A typical adjustment on an MOA based turret represents 1/4 MOA (more on this to come). So, what are mils and MOA? Reticles come in all shapes and sizes. This is generally referred to as Christmas-tree-style reticle and can be found in both mils and MOA. They’re most popular for long-range competition shooting. It does not mean 'military,' though that is a common misconception. A milliradian is a measurement of an angle within a circle. To understand how a milliradian is measured, some trigonometry is required, but that is beyond the scope of this article. When looking through a mil-based scope, you will see either series of dots or hash marks on either side of the vertical and horizontal crosshairs.Ī quick word on adjusting your scope while sighting it in. If you are shooting at a target 100 yards away, and the bullet is striking the target centered left-to-right but impacts at the first dot above the crosshairs top-to-bottom, you're hitting your target 3.6 inches high.

You'll need to know how much of an adjustment is made to the crosshairs when turning the dial on your turret. Most modern mil-based scopes adjust in 0.1 mil increments, meaning you will need to bring your crosshairs down 10 clicks of the wheel to hit dead center on your target. MOA stands for 'minute of angle.' A minute of angle is also a measurement of an angle within a circle, just as milliradians are. However, they differ in size, with mils being the larger of the two. Minutes of angle are a bit easier to understand than mils, though. Minutes are just a smaller measurement of a degree. Just like an hour, a degree is made up of 60 minutes. When looking through your MOA scope, you'll typically see your crosshairs, along with lines or dashes on both the vertical and horizontal axis. Using the previous example of 100 yards, the distance between these dashes represents a height of 1.047 inches on your target.

While there is a standard known as Shooter’s Minute of Angle (SMOA) where that value is a true 1 inch between dashes, 1.047 inches is so close to 1 inch that it can just be rounded down. Here is a quick formula to find your MOA correction when shooting at distance.įor this example, we're sighting our rifle in at 100 yards and are hitting the target dead on top-to-bottom, but we are hitting at the first dash on the left of the crosshairs. This means we're off by 1 inch, making this an easy adjustment. Just as with a mil-dot scope, you'll need to know how far each adjustment of the wheel on your turret moves your crosshairs. Modern scopes adjust in 1/4 MOA increments, meaning you will need to bring your crosshairs right 4 clicks of the wheel to hit dead center on your target. There are several options to choose from. A mil reticle with mil turrets, an MOA reticle with MOA turrets, and a mil reticle with MOA turrets.

3 moa vs 6 moa