{"id":5684106,"date":"2016-08-31T10:24:26","date_gmt":"2016-08-31T08:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/optics-info.com\/?p=1240"},"modified":"2025-12-03T15:00:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T14:00:18","slug":"use-tactical-reticles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.optics-trade.eu\/blog\/use-tactical-reticles\/","title":{"rendered":"How to use Tactical reticles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this article the use of a Mil-Dot<\/strong> or similar reticle in riflescope for distance assessing, long range bullet drop compensation and wind compensation<\/strong> will be introduced. The article is written in a very simple language and therefore all explanations, terms and concepts are simplified as much as possible.<\/p>\n

The reticle<\/h2>\n

The use of a reticle in order to asses distance and to compensate bullet trajectory<\/strong> firstly requires the right kind of reticle which has to be placed in the first focal plane<\/strong><\/a> or the riflescope has to be set to specific magnification at which the reticle subtentions<\/strong> are accurate in miliradians<\/strong><\/a>. The appropriate reticles are those that have additional measuring points in all directions along with the central targeting point. The easiest way is to use reticles that have these spacing lines in miliradians<\/strong> (mrad) and this concept is the main material\u00a0for this article. There are also differently marked reticles that have markings in minutes of angle (MOA)<\/strong><\/a>, but that will be the subject of another article.
\nWe have already mentioned that the best option is to have a reticle that is set in the first focal plane<\/strong> of a riflescope. It is because this way the reticle always remains in the same proportion to the object. For example, take a reticle that has two markings which would represent 10 cm<\/strong> on a distance of 100 meters<\/strong>. When the reticle is set in the first focal plane it will thicken or thin when magnifying but the dots will always remain 10 cm apart at a distance of 100 meters. If the reticle is set in the second focal plane<\/strong><\/a> it will not change but will remain the same size no matter the magnification. But only at one specific magnification will the two markings be 10 cm apart at a distance of 100 meters and different at any other magnification.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of new and cheap products on the market that offer bullet drop compensation reticles set in the second focal plane (common SFP BDC scopes in sub 1000\u20ac price range), but this is only a marketing stunt to attract buyers, because the marked dots are really accurate only at maximum or at some other predefined magnification. The second big problem with this type of scopes is that bullet trajectories vary considerably in regard to different calibers, barrel lengths, bullet weights and so on. It would be nice if the solution to a problem as complicated as bullet drop compensation would be so simple as cheap BDC scopes are implying but unfortunately it is not.<\/p>\n

Luckily more and more manufacturers started to produce riflescopes with reticles set in the first focal plane that are much cheaper and more affordable (products such as Kaps Tactical<\/a>, Vortex<\/a>, IOR<\/a>, Sightron<\/a>, Athlon<\/a><\/strong>) and there is more and more people who understand how to use them. Such riflescopes are called MIL\/MIL scopes<\/strong><\/a>.
\nPicture 1 shows us the most frequently used reticles with miliradian markings.\u00a0By far the most widespread one is the Mil-Dot that has 1 miliradian markings in all directions. Other reticles have markings that represent 0,5 or even 0,2 miliradians and are more Brand specific.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The most frequently used reticles with miliradian markings, all of them are in FFP scopes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Miliradians<\/h2>\n

Before we continue with reticle use it would be a good idea to refresh geometry basics and explain what radians and miliradians actually are. In everyday life the use of degrees is much frequently used as opposed to radians but when it comes to shooting the story is quite the opposite and almost no one uses degrees anymore. The definition of a radian on Wikipedia<\/strong> is:
\n\u201cThe radian is the standard unit of angular measurement. Radian is the ratio between the length of an arc and its radius. \u201c<\/em>
\nA better way to explain what a radian is to explain it with the following picture. An angle of 1 radian results in an arc with a length equal to the radius of the circle.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/a>
One radian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For an even easier explanation the following picture where radians and degrees are compared might also help. A circle has 360 degrees or 2\u03c0 radians. Therefore a circle has 2 X 3,14159 radians or 6,28318 radians. Every radian consists of a 1000 miliradians and therefore there are 6283,18 miliradians in a circle. We can also say that a circle can be divided into 360 X 60 = 21600 degree minutes. Picture 3 shows us two different markings of radians and one marking for degrees. The outer and longer markings represent radians and the smaller inner markings represent miliradians. The longer inner markings represent degrees.<\/p>\n

\"Miliradians\"<\/a>
Miliradians<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is now clearer what a radian is but why reticles are marked in miliradians is perhaps still not as much. This is simply because miliradians can be very easily converted to a decimal system of distance measurement. In an angle of 1 miliradian and a diameter of 100 meters, the distance of arc length will be 0,1 meters or 10 cm<\/strong>. For simplification we can say that arc curvature at this distances is almost flat and we will not make a big mistake with this assumption. With a diameter of 200 meters it will be 0,2 meters or 20cm, with a diameter of 500 meters<\/strong> it will be 0,5 meters-50cm<\/strong> and with a diameter of 1000 meters it will be 1 meter. If the reticle of a riflescope has two markings at a distance of 1 miliradian and we are targeting at a distance of 100 meters this will mean that two dots on a target are 0,1 \/ 10 cm apart. The same goes for any figure as shown in table 1, where the spacing between two dots on a target is 1 miliradian.<\/p>\n

