Rifle Scopes To those of you that switched from MOA to MIL

[cfish36]

Re: To those of you that switched from MOA to MIL

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Bedlam</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: cfish36</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Why does it seem to be so hard for people to understand that neither mil nor moa is metric. In fact millradian is the standard for math in the us. A millradian is simply the length of the arc of a circle where the arc is 1/1000th the length of the radius of that same circle. so when the radius of the circle is 100 yds then the millradian of that is 1/1000 of 100 yards. since 100 yards is equal to 3600 inches, then 1/1000 of 3600 inches is 3.6 inches. which gives us our 1 mil = 3.6 inches @ 100 yds.

IT IS NOT METRIC. It is just a different measurement.</div></div>

I know that. I think you misunderstand people. In my case I am ranging with one or the other. The formula for ranging includes a linear measurement of height and a linear measurement of distance.

I find it easier to use inches and yards in the MOA formula because that's how I think. I choose an MOA reticle not because MOA is imperial, but because the the ranging formula works for me in imperial.
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yes, I may have misunderstood. I really like math and it comes natural to me, so I tend to forget that it can get confusing.

All I was trying to say it that millradian is the output of a formula not a unit of measure. And that may not be entirely true but that is how I was able to make it click in my mind.

As far as CM, Inches, Mil, Moa; it is all a matter of preference. To each his own. And yes some of those work better with each other than others.

I am not out to step on toes, and I am sorry if any where afended. Like I said I take for granted how easily math is to me.

 

[frankythefly]

Re: To those of you that switched from MOA to MIL

Here is something that is interesting:

There seems to be quite an urban legend surrounding the "different mills". Here's a brief history on the military mil and its comparison to the milliradian. Sometime prior to WWI with the advent of precision artillery, the military decided to come up with a precision compass unit. The milliradian was in the ballpark of what they were looking for, but 6283.19 milliradians to 360 degrees would have made the math difficult. So the military shrank the milliradian by about 2%, and wound up with 6400 mills to 360 degrees. Why 6400 versus a simple rounding to 6300??? Well 6400 is easily divisible by 8, which corresponds to the primary cardinal directions (i.e. N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W, NW) and their subdivisions. So (as far as I know), that is how the military "mil" was created. The mil dot reticles that we produce are based on the milliradian. The reason we do that, is that it fulfills the 1000 to 1 ranging ratio which the military wanted. What this means is that 1 milliradian will subtend a 1 meter target at 10 00 meters (or a 1 yard target at 1000 yards, a 1 foot target at 1000 feet.....you get the picture). The milliradian does this exactly, thus it was chosen. Now when we compare the military "compass mil" and the milliradian, they are rather close: 1.02 military mills (3.375 moa) = 1.00 milliradian (3.439 moa). As you can see the difference is miniscule.....it roughly corresponds to a 2 centimeter difference on a 1 meter target at 1000 meters, or a 2 millimeter difference on a 1 meter target at 100 meters. That's a 0.079"!!!! So even with a 1/4 moa barrel and 1/4 moa adjustments on the scope itself, it would make no difference to the shooter whether he calculates the distance using the milliradian or the mil. As far as ranging is concerned, the difference is similar: using the military mil, a 1 meter target at 1000 meters would be ranged at 980 meters. At 100 meters, the 1 meter target would be ranged at 98 meters. I seriously doubt whether anyone can actually use a mil dot reticle to that degree of accurac y anyway. In practicality, most modern military cartridges do not drop like a rock. If one is shooting out to 1000 meters, they are using a 300 WM or a 338 Lapua, which will not have a significant enough drop in the 1000 meter ballpark to reflect a 20 meter difference. So, as you can see the difference between the two is rather insignificant to all but a few world class bench rest shooters (if that).

 

[cfish36]

Re: To those of you that switched from MOA to MIL

I have even heard that there is a difference between the european mil and the us mil, and I believe that there is a 3rd one also.

All three are based off the millradian but each are slightly different.

like frankthefly said, it is not going to make a huge difference unless you are shooting golf balls at 1500+ yards

 

[TattooBlade]

Re: To those of you that switched from MOA to MIL

I'm just figuring out MOA so there's no way I'm switching any time soon!