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What power is your mil-dot reticle used?

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Chris Farris View Drop Down
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    Posted: April/07/2006 at 11:41

If your scope has a first focal plane mil dot reticle like the XOTIC or future Super Sniper variables then disregard this info because you can range on any power setting.  But if your scope has a second focal plane mil dot reticle (crosshairs stay the same size), you will need to have the scope on the correct power that your reticle was calibrated for.  Most Leupold scopes use the highest magnification but most other scopes use 10x.  Which reminds me of a funny story.  A company named The Sportsman Guide wanted to get on the mil-dot band wagon but did not know what they were doing.  They contacted tasco to make them a special run of World Class 3-9x40 Mil-Dot reticle scopes and they used a 10x reticle.   Most of their customers never knew the difference.  Anyway back to the point at hand.....The distance between two mil dots (top to top, center to center, or bottom to bottom) is exactly 3.6 inches at 100 yards.  Knowing this you can draw two lines 3.6 inches apart and turn you power up and down until the dots line up or you can use this mil dot assurance target.  Find out where your reticle is working and mark the power selector and scope body with two little scratches so you can line them up at the exact point your reticle is calibrated.  Some scopes say to put the scope on 10x but the marking on the knob may not be correct with the true optical 10x.

 

Download and print target

 

Besides being a nice target, this one allows you to check the accuracy of the dot spacing on your mil-dot reticle scope. To get an accurately sized printout with this .pdf format target, make sure that the "Fit to page" check-box is NOT checked in the Adobe Acrobat print dialog box.

 

One milliradian (the center-to-center distance between mil-dots) is equal to 3.6 inches at 100 yards. The distance from the center of the target to the edges of the large square is 3.6 inches in all four directions. The points of the diamonds are spaced at ¼, ½, and ¾ milliradian intervals, assuming the target is at 100 yards. At 50 yards, the diamond points are at ½, 1, and 1½ milliradian intervals, with the target edge at 2 milliradians. The grid is at ½” intervals.

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Chris Farris View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/07/2006 at 11:46

If you want to learn even more about the Mil-Dot reticle, its history, how it works and its many uses visit.

 

www.Mil-Dot.com

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/27/2006 at 10:17

Make sure when you print it that its prints at 100%.  In the example below the printers default setting (Reduce To Printer Margins) would print a slightly reduced version of the target.  Simply set your page scaling to NONE prior to printing.

 

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