MOA or MRAD - Which do you prefer, and why?

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kagia

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I'm looking to get a scope for my Stag 10 rifle. I've never done any kind of long range shooting before. Just plinking steel at 100yds.

Not looking to do anything too crazy with this rifle. Mostly just plinking steel and paper between 100 and 300. Maybe once in a while out to 500, and maybe a bit of hunting.

I'll probably end up getting something with a ffp reticle, but have no idea if I should get MRAD or MOA.

Which do you prefer, and why?
 
It doesnt matter whether you use mil or moa but use the one that your brain is used to using, by that i mean; if you think in feetband inches use moa, if meters and centimeters is your thing use mil.

Another thought is who you shoot with. If all your friends use mil maybe you should not use moa so that you dont mix up measurements.
 
Magmalis said:
It doesnt matter whether you use mil or moa but use the one that your brain is used to using, by that i mean; if you think in feetband inches use moa, if meters and centimeters is your thing use mil.

Another thought is who you shoot with. If all your friends use mil maybe you should not use moa so that you dont mix up measurements.
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Thanks.

It depends what I'm doing, but sometimes I think in inches and sometimes metric. Probably an even mixture of both, unfortunately, so I'm not really biased toward either.

Also, I don't really shoot with many people. None of whom are avid shooters that engage in any kind of long range activities.
 
kagia said:
Thanks.

It depends what I'm doing, but sometimes I think in inches and sometimes metric. Probably an even mixture of both, unfortunately, so I'm not really biased toward either.

Also, I don't really shoot with many people. None of whom are avid shooters that engage in any kind of long range activities.
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Buy whatever you like visually then and stick with it. A lot of shooters use mil rads because the military does(or they are ex military)
The big thing for me is when a shot is called for correction. Is it 1 foot high or 30 centimeters?

I use moa so when i call a shot i will say something like 4 minutes left 2 minutes low. I dont ever say inches or feet because those are just estimates that are usually wrong at long distances. Use the system that is built into your scope.

There are some stupid scopes out there that mix mil reticles with moa turrets. Stay away from them, there is nothing good about mixing them. (1/4moa is smaller than .1 moa for finer adjustment)

http://precisionrifleblog.com/2013/07/20/mil-vs-moa-an-objective-comparison/
 
That makes sense. If I'm shooting and my shot goes way high, I'm definitely calling it in inches/feet.

I'm thinking Vortex Diamondback Tactical FFP in MOA. The turret adjustments are 1/4 MOA.
 
I grew up thinking in inches when shooting and MOA. Decided to get into PRS shooting and bought a MOA scope... it sucked, got the scope converted to MRAD the first chance I had. It's just so much easier for dialing, doping and holdovers.

If you are just shooting 100 yards and that's it... pick one. It won't matter to you if you're just shooting paper at 100. But if you plan on dialing and shooting random distances, go MRAD. For example... My 650 yard dope is 4.0 Mil. Which is a lot easier on my mind than 13.75 MOA. Base ten stuff when dialing back and forth between targets is easy.
 
My razor gen ll 4.5-27 is in mils
My next razor gen ll 1-6, that will be purchased soon, will probably be in minutes

Everyone at the range speaks in minute language and am converting on the spot
 
Multiples/divisions of 4 vs 10.

10 is an easier number to work/correct with when it counts.
 
I referred to a distance in Court in feet. The judge, all of 70 years old, looked at me and asked for the figure in meters. Either I'm behind the times, or ...
 
I use MOA for F class or any competition with paper targets

Mil for PRL type matches. Ironically, the target sizes are often times discussed in MOA... so be familiar with both

Use the units that are popular for the environment/shooters you will be with so comms are easier.

Jerry
 
Thanks for all the advice.

After much deliberation, and a bunch of reading, I decided to go with MRAD. I placed and order for a scope and it will hopefully be here no later than next week.

I won't ever be doing any competitive shooting, and I don't shoot with anyone who does any long range shooting, so I should be able to just do my own thing and get used to the MRAD system.
 
I use both but prefer MIL a lot more now that I have a much better understanding of it. Mils are much easier to correct in my brain since its based on a ten based math system rather than 4. Plus all my shooting buddies are in mils, so it sucked being MOA because my corrections are way different.

But I do agree with Jerry though; if I was shooting F-class or a similar stationary discipline where the target size and distance are known as MOA generally is a finer adjustment, I believe .1 Mil - .33 MOA roughly (depends on the click value, I have 1/2 MOA scope).
 
Sounds like you decided already but here’s what I figured from when I was looking at this question:
Assumptions: You will be doing tactical style shooting with a reticle using a mil or MOA based scale

If you plan to use reticle holdovers but don’t plan to dial at all you can get away with a mil reticle and MOA turrets otherwise I’d avoid a mixed scope.

Some guys say MOA is imperial and mil is metric but that’s not really the case, they are both angular units of measure with no units. 1 MOA 1/60th of 1 degree which coincidentally ends up being almost 1” at 100 yards distance (actually 1.047”). A mil is 1/1000th of the distance to the target, so it’s 10cm @ 100m, but it’s also 1” @ 1000inches, or 1ft @ 1000ft. Either way it doesn’t really matter if you just stay in angular measurements. That is to say for example you make a shot and miss, the correction is called as 2 MOA up 3 MOA left so you make those adjustments on your reticle or your dials and retake the shot. Or you use mils and your call and adjustment is maybe 0.3 mil up and 0.2 mil right. If your spotter uses a riflescope or a spotting scope with a scaled reticle you use the reticle to measure the correction in mil or MOA and then make the correction in mil or MOA. There is just no reason to convert to inches or cm.

If you are going to use your reticle to measure the target and back into a range you could use either, mil is maybe a little easier, the formula is easier to do in your head but MOA is also pretty easy depending on the target. Say you range a 8” plate and it appears to be 4 MOA. 8” target/4 MOA = 2” per MOA = about 200 yards. Of course you’re S.O.L. if you don’t know whether that target is a 6, I or 10” plate. The same caveat holds true to mil based estimation. Assume that’s a standard IPSC silhouette when it’s actually a 3/4 scale silhouette and your range adjustment will be off by 25%. Garbage in = garbage out. Can you tell if that’s a big animal or a small animal? Big rock or small rock? Big bush or small bush?

One other factor is we measure precision in MOA, no one talks about shooting a 0.2mil group, it’s all MOA, sub-MOA, etc. You can judge your hit probability easier I think when you are looking at a 2 MOA target and know you have a 1/2 MOA rifle.

Mil seems to be more popular among PRS shooters but MOA is probably easier for the guy target shooting. In the end I thing what matters most is if you’re most comfortable with ones and tenths or ones and quarters and what your spotters use so you can speak the same language.
 
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