Mildots, Rangelines whatever you call them. How many times have you hunted with a plain ole Crosshair like a Ger #4 etc wished you had some kind of lines below the crosshair to help with aiming? Or do you just keep your shooting to no more than 300 or 350yds even if you go home empty handed?

Im not talking about the scopes that are all cluttered that look like a Algebra problem, but just the ones with simple line for 300yds, 400, 500 etc and maybe simple 10mph crosswind dots. "I feel when hunters go to guessing a lot they go to missing a lot"

I don't advocate shooting game at super long distance I just feel its plain wrong but that a whole other can of worms

I apply every mutli-stadia reticle i have for both downrange zeroing and RAngefinding Jarrod.

Recently a buddy brought his kid down for anteloping and he had a Browning A-bolt 270 and a Leupold 2.5-8x VX-III with Duplex reticle. I knew there was a good chance the kid could geta shot at long range so i established a system for him using the plex post tips for reference. I looked at the catalog and at 8x the X to post tip subtended (measured) 2.7 MOA. That meant that at 4x it would be twice that or 5.4 MOA. So i ran a ballistics program for his load, and calcd. the system. At 500 yds. the program said the zero would be ~5.7 MOA. So if i divided 5.7 by 5.4 that would be 1.1. That means that if the kid had a 500-yd. shot all he would need to do is adjust the optic to 4x, and aim 110% of the plex post tip down (1.1 PPT) and voila--a hit (ideally, of course. I figured with this info the kid would be OK to about 400 yds. or so assuming no wind). Now 450 was about 4.5 MOA (4.8/5.4=0.8). So basically u create a grid of sorts using calcs (verified, of course) as above. Write it down on a sticker and attach to the inside of a Butler creek scope cap cover like this--

400-0.5-0.3

obviously, range, elevation, and windage, always in that order.

While we were hunting that day we didn't see any antelope (much to our dismay), but we decided to test this kid's ability to shoot at LR. So we lasered a snowy spot on an embankment at 250 yds. (his zero as i remember). He shot and nailed it. So then i ranged another 8" snow spot on another bank at 475 yds. I told him to reference the range sticker and tell me where he thought he needed to aim--he said maybe .9 PPT. I said OK, and that we would spot the shot. This kid sets up and after a looong wait fires. The snow disappeared. This kid was elated. And although we didn't get him an antelope he sure had fun shooting long range that day.

There are a lot of ways to apply multi-stadia reticles, and i never go afield anymore without a system.

sscoyote,
The way you presented your ranging system for the kid with the leupy was interesting.

I recently acquired a few scopes with multi-stadia reticles, and am wanting to learn how to better utilize them. if you dont mind, i have a couple of questions.

first, nikon monarch 4-16x42mm mil dot. the mils are at 12x, and each mil is 3.6" at 100yards (i think)

so if i use the scope at 16x, could i use the mils for:
12/16 = 3/4
3/4*3.6" = 2.7" at 100 yards? would this be correct?

also, as i expand my distances. if one mil is 2.7" at 100 yards, would the one mil (at 16x) be:
5.4" at 200y
8.1" at 300y
10.8" at 400y
13.5" at 500y

if that is correct, i can figure out my distances at various other magnification ranges.

I also picked up a couple of minox scopes. a za3 3-9x40, and a za5 3-15x42, both with bdc reticles. i need to find out specs on the scopes so i can figure the ranges for those reticles.

thanks for your help.
John

John--your math is correct. Reticle subtension is ~inversely proportional to magnification. It's not always perfect since many power rings are not calibrated exactly for mag., but they're usually close enough. In fact, the nice thing about Nikon is that they publish the subtensions of their MD reticles at the cald., lowest and highest powers. If u look at pg. 54 of the '10 catalog it details that exact optic and at 16x it is 2.7 IPHY as u calcd. Another nice thing is that the dot also gets smaller proportionally. Instead of the mil-std. ~3/4" (.72 IPHY) dot it is now basically a 1/2" (.54 IPHY) dot, making it a bit better for varminting or small tgt. applications. But interpolating the mil-reading is still relatively the same (still a .2 "mil" dot only it's now .2 of 2.7 IPHY [.54 IPHY]).

I also use a Nikon Buckmasters mil-dot that exact way as well.

Now with your new 16x system if say your 400 yd. zero is 4 IPHY (16" low) then that's 4/2.7=1.5 "mil"-dots down, etc., etc.

One of the most important concepts that should be understood when it comes to long-range shooting is the math that's involved. It will allow you to improvise systems pretty well. The 2 most important are the subtension vs, mag. relationship detailed above, and the fact that the mil-dot mil-ranging formula defines rangefinding as well as downrange zeroing with any multi-stadia reticle or tgt. turret system.
Many fun things can be accomplshed by applying these concepts in the field.

Here's another example of how well (how much fun) it can work. My buddy has a 17 HMR with a Leupold 6.5-20x on top with Duplex reticle. According to the catalog the subtension of the plex post tip (PPT) is 4.25 IPHY from X-hair intersect @ 6X. We calcd. a system for his load just using the factory advertised mv of 2550 i think it is. Couple weeks ago we were shooting at a small dimple in the snow at 240 yds. He said the zero oughtta' be 1.2 PPT units down. So i aimed at it and hit just high. e then told me that the 1.2 unit hold is actually at 250, i said, "Oh then i probably oughtta' just hold for 1.1, huh"? Sure enough the second shot hit it. Man that was great i tell ya'!

It's not always this perfect but it often is.

Steve,
thanks man, that was a simple explanation that really helps. Now i just need a place to shoot long range. not a lot of opportunity here in our nations capital region.

Hey Cooper--i know what u mean--i'm actually from Baltimore. used to haunt western MD for chucks in the 80's. LOOOVVEED it, and miss it.