Re: Why Mils over IPHY?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sandwarrior</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
So, Lowlight, as chief spokesguy for the mil/mil (which I agree all in one system {the whole system} is the best, no matter which you choose), when ranging what do you see the target as? inches?, meter(or other metric breakdown)? Or do you use a pre-conversion of mils? like, "this tire on this vehicle is one mil@ 100m". Or, "one mil is standard from crotch to throat @ 100m". You then just proportionalize like I do with MOA. If you use this last method I think I may have a light coming on in my head as to why this is quick. By assigning an already known angular measurement to an object that you can break down when ranging later saves conversion. It's then a matter of reduction to get total range. I can see where that is quicker.
Anyways, I would appreciate your thoughts on that if I may.</div></div>
Well personally I have no reason to "mil" anything really, unless it is required in a competition and then, they usually give you eons of time because people are just really slow at it.
I mil targets weekly simply because we do it in class, and I can mil to the hundredth of a mil, which I always do when I have to do it long hand. So, I never mil something as .5, I mil it as .47 or .53, etc... it matters especially at distance. Mil'ing is a perishable skill and I do it alot, begrudgingly.
I consider using a scope to mil or just the mere act of mil'ing as a last resort and in my process I consider many other factors first...
1. I actually look at the target and say, "I think the target is more than 500 yards, less than 600 yards"... golden, I can shoot it with 550 and make a correction on my second shot faster and more accurate than most can mil in the first place. I actually practice so my second shot accuracy is more important than my first.
2. I pull my out laser and actually range the thing with my shiny piece of expensive kit. This is 2009 and not 1969, we have better shit and I like to use it. My batteries don't fail cause I change them and it's 1000% better and faster than trying to mil something.
3. I look at my range card, because prior proper planning prevents piss poor performance... its why we make them.
4. I go to my scope which I practice with simply because I teach it and people want to know how to mil and most should know how. So I spent a lot of time looking at targets with a reticle. It's a legacy skill that's an essential tool, but really, its the last one in my toolbox. I am versed in milling any which way you can envision and personally don't care which one i use. My personal favorite is the little cards with a size across the top and mils down the side... or a mil dot master. Both excellent little things, the card is some what faster.(maybe) If I had to, and my life was on the line I would be studying and working in centimeters and meters, and that's it, but I study and work them all, part of the game. Even when I am spotting for people on the line my spotting scope has a reticle and I mil shit, just cause I can.
Mil'ing is sloppy, inaccurate (for most), the farther out you go, the more the target matters, a lot, and mil'ing living human beings is hard as fuck. People don't present themselves full value and definitely don't stand still. We have even practiced mil'ing people in downtown kingsville on the court house roof and it's easier to say, "each block is 50 yards long, 100 yards, etc... and use that. Not to mention most of those engagements are inside the danger space of the system. Hold at the head, take out the hips, finish him off on the ground... why would I be risking mil'd shots past 600 yards when I am in no personal danger, If I can't guarantee a hit, I'm not wasting the shot. And I know what 600 yards looks like.
Lighter targets look bigger than actual size, darker targets smaller, angled targets etc... a lot matter to getting an actual number. I mil both the height and width given time and opportunity and never climb in the scope and die like a lot of people do.
Competitions that require precision mil'ing are different animals and I do the math long hand, both ways to the .00 and usually "THEY" give me the target size in inches... which I speak just fine. I also like movies, sunsets and flat shooting calibers to tip the odds in my favor.
So there you go...
were invented hundreds of years apart". 
