Catshooter, I understand your thoughts but respectfully, I do not agree. A couple notes: It's not perfect for rangeing varmints but, neither is a L.R.F. on small varmints at long range. In fact no L.R.F. manufacture states you can reflect off small varmints at long range (where you need them) and get a accurate reading. Some varmint hunters state this, not manufactures. I have compared the math. Yes, if you are off a inch or two on your mil rangeing it will throw off your mil rangeing some. But, IMO no more than a L.R.F. if one knows his varmints size and practice's mil rangeing. I have more faith in rangeing a woodchuck in a hay field with mil at 450 yards than I do ANY L.R.F. And the mil dot is free with the scope rather than an extra $450.00 for a L.R.F. just to shoot varmints with. Varmints do hold still long enough BTW. Speed, rangeing with mil. I have my charts on my gun stock. Range'em and look at the chart......pretty fast. The military sniper has more use for a L.R.F. than a varmint hunter because of the target size and terrain. A small varmint in a open field does not spell success with a L.R.F., although it will spit out a number.
Bottom Line On Rangeing Varmints Accurately Mil Or L.R.F. = consumers pick ? No guarantee on either.......I will take the mil dot and save the $450.00
"Sales tools for varmint hunters"- Not in my experiance. (but check with Burris and Leupold on that and theirs) Calculated ballistic come up's & hold off's........yes. Rangeing.............yes. If a sniper can range man,window frame,wheel,etc. Then a varmint hunter can pre range a field with type 4' high fence post's, tractor wheels, etc.
For "Motoman", welcome to the board. I will agree with SSCoyote in that Nikon has it together in regards to mil. Mil Dot is very,very simple. It's also highly available today. There are some better reticles with currently higher cost. How much do you want to spend to shoot varmints and kick them down the hole? I post this to help you. Take what you need and leave the rest. Make up some rangeing and ballistic mil charts and put them on your stock.
Have fun........I enjoy it. BTW- As I enjoy ballistic reticles, the math,etc. anyways on rainy days. I have found since writing the below, some ballistic software for the Burris & Leupold system that makes configuring to what one actually wants much easier at a fairly low cost. They are more diffacult to customize than mil because of uneven spacing and no common denominator (the mil). The software makes it simple. But, I still see know advantage to these for the varmint hunter. I think the manufactures just wanted a proprietary system "sales marketing tool" when mil was standard.
I am a big believer in mil dot scopes for varmints. Again this is for varmints; you have to blank out what a military user may want. So here are some tips. Because this is math (trigonometry) and we have a common value, “the mil”. I have not reached the apparently endless calculations that can be done with this to improve it for varmints. Here are some thoughts. I don’t want to overload you to start. Also, keep in mind there is a lot of written BS floating around by writers in regards to varmint hunting with mil, who apparently did not study it well, or don’t use it much. BTW- I absolutely use it……..always. So we will take out some of the myths here too.
For the varmint hunter using mil dot a variable power scope with the following is better.
1) Army mil / rather than Marine
2) Second focal plane. (The dots are then smaller on higher power for varmints)
3) Mil calibrations set at mid power or better yet even ratio Example: on a 4:1 ratio variable power scope such as a 6-24x40 the ideal calibration for the varmint hunter is 12x. Not, 24 power as some think.(if calibrated at highest power or near highest power the dot will be to large at long range for varmints. Remember at calibration the dots are ¾” at 100) This gives you freedom of choice for calibrating and a smaller dot at high power. BTW- The Bushnell mil dot scopes in 6-24x40 are ideal (Mueller’s,Nikon also appear to work out well for varmints). A 1:3 ratio scope say a 6.5-20 power ideal would be 13 power etc. If not calibrated for mil there you can still work with it. It’s just easier.
Here why:
First some standards for the above type (Army) mil dot scope.
1 mil (center to center dot) = 3.6” @ 100 yards on the calibrated setting
The dot size is typically ¼ mil or 1/5 mil. (.9” or .72”) basically ¾” at 100 yards on the calibrated setting.
First varmint hunter mil dot rule:
1) YOU DO NOT HAVE TO USE THE CALIBRATED SETTING AND I RARELY DO! (WITH THE ABOVE TYPE SCOPES)
A) The dot size is half at double the calibrated power. I use high power 22-24 on my 6-24x40 Bushnell M.D. for hold over and ranging. Mine is calibrated @ 12 power. On 24 power the dot at 100 yards is 3/8” MUCH BETTER FOR VARMINTS NEARLY IDEAL. At 500 yards that’s 1.87” on the target if a holdover dot happened (never is) to be exactly centered on the varmint. Not Bad.
B) For ranging on 24 power 1:4 ratio calibrated at 12 power it’s the same formula times two. I always range varmints on high power. That can be used double your calibration setting only. There is other simple math for in-between but who needs it. On a flat surface, I can range a woodchuck at 500 yards with more confidence than if using a laser range finder on high power with a bi-pod.
C) On the same scope 6 power ranging is the same formula divided by two. And a dot is larger. Some may use it for coyote’s.
2) GET RID OF THE FRACTIONS EASY!
A) Again using my 6-24x40 Bushnell as an example. The mil distance (3.6”) at 100 yards changes in proportion to the magnification. But, once set remains constant through out the yardage. Put up a 1” grid target @ 100 yards. If you want even numbers for drop and want to use higher power on the scope than is calibrated. Turn the power all the way up and line up on the grid. Slowly back the power down. On my scope at 100 yards at 22 power one mil equals 2” (in math terms exactly 2.1”). I make a ballistic card based on that……….even numbers. And it has nothing to do with where you are zeroed if using mil. Because it’s even spacing. Unlike many spin off’s using pre-set lines for ballistics. So it goes like this.
