Scopes that have a mil dot reticle are becoming more popular with average shooters. In this article we will explain how to use the mil dot reticle to determine the distance to the target you are shooting. Mil dot ranging can provide you with the distance to a target in either yards or meters with surprising accuracy. Let's begin.
First, let's take a look at a diagram of a mil dot reticle.
Mil dot reticle
What is a "mil"? Mil is short for "milliradian". You may recognize the word "radian" as a word that has something to do with a circle or part of an arc. Are those math classes coming back to you yet?
Take a look at the diagram above, and you will see "dots", these are mil dots in case you hadn't already guessed that. It's important to note, that the distance between the centers of these dots is exactly one mil. Likewise, the distance from the bottom edge of one mil dot to the bottom edge of another dot is also one mil. Are you beginning to see the picture? Think of the mil dots being arranged similarly to the studs in the wall of your home. You no doubt heard the term "16 on center..." when you or the contractor was building your home. So when you measure the distance between the studs of your home, you end up with the same distance between the two, whether you are measuring from the center of the stud or from either edge of the stud. Also note that the center of the cross hairs is like being in the center of one mil dot. Study the diagram above to notice the various measurements and the distances between mil dots and also the cross hair.
Now that we know what a mil dot is and how the distance between the cross hairs and the dots are measured, we can begin to apply this knowledge to begin ranging some targets.
Before we move any further, you should consult the documentation that came with your scope as this will tell you that you need to take mil dot readings when the scope is either at it's full power zoom or at its least powerful zoom setting. It's important to find out as it could cause serious error in your range estimation. However, most scopes will require that you have the scope set to its highest zoom setting.
First let's look at the simple formula you will be using to determine the range of a target in both yards and meters.
(Height of Target in Yards x 1,000) - Height of Target in Mils = Range of the Target in Yards
(Height of Target in Meters x 1,000) - Height of Target in Mils = Range of the Target in Meters
This formula requires two pieces of unknown information, the height of the target in either yards or meters and also the height of the target in mils, as you measured from your scope.
Let's look at some examples to see how this all works.
One can determine that the vital organs of this deer covers approximately 1.5 mils in your scope. Now we have our first piece of missing information, the number of mils. And also let's just assume the target area is 10 inches in diameter, the approximate size of the vital regions of a large game animal. We can now apply the formula since we have the pieces of information we need.
Height of the target in Yards x 1,000 = (.3 yards x 1,000) = 300 (we converted the inches into yards then multiplied by 1,000)
Height of the target in mils = 1.5
Apply the formula.
300 / 1.5 = 200
The following range can also be found in meters, just be sure to substitute measurements in yards for measurements in meters.
As with anything, practice makes perfect! You should practice mil dot range estimation on a number of different targets. Good luck, and happy shooting!
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