\"Miliradian<\/a>
Miliradian through a reticle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n[table \u201c1\u201d not found \/]
\n\n

The use of miliradians for bullet drop compensation and wind compensation<\/h2>\n

When we use a riflescope with miliradian markings in combination with laser distance measurement<\/strong> (or we asses the distance with the reticle it self) it is possible to compensate bullet trajectory without having to adjust the reticle\u2019s position using clicks on the turrets. Let\u2019s say we are using a .308 winchester caliber rifle and a RWS KS 10.7 g (165gr) bullet which has ballistic specifications listed in table 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t
Product<\/th>Performance<\/th>Start Up Time (s)<\/th>Ready to Use (s)<\/th>Video<\/th><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LH-25<\/td>7.436<\/td>28.57<\/td>
Hikmicro OWL-OH25<\/td>6.438<\/td>29.552<\/td>
Night Pearl Fox 35 Elite<\/td>11.552<\/td>22.472<\/td>
Pulsar Helion 2 XQ50F<\/td>4.736<\/td>4.736<\/td>
InfiRay Xclip CH50 V2<\/td>8.298<\/td>8.298<\/td>
Burris BTC50<\/td>8.334<\/td>8.334<\/td>
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LE10<\/td>7.214<\/td>17.112<\/td>
Hikvision OWL 15<\/td>12.364<\/td>33.394<\/td>
Burris BTH35<\/td>15.814<\/td>18.556<\/td>
Hikmicro Thunder Pro TE19C<\/td>8.434<\/td>15.746<\/td>
Guide TA450<\/td>7.632<\/td>8.766<\/td>
Hikmicro Gryphon GH25L<\/td>5.554<\/td>27.526<\/td>
Leica Calonox Sight<\/td>11.958<\/td>15.522<\/td>
Hikmicro Gryphon GH35L<\/td>6.008<\/td>16.716<\/td>
Hikmicro Gryphon GQ35L<\/td>6.182<\/td>14.912<\/td>
Leica Calonox View<\/td>11.096<\/td>16.502<\/td>
Pulsar Accolade 2 LRF XP50 Pro<\/td>8.028<\/td>8.028<\/td>
Pulsar Helion 2 XQ38F<\/td>4.608<\/td>4.608<\/td>
Pulsar Helion 2 XP50 Pro<\/td>3.462<\/td>3.462<\/td>
Pulsar Proton XQ30<\/td>5.42<\/td>5.42<\/td>
InfiRay CML25<\/td>6.508<\/td>8.29<\/td>
Burris BTH50<\/td>16.794<\/td>19.876<\/td>
Pulsar Krypton XG50<\/td>7.084<\/td>7.084<\/td>
InfiRay ZH38<\/td>15.426<\/td>16.686<\/td>
Hikmicro LYNX PRO-LH19<\/td>7.366<\/td>28.546<\/td>
InfiRay Finder FL25R<\/td>11.488<\/td>14.632<\/td>
Pulsar Helion 2 XP50<\/td>8.074<\/td>8.074<\/td>
Pulsar Axion Key XM30<\/td>4.414<\/td>4.414<\/td>
Kahles Helia TI 35<\/td>7.108<\/td>28.546<\/td>
Pulsar Axion XM30S<\/td>2.908<\/td>2.908<\/td>
Pulsar Axion Key XM22<\/td>4.40<\/td>4.40<\/td>
Pulsar Core FXQ50<\/td>7.974<\/td>7.974<\/td>
Steiner Nighthunter H35<\/td>15.868<\/td>18.462<\/td>
Hikmicro Thunder TH35C<\/td>6.172<\/td>30.714<\/td>
Nitehog Viper<\/td>7.178<\/td>8.44<\/td>
Pulsar Axion 2 XQ35 LRF<\/td>4.472<\/td>4.472<\/td>
Liemke Keiler-25 LRF<\/td>11.488<\/td>14.632<\/td>
ATN OTS-XLT 160 2-8x<\/td>8.058<\/td>25.924<\/td>
Nitehog Chameleon X-core TIR-M35<\/td>6.288<\/td>12.514<\/td>
Night Pearl Scops 25 ELITE<\/td>10.406<\/td>15.162<\/td>
Pulsar Axion 2 XQ35<\/td>4.432<\/td>4.432<\/td>
Pulsar Axion XM30 F<\/td>3.402<\/td>3.402<\/td>
Hikmicro LYNX LC06<\/td>7.212<\/td>11.484<\/td>
Hikmicro LYNX Pro LH-15<\/td>8.158<\/td>16.47<\/td>
InfiRay CTP13<\/td>11.096<\/td>11.096<\/td>
Liemke Luchs-1<\/td>6.112<\/td>6.112<\/td>
Steiner Nighthunter C35 gen I<\/td>14.518<\/td>16.398<\/td>
Swarovski tM 35<\/td>2.446<\/td>2.446<\/td>
Pulsar Axion 2 XG35<\/td>3.832<\/td>3.832<\/td>
Pulsar Axion 2 XG35 LRF<\/td>4.026<\/td>4.026<\/td>