MIL Toolkit: Mil Calculators for Hunters and Competitors

Units

1. See a mil

A mil is a slice of the distance: 1 mil is 1/1000 of the range. Pick a distance and a target size and see how much of your reticle it fills.

Distance (m)

Target width (cm)

Target height (cm)

The ruler shows ±5 mils across and ±3 mils up and down, with long ticks on whole mils and short ticks on half mils. The target is drawn to scale against it.

2. Range it

Know the size of the thing, read how many mils it covers, get the distance. Or check a laser reading against the glass.

Target (typical sizes, approximate)

Target size (cm)

Mils you read

Laser range (m), to cross-check

Animals vary by 20% or more. Treat every size above as a starting point and use your own measured values for your quarry. Use ranging as a cross-check for a laser, not a replacement for it.

3. Fix a miss

See where the shot landed, then either put a reticle mark on the target (hold) or turn the turret (dial).

Distance (m)

My shot landed

I measured the miss in

Miss amount

Turret click value

Rule of thumb: put the mark on the side where the splash was. Splash low, use the mark below centre. Splash left, use the mark left of centre. If your scope's turrets are in MOA but the reticle is in mils, choose the MOA click value above and the tool does the conversion.

4. Wind hold

Take the full-value wind hold for your load from your ballistic app or dope card, then scale it for today's wind speed and direction.

Full-value hold (mils) at this distance

That hold is for a 90° wind of (km/h)

Wind speed today (km/h)

Wind comes from (clock, 12 is straight ahead)

Speed unit

My scope is second focal plane (SFP)

Wind hold does not scale in a straight line with distance, so use the full-value hold for the distance you are shooting. It does scale in a straight line with wind speed, which is what this tool relies on.

5. Dial or hold?

You know the elevation for the target (the dope) and what the turret is set to. This tells you what is left to hold.

Elevation needed (mils)

Turret is dialed to (mils)

Turret click value

Holding works at any magnification only on a first focal plane (FFP) scope. Many competitors dial elevation for each target and keep holds for wind and corrections, because big holds on top of a wind hold are hard to do under time pressure.

6. Convert

Mils, MOA and clicks. Handy when a reticle and turret use different units, or when a friend talks in a unit you do not.

Mils

True MOA (TMOA)

Click value	Clicks for this value	One click at 100 m

True MOA is 1.047 in at 100 yd. Shooter's MOA (SMOA) is rounded to exactly 1 in at 100 yd, about 4.7% smaller. Mixing them up costs about 5% of your correction. Check the turret's own markings.

7. Cheat card

A one-page card for the rifle, pack or armboard. It follows the units you picked at the top.

General information only. Check every calculation against your own load data and confirm turret click values on a target before you rely on them. Shoot only where it is lawful and safe.