1 mil = 2” at 100, ½ mil = 1”, ¼ mil = ½”
1 mil = 2” @ 100, 4”@200, 6”@300, 8”@400, 10”@500, etc. And you have ½ and ¼ mil as reference points also. WIND DRIFT EQUALS THE SAME.
2 mil = 4”@ 100. 8” @ 200, etc, etc.
3 mil = 6” @ 100, 12”@ 200 etc. etc.
EVEN NUMBERS AT HIGHER VARMINT POWER! You can make up a card broke down into mils easily for your ballistics. For my 22-250 zeroed @ 250 yards. I don’t need off set rings etc. To get me way out there in yardage range. It is as accurate as you can range, judge and hold. It is the most accurate non mechanical means. It is true and exact from ranging to holdover if you do your part.
You can go on and on with this math from what I can tell. I believe that my mil m.o.a. changes .15” at 100 yards, with each single power increase from 12x (my factory calibration). So is I wanted to calibrate on 13 x my “mil” for lack of a better term, I suppose common denominator may be better would be 3.45” rather than 3.6”, Seeing is believing so put up a grid target. From there just like ammo ballistics’ calculator everything can be done at your desk with a 2 dollar pocket calculator. This is why I prefer mil dot over other ballistics reticles with pre-set un-even lines for holdover. The latter are confining to the users being un-even spaced with no common denominator.
THIS IS WHY IMO, THE ABOVE TYPE MIL DOT SCOPE IS BETTER FOR THE VARMINT HUNTER / SECOND FOCAL PLANE / MID CALIBRATION PREFERABLY IN RATIO WITH THE VARIABLE POWER VARMINT SCOPE EX: SET @ 12 ON A 6-24X40.
For the varmint hunter this equals an ideal dot size on higher power for varmints and variations in calibrated power for use, even numbers etc. For the Sniper (and maybe big game hunter) this may not be the case. They may want first foal plane. And they certainly want standard 3.6” calibrations for their spotter and shooter to be on same page with adjustments example: After a miss “2.5 mil low”. But we are varmint hunters.
THINGS THE VARMINT HUNTER USING MIL SHOULD DO
A) Use the inch’s ranging formula rather than yards / varmint height inch’s x 27.77 divided by mils = yardage on calibrated setting. If double the setting example 24 power ranging on my 6-24x40 Bushnell calibrated at 12x. Times two. half the calibrated setting Divide by two.
B) Know your varmints height in inches
C) Practice both ranging known target sizes and mil / wind drift hold off at the range.
D) Make a ballistic card with mil hold over and mil wind drift for your ammo on a higher used power setting.
E) Make or copy a mil ranging card based in inches for non field math (many on the net).
D) In regards to articles on the net, always trust the military instructions. Then convert to your needs for Varmint. Never trust a writer that used a mil dot scope for a weekend review on varmint hunting with it. Unless he states he uses it always / regularly.
F) The math looks complicated. It’s not; in a short time much becomes memorized.
G) Some round the 3.6” @ 100 to 3.5” for even and half numbers at 100 yard increments and do nothing more.
H) Learn to break down mil to 1/8’s. BTW- ¼ mil is not ½ a dot. It is ½ dot plus line width.
I) you can always dial up to.
j) Fence post 4’, adult Woodchucks 16”-18” standing, Prairie Dogs 10”,Coyote 18”, Fox 12”
I really enjoy mil dot reticles for varmint hunting. There are good military instructions on the net. Conversions, to better mil dot for varmint hunting and scope choices, dot sizes, even number hold over, etc. I have made myself, through simple math, grid targets, studying scopes, as little has been written/documented for the varmint hunter using mil dot to date Jan. 2006 . Fortunately, most American style variable power scopes with mil dot fit the varmint hunter well. Generation 2 Mil Dot is also good for Varmint hunters. As it has mid mid slash marks. Some make ¼ mil judging difficult and it is crucial to varmint hunters to break it down at least to that. Similar can be done with other ballistic reticles such as the Burris Ballistic Mil Dot. But, they make it difficult with un-even hold over slashes and no common denominator such as a mil. Best not to tamper with a good thing just to have “proprietary”. IMO- A big benefit of long range varmint shooting using mil for hold over and wind drift compared to dial up is …..if you miss !. For a follow up shot on a small varmint. Rather than having to lift your head to adjust dial up elevation or windage. Your head stays down on the target and adjustment is made with mil. There are some custom reticles based on mil dot that are excellent for varmints. Some bring down the windage marks and also half mid points and remain non cluttered to my eye. Premier reticles have one I really like. All this is costly however, and standard mil dot in the above type scopes is an excellent ballistic and ranging reticle system for the varmint hunter. Bushnell, Nikon, Weaver, and more all have them. Just (for the varmint hunter) make sure it’s Army style, second focal plane, based on standard mil, dot size should be ¼ - 1/5 mil, variable power calibrated at a mid not full power, preferably in ratio for a 3:1 or 4:1 variable power scope and you can do all the above. If you want to. I am sure there is more also, as in math with even spacing and a denominator it is endless or seems to be. I am not a math wiz, just enjoy math & engineering. Please, inform me or post of other mil usefulness in regards to varmint hunting as you un-cover it. For what it’s worth I have never used a “mil dot master” or slide rule. There are also mil dot programs you can pay for on the net, but why ?
References:
http://www.scopedot.com/index.html
http://www.riflescopes.com/mildot/
http://www.bushnell.com/customer_service...%20100%20yards'
Bill1227
