question re using mildot scopes

[jmbn]

I'm thinking about getting a mildot scope and have a question for those of you who are proficient at using them for determining zero in the field.

After dialing the scope in at the distances at which you will be shooting, do you go by the range at which each dot is dead on ("the first dot is on at 420 yards, the second at 550, etc"), or do you look at things from the standpoint of range in , say, 100 yard increments ("at 400 yards the first dot is 2" hi, and at 500 yards the first dot is X low and the second is X hi"), etc?

Seems to me that the first choice would be most intuitive.

 

[abinok]

Im not exactly sure what youre asking, but let me see if I can give it a try. I shoot a 300WM with 220smks, with my "walk out the door zero" set to 500 yds. This means that if I want to poke a hole in something at say... 400 yds my bullet will strike high. Being broke, I use my mil dot equipped scope for most range estimating. But those dots also come in handy for holding under my targets as well. For the above mentioned shot, holding one mil low will put the bullet within an inch of poa. Ive got the mil incriments out to 500 taped to the back of my elevation scope knob for handy referance. I don't typically use holdovers past my zero range for a couple of reasons. It is much more precise to dial the moa correction into the scope. Ialso think that I will be more likly to have time to dial the adjustments if my target is beyond my zero distance. Critters wait longer at 700 than 70 in my experence. I tend to not worry about what the mil hold over ammounts are, since they are usually odd ball distances anyway. Of course, if youre just dying to know holdovers, just divide your moa drop figures by 3.438!

 

[wapiti13]

Most folks that I know who use mildots use them for hold over correction. Each dot represents a 3.6" correction at 100 yds with the scope power set to the mildot reference power (example: a 3X9 scope must be set at 9 power for the mildot spacing to be 3.6" at 100 yds). If you sight in your rifle for say 250 yds, you will probably be less than +or- 3" out to about 300 yds (MPBR). After 300 yds, you will have to start holding over to hit. By running a ballistic program, you will see how much correction is needed at say 400, 500, 600, etc. The correct mildot can be figured on paper by taking 3.6" x yardage (400 yds equals 3.6X4=14.4" of correction per mildot). If you need 15" of correction at 400 yds, you would call the first mildot value of 14.4" close enough. You can do this for all ranges and figure your mildot needed. THEN, go out and shoot at the ranges and use your mildot to VERIFY they are correct. It is easy to hold a half mildot since you just bracket your target with two mildots (1 1/2 mildots would be putting your target between the first & second mildot). Hopefully it isn't too confusing. I've used this system for 5 yrs. with good success on both big game and varmints. Most companies (especially Leupold) can put a mildot in their scope even if not regularly offered. Good luck. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif