Rifle Scopes Mil dot hold over shooting

[skeeter73]

I read alot about this but was wondering does anyone on the site just use mill dot hold over for shooting long range shots. (500-800 yards) Deer-coyote size animals.
I was wondering how accurate this would be, and most scopes are SFP so I take it that the scope is adjusted from the factor just to turn magnification up until the power ring stops.
Thanks Anthony

 

[KeithR41]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

To answer your questions in order.

Yes.
Very.
And WTF?

41

 

[223man]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: skeeter73</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I read alot about this but was wondering does anyone on the site just use mill dot hold over for shooting long range shots. (500-800 yards) Deer-coyote size animals.
I was wondering how accurate this would be, and most scopes are SFP so I take it that the scope is adjusted from the factor just to turn magnification up until the power ring stops.
Thanks Anthony </div></div>

Yes it happens all the time. And yes it can be very accurate as well as being faster than having to dial. But as far as your question("I was wondering how accurate this would be, and most scopes are SFP so I take it that the scope is adjusted from the factor just to turn magnification up until the power ring stops")it depends on the scope some they are set up to do this and some are set up to just turn to some mid point.

 

[DannySeesUSMC]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

If you look at a reticle with half-mil hashes you can see that you can hold within .05 mil of where you want impact. It won't be as easy to hold for wind for most reticle designs as it would if you had dialed elevation.

If you have a trajectory/wind/range card that you have verified with shooting and it tells you 2.3 mils for 500 yards you can hold in between 2 mils and 2.5 mils - 9/10ths of an inch off where you ideally want to aim. If it's 600 yards and 4.9 mils just hold a hair less than 5 mils. Even if you were to accidently hold 4.8 or 5 mils at that distance it's 2 inches off - doesn't matter.

You still have to be able to get an accurate distance to target, factor in the rifle's capability, ammunition quality, incline angle, more difficulty holding for wind, less visible aiming point compared to center, optics having more defects away from center, and on and on and on.

 

[skeeter73]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

Thanks everyone for the info.
What other recticle besides TMR has 1/2 marks?

 

[Niles Coyote]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

I took my mule deer last year using a mil hold. Not because I wanted too. He kept walking in on me from 800 to 280 where I took the shot. When I pulled the trigger on him I was zeroed for 350 so I looked at how much I needed to hold under to 250 just in case. Finely got the broadside I was looking for at 280.

As far as other manufactures; NF, Vortex, some older Nikon tactical, the newer super snipers and I believe weaver and bushnell but not 100% sure on those two. I know there are some more alphas that have it too, but they are all out of my price range anyway, so I don’t trouble myself by looking.

 

[harley_jeff]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

Gen II XR

 

[TonyAngel]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

There's nothing wrong with holding for elevation, if wind isn't a factor. If wind is a factor and I have time, I'll dial for elevation and hold for wind. If I'm trying to be fast, I'll hold for both, but this doesn't always work out well for me.

 

[mwroseberry]

Re: Mil dot hold over shooting

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TonyAngel</div><div class="ubbcode-body">There's nothing wrong with holding for elevation, if wind isn't a factor. If wind is a factor and I have time, I'll dial for elevation and hold for wind. If I'm trying to be fast, I'll hold for both, but this doesn't always work out well for me. </div></div>

I always dial elevation and never dial windage as windage changes from shot to shot at most competitions. This gives me atleast one straight line to hold on the target and has proven to give me the best results. If you're going to do this in my opinion a FFP or a fixed power is really your only option to be 100% accurate with these adjustments as it takes human error of being at say 16.5x instead of 16x that your mil dots are calibrated for no scope I know of has definate clicks from power to power on the scope.

Good luck,
Merritt