Mils vs MOA Scopes for Beginners

Whenever you get into long range shooting you will encounter what feels like limitless options for rifle scopes and the eternal question of “Mils or MOA?” These two options are constantly put up against each other, but what do they mean and which one should you choose?

We’re going to cover what Mils and MOA are, their pros and cons, and which you should consider using for your long range scope.

What are Mils and MOA?

Starting off with the basics, Mils and MOA are shortened forms of Milliradians and Minutes of Angle. These two systems are different variations of dividing a circle in a way that creates a scaling method of measurement at distance. This allows you to adjust your shots and better predict where your rounds will land on a target.

Using these systems will help you determine where your cone of fire will be. If they are not on the target, each system will help you shift your aim to actually hit your target. Both Mils and MOA can be accurate when used correctly but involve some complex math. There are some tricks to make it easier if you don’t have a calculator but we’ll cover those eventually.

Using MOA Scopes

Within the US, you are more likely to encounter an MOA scope because it is a quickly understood system that has smaller measuring units that scale relatively easily at distance since it is compatible with yards, feet, and inches.

Let’s dig into the math. MOA takes a circle, divides it into 360 degrees, assigns each degree 60 minutes, and subdivides that degree into a single Minute of Angle. This is helpful for determining shot spread, the size of your group, and the size of your target.

The distance between you and your target is the radius of the circle you’re dividing your MOA from. This breaks down to a 1.047 inch space at 100 yards, but most people simplify this to 1 inch at 100 yards. Having a single inch at 100 yards allows for easy scaling at longer distances since you will have a 2 inch spread at 200 yards, a 3 inch spread at 300 yards, etc.

This simplification (generally referred to as Shooter’s MOA or SMOA) is the primary reason to use MOA for your scope. Another reason to use MOA is that targets can be described using MOA, especially for long range targets.

Using an MOA scope will allow you to measure the height or width of your target visually. If you know the general dimensions of something you can translate that size into MOA. For example if you are shooting at 10 inch wide targets, but they are only a few MOA wide in your scope, those targets are much farther than 100 yards.

Pros:

MOA scopes are great for quick calculations when it comes to measuring distances, especially if you are used to using yards, feet, and inches. This is ideal for most of the shooting at ranges at or below 500 yards. MOA also has finer adjustments with 1/4th MOA being roughly 0.26 inches at 100 yards.

Cons:

If you are shooting at 1,000 yards, SMOA can cause you some issues since the actual measurement is 10.5 inches instead of 10 inches, increasing your margin of error. At these distances you will be making more exact calculations, but these shots take more planning anyway.

Using Mils Scopes

Mils or Milliradians are part of the metric/international measurement system. This system is the most friendly of your two options if you want to use both meters or yards. But the math that goes into this one is a little more than MOA.

We start off with a complete circle just like MOA but instead of breaking it down by minutes, it’s broken down into radians which are roughly 57.3 degrees each. We then divide by 1000 to get a milliradian. This produces a relatively large unit of adjustment when compared to MOA. Because of this, Mil adjustments are usually 1/10th of a Mil or one ten-thousandths of a radian.

For most practical purposes a 1/10th of a Mil is equal to 1 centimeter at 100 meters or 0.36 inches. So at 1000 yards a full Mil adjustment is 1 yard and a full Mil adjustment at 1000 meters is 1 meter. This makes a Mil roughly 3.5 times larger than a single MOA.

If you want to calculate things easily for your Mils, remember that a Mil will always be one unit of measurement at a distance of 1000 of whatever that measurement is (1 meter at a 1000 meters, 1 foot at 1000 feet, etc.)

Pros:

Using Mils simplifies long distance measurements at 1000 unit increments. If you are measuring distances in meters, the Mil system will be the easiest option. Mils is also convertible to MOA by multiplying by 3.5 for a rough estimate.

Cons:

If you are trying to get the most precision out of your bolt action rifle, Mils will have a much larger margin of error compared to MOA. Adjustments beyond 1000 meters will be in meters/yards compared to feet and adjustments under these round numbers will be fractionally larger.

What about Bullet Drop Compensators (BDCs)?

Bullet Drop Compensators or BDCs are a method of quickly measuring distances without attempting to “dial in” your reticle. This is most famously done with Trijicon ACOGs and similar fixed power scopes.

However, BDCs are usually designed with specific ammunition loads in mind. The BDC will not be accurate in its range estimation with the bullet if it is not ballistically similar to the load it was originally designed for.

MOA and Mil scopes allow you to adjust your zero to your preferred load. BDCs will limit you to particular loads without allowing for variations in ammunition.

MOA or Mil: What scope system do we recommend?

Choosing a scope comes down to your specific situation. If your main focus is long range hunting or shooting your scope has fit into your entire system, especially if you are going to have a spotter.

Your target scope and your rifle scope should be the same system: MOA with MOA and Mil with Mil for simplicity.

If you want the smallest adjustments for your scope, an MOA scope will be your primary option. If you need to use meters for ranging or are consistently shooting at 1000 meter/yards or more Mils will be the simpler answer.

Either way we recommend the Nightforce NX8 for your medium to long distance needs. It comes in both a Mil variant and an MOA variant. The 2.5 magnification allows you to scan areas easily while leaving more precision focus to the higher 20x magnification.