Moa vs Mrad

[nathan197]

Any reason for one over the other? Which is preferred by most shooters?

[lrgrendel]

MRAD seems to be the modern way to go. PRS competitors who range their targets with their reticle seem to prefer MRAD.
F CLASS seem to be sticking with MOA. The NIGHTFORCE COMPETITION and VORTEX GOLDEN EAGLE only come in MOA.

At the end of the day, get what ever you are comfortable with. But make sure you match the reticle with the turrets no matter what you buy, otherwise it gets confusing. (MOA/ MOA OR MIL/MIL)

Hope that helps.

[ty_hooper12]

[Bigs28]

It's mostly personal preference. Everything I have is moa/moa because that's the first scope I ever bought and didnt know their was a difference. One of the advantages I can see to mil is that their are more spotting scope options with mil reticles then moa reticles from what i have found.

[Klem]

Like 'LR' said, it's personal preference but whatever you get make sure the reticle matches the turrets.

I use Mils/Mils on all scopes. Mils is metric which is designed around the decimal system (subsets of 10). Working in subsets of 10 is more intuitive than the more arbitrary Imperial system. I also grew up in a metric system. Whatever you are comfortable with.

[GarandThumb]

Fclass uses MOA because the targets are in MOA. Many Fclass shooters use the rings on the target for their holds.

I don't believe MOA is part of the Imperial system. One minute of angle is 1/60th of a degree in a circle. It's just math and circles. When I'm making corrections or hold overs on my shots, I'm not thinking in inches, I'm thinking in Minutes.

Anyway... think of the two as two different languages. You want to speak the same language as everyone else in your environment. If you are competing in PRS, go mil. If you are going Fclass, go MOA. If you are not competing but all your shooting buddies use one over the other, go that way.

[mdram]

i have been debating this
many people use 1" for moa, but its actual 1.047", that little extra can add up over longer ranges
1500 yds 1moa 15.705" 1/4 moa is 3.92" )note 1" per moa would be 3.75")
mrad can be simple 1 mill is simply 1/1000 of the distance your at
100yds, its .1yds or 3.6", then .1mil adjustment is .36"
1500yds, 1.5yds or 54", and .1mil is 5.4"


i think my math is right, can someone double check me?

[mdram]

double tap removed

[Klem]

Fclass uses MOA because the targets are in MOA. Many Fclass shooters use the rings on the target for their holds.

I don't believe MOA is part of the Imperial system. One minute of angle is 1/60th of a degree in a circle. It's just math and circles. When I'm making corrections or hold overs on my shots, I'm not thinking in inches, I'm thinking in Minutes.

Anyway... think of the two as two different languages. You want to speak the same language as everyone else in your environment. If you are competing in PRS, go mil. If you are going Fclass, go MOA. If you are not competing but all your shooting buddies use one over the other, go that way.

I think we know what we are talking about here.

MOA is akin to Imperial as the MOA subtends 1" at 100yards, or close enough for the average shooter. The majority of scopes made for the American market use this.
Mils is akin to Metric as the Mil subtends 10cm at 100metres, or close enough depending on the definition of a milliradian (originally derived from the radius being wrapped around the circumference). The majority of scopes made for the rest of the world use this.

After shooting F Class for a number of years I can say that our scopes were a mix of Mils and MOA, because it did not matter; we did not need either to judge distance or to make corrections. Shooting at known distances with simple straight line reticles (no hash marks) we dialled out to the spotter to make corrections. If your rifle is rock steady in a rest this is an easy way of make corrections. If your rifle is not rock steady then you can still use it to make gross corrections.

[J.Boyette]

I wrote a article on this some years ago.

bottom like is this.

MOA is a unit of measure based deg's. You have 60 MOA to 1 Deg. The value of the span is because of the linear measurement you use.

MIL is a unique unit of measure it is 1/1000 of any linear measurement. Again the values is based on the linear measurement you pick.

With MOA and Mil they subtends equally in value as the linear measurement adjusts its value equally as well. So its all a numbers game.

What MOA brings to the table is how it is fractioned in 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 1 compared to Mil in 1/10, 2/10 options.

Since MOA is divided more fine you will have more options in optics as a general rule. Mil is course and its UOM reflects in its two divider options.

But its all the same game. If you look at a Trijicon ACOG as a example some are 1/3rd MOA. This is damn near 1/10th mil. On the other hand a 1/4 MOA adjusted optic with a 3 click adjustment is the same travel as 1 click of 2/10 Mil

What you need to do is look at the true use of the optic and find the best fit. The old Ultra M3's we used back in the day were 1 MOA. We even had Mil-Dot reticles but we got the job done real well.

John

[PVBoom]

It boils down to what do you want to learn.

[kansas]

The only consideration besides personal preference is, whether you would ever shoot with anyone else and what do they have?? It is useful if shooters/spotters working together have the same system.

If most of those people have MOA, then you want MOA, if most have MIL then you want MIL.
Of the 30 odd people I've shot scoped rifles with all had MIL except one. So I'm still with MIL.

If you will never shoot with anyone else, then not an issue !!

[lrgrendel]

It’s funny. We all judge each other and our rifles in MOA! But still a lot of people only have MIL scopes.

EG “You shoot MOA” or “ that’s a 1/2 minute rifle” etc etc

We don’t say “ hey that’s a 1/4 MIL group”

I have all MOA scopes now. If you are shooting paper, it is very easy to see how you are doing by using the reticle and measuring from center of shot to center of shot. IE 1 MOA at 100 yds is approximately 1” then at 200 yds or 300 yds an MOA is an MOA....

[LRRPF52]

Most spotting scopes that have reticles have them in Mils.

Most hash or dot reticles are in Mils.

Most people in the US know inches as a reference, whereas most outside the US know centimeters.

If you're shooting long range, you're more likely to run into spotters with Mil-based spotting scopes, but there are a lot of rifle scopes out there with MOA, especially NightForce.

MOA scopes will give you a tiny bit more resolution in clicks and an inch-brain more relative increments to relate to.

All my scopes are in Mils because the ease of using a decimal system and compatibility with spotting scopes weighed more heavily, and all my LR shooting had been done with Mil-Dot or Mil-Hash scopes.

[PVBoom]

I am going to answer again. If you are starting out, go mils. It isn't metric (some think it is), it's easier, it doesn't force you to chase fractions and it isn't bastardized by different scope makers. Read this.

https://www.snipershide.com/mils-vs-moa-practical/