some help from those without a mathematics impediment, i'm pretty hopeless.

On my new mil-dot scope the Reference chart says the following:

If a 36 inch target (shoulder height of average blacktail) shows 10 mils (dots) that's 91.4 meters or roughly 100 yards.

The same size target shows 5 mils that's 182.8 meters or pretty close to 200 yards.

Again, but with 3 1/4 mils = 281.2 meters or 307 yards.

This makes sense to me and i can work with that.

However, all of these measurements on the reference card are only good at 10x magnification. The type of hunting i plan on doing for both blacktail and elk this year i'm anticipating shots more than likely between 65 yards and 150 yards. For me, 10x limits my field of view way too much and i cannot live with that.

So my question is: If i set my magnification to 5x (imo perfect for my intended ranges) can i assume 5 mils = 100 yds, 2.5 mils = 200 yds, and 1.625 mils = 307yds?

I plan on taking a 36" target to the range and playing around with it next weekend. Again, these mil-dot scopes are new to me so i need lots of practice to get comfortable. It doesn't help being a mathematical dunce

Thanks for any assistance!

For a second focal plane scope, yes, your math is correct. The reticle effectively becomes twice the size at 5x from 10x.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Thanks for the replies. Looking forward to heading to the range.

On a side note, i figured out that the average blacktail height at the shoulder is 36". As well, on a Roosevelt elk the average height of the chest, from just behind the front leg to the top of his back, is also 36".

 

[2gr8dgs]

any chance this is a Nikon scope? the reason i ask is because Nikon has a free range/trajectory program on their web site, for any of their mil-dot or BDC style rifle scopes.

 

[odiesplace97301]

At 10x, 1 mil = 3.5 moa. At 3.5x, 1 mil = 10 moa> the best thing you can do is spent some trigger time on the lower settings. Make you a cheat sheet on a 3x5 note card and laminate it and stick it on your stock
target size (in) x 27.77 / target size (mils) @ 10X

 

[Quackerbacker]

It's a centerpoint 4x16x40.

I was pretty skeptical at first, but after seeing the construction & reading other people's reviews i'm pretty optimistic about this scope.

 

[Spitpatch]

Oh, Quackerbacker,

There is NO SCOPE in the world, and NO MATHEMATICS in the world that will allow you to make antiseptic calculations and hit your target. Your admission that you know NOTHING about mathematics IS YOUR BEST ASSET TO MARKSMANSHIP!!!!

You have to shoot. You really do. You have to shoot. You have to shoot alot. Then you have to go out and shoot some more on another day, and then you actually have to go out and shoot even more. And when you do all this shooting, and you find out exactly where YOUR bullets hit out of YOUR gun, you will realize that all the manufacturer's claims of their scopes somehow magically eliminating all this need to SHOOT are valued by you as much as what you see disappearing in circular motion when you flip the shiny toilet lever.

Buy a scope for it's image quality. Buy a scope for its consistency in adjustments. Buy a scope for its manufacturer being willing to stand behind it under any circumstance with no questions asked. NEVER buy a scope based on its claims of some mechanism to save you from shooting.

Now, go out there and shoot the right thing.

 

[oregonshooter]

On a front-focal scope you can range at all mags... on yours you will have to range at 10X then back it off. That is why serious shooters that range all have FFP scopes.

 

[Quackerbacker]

Oh, Quackerbacker,

There is NO SCOPE in the world, and NO MATHEMATICS in the world that will allow you to make antiseptic calculations and hit your target. Your admission that you know NOTHING about mathematics IS YOUR BEST ASSET TO MARKSMANSHIP!!!!

You have to shoot. You really do. You have to shoot. You have to shoot alot. Then you have to go out and shoot some more on another day, and then you actually have to go out and shoot even more. And when you do all this shooting, and you find out exactly where YOUR bullets hit out of YOUR gun, you will realize that all the manufacturer's claims of their scopes somehow magically eliminating all this need to SHOOT are valued by you as much as what you see disappearing in circular motion when you flip the shiny toilet lever.

Buy a scope for it's image quality. Buy a scope for its consistency in adjustments. Buy a scope for its manufacturer being willing to stand behind it under any circumstance with no questions asked. NEVER buy a scope based on its claims of some mechanism to save you from shooting.

Now, go out there and shoot the right thing.

Thanks for the reply spitpatch. I hear what you are saying. Frankly, it's one of the reason's why i've switched from a .270 to a 308 is because i'm one of the guilty ones who has never shot as much as i should. 308 allows me a little bigger hitter for elk, but the biggest reason is access to milsurp ammunition.

In my hunting experience there haven't been too many shots i can remember that would have afforded the opportunity to use the range finding feature on one of these scopes. Honestly, i've had more opportunities enroute to my actual "hunt" than any other way, and those were all basically snapshots on mostly moving targets. Still, for an all-purpose scope and for those instances where the opportunity affords itself to take the time to get a more precise range i'm excited to experiment with this thing.

I can't wait to get to the range and find out exactly where the rubber meets the proverbial road with this.

The middle of Sept is really not a great time to be breaking in a new rifle & scope, but life isn't always ideal...

*edit* Just saw your response oregonshooter. I was wondering if there wasn't some other factor i was missing. It seems intuitive that i could just halve the values on 10x to 5x, but that seemed too easy.

 

[Spitpatch]

Quacker, you took it better'n I thot you would. Go forth and mathemetize.

 

[Jamie6.5]

Oh, Quackerbacker,

Buy a scope for it's image quality. Buy a scope for its consistency in adjustments. Buy a scope for its manufacturer being willing to stand behind it under any circumstance with no questions asked. NEVER buy a scope based on its claims of some mechanism to save you from shooting.
Now, go out there and shoot the right thing.

You forgot one Spitpatch,...
Buy a scope for it's ability to hold it's zero!
Few things worse than having your POI shift in the week between the range and that opening morning buck/bull shot!
If you have to re-zero every trip to the range, and it's mounting is still tight, it's time to change it out.

I've had two scopes do this. Those brands are on my "do not buy" list.

 

[accurateone]

I had a Center Point come on a gun once and it shifted so far vertically shot to shot, I had to trash it for safety! Wally World sells them in plastic pack.... Wally world also has great prices on Nikon... A 2 x 7 in good Nikon Quality that holds zero is far better than a higher power that could shift and cause a life changing event. Just my experienced opinion.
A1

 

[Scott]

I have been using Mils for a long time and when I was in the service it was easy. The math depends wheather it is on the first or second focal plane. I don't won't to explain shortcuts to you because you would not understand how I got the answer. But there is something that can train you if you want to fork out 50 bucks.

Go to shooterready.com and they have software that teaches you how to use one. It has about 40 different courses and targets. It also includes M4's, 300 Wins, 338, and 50 cals. It is not a game but rather a simulator and no you don't shoot people. It takes you through a class room instruction to learn ballistics like altitude, temp, humidity, wind and things like that. Teaches math procedures and then you go to the range in mountains, desert, and places like that. It also scores you on your progess. So check it out as it is cool for someone wanting to learn.

Scott

 

[Scott]

I also forgot if you want to do very little and just shoot w/o calculations just get a mildot master. Huge cheat sheet and very accurate. But I suggest learning to use it first so you understand how it works. They are very accurate when you know how to use them.

Scott

 

[odiesplace97301]

+1 for mil-dot master

 

[OFADAN]

If you call the office I'll get you started on your journey.