So a couple weekends ago, I drove to NC to take John Boyette's two-day class on mil-dots. By now (the 2nd sentence in this thread) most of you are probably already thinking "why would anyone drive 9 hours each way and pay somebody to tell them how to use mil-dots when all the formulas are free on the web?!?" Well, I'm glad you asked.
As anyone who's actually used mil-dots (or even just spent some time in the mil-dot ranging sticky thread) knows, it's easier said that done. It takes some practice to estimate the size of the target accurately, and there are a number of techniques that can speed up the process greatly.
And of course, a structured learning environment is a whole lot more efficient than just a couple days hanging out on the range trying stuff yourself. So the learning is ramped up.
Finally, as with most things in life, you often don't know what you don't know.
So some of the interesting exercises we did were ranging different types of targets in different conditions. For example
...ranging four different colors of targets on the same piece of paper to see how a) color affects your mil-size estimate and b) how well your optic displays colors
...ranging four different shapes on the same piece of paper to see how your estimate differs on objects with rounded edges versus straight or angles and how a little optical illusion can screw with you
...repeating the above from the top of a roof and then down on the ground, where there was a MAJOR difference in mirage at the same distance
... repeating the above from a position in direct sunlight and a shaded position
etc etc. Some of the effects of these changes were a surprise and others not so much. In any event, it's definitely a useful set of exercises. And throughout the process John was offering useful advice, such as if you size two objects or two dimensions of the same object, which one is more believable or when to strike an average to get a distance estimate.
Another set of exercises was built to demonstrate and practice the "bracketing" technique which is pretty useful for making very quick hits on medium or large targets without a precise range estimate. This will take a lot of practice to master, but seems quite promising.
There were a number of other exercises including shooter-spotter dialog, mechanical offset and in defilade firing, which is pretty dang cool. Using the latter technique, I got a 1st round hit on a 500 yrd target that I couldn't see as it was completely obscured behind the terrain.
You don't get a chance to do that on square ranges much.
By virtue of the very diverse hardware present, the class also gives you an opportunity to look through a lot of different glass with many styles of reticles to see the pros and cons.
John's very knowledgeable about the material and conveys it well to the students. The class was an excellent experience and enjoyable, and progresses at a pace very conducive for relative beginners. As we were only shooting out to 500 yrds (though ranging targets further) several shooters brought ARs and were able to learn the material with less expensive ammo.
Obviously, many shooters don't have access to 500+ yrd ranges, but if at all possible, I'd recommend getting a decent zero and verifying your dope before hand. The less time you spend in class zeroing, the more time you'll have to learn to use mil-dots.
http://www.tracearmory.com/training.html
As anyone who's actually used mil-dots (or even just spent some time in the mil-dot ranging sticky thread) knows, it's easier said that done. It takes some practice to estimate the size of the target accurately, and there are a number of techniques that can speed up the process greatly.
And of course, a structured learning environment is a whole lot more efficient than just a couple days hanging out on the range trying stuff yourself. So the learning is ramped up.
Finally, as with most things in life, you often don't know what you don't know.
So some of the interesting exercises we did were ranging different types of targets in different conditions. For example
...ranging four different colors of targets on the same piece of paper to see how a) color affects your mil-size estimate and b) how well your optic displays colors
...ranging four different shapes on the same piece of paper to see how your estimate differs on objects with rounded edges versus straight or angles and how a little optical illusion can screw with you
...repeating the above from the top of a roof and then down on the ground, where there was a MAJOR difference in mirage at the same distance
... repeating the above from a position in direct sunlight and a shaded position
etc etc. Some of the effects of these changes were a surprise and others not so much. In any event, it's definitely a useful set of exercises. And throughout the process John was offering useful advice, such as if you size two objects or two dimensions of the same object, which one is more believable or when to strike an average to get a distance estimate.
Another set of exercises was built to demonstrate and practice the "bracketing" technique which is pretty useful for making very quick hits on medium or large targets without a precise range estimate. This will take a lot of practice to master, but seems quite promising.
There were a number of other exercises including shooter-spotter dialog, mechanical offset and in defilade firing, which is pretty dang cool. Using the latter technique, I got a 1st round hit on a 500 yrd target that I couldn't see as it was completely obscured behind the terrain.
You don't get a chance to do that on square ranges much.By virtue of the very diverse hardware present, the class also gives you an opportunity to look through a lot of different glass with many styles of reticles to see the pros and cons.
John's very knowledgeable about the material and conveys it well to the students. The class was an excellent experience and enjoyable, and progresses at a pace very conducive for relative beginners. As we were only shooting out to 500 yrds (though ranging targets further) several shooters brought ARs and were able to learn the material with less expensive ammo.
Obviously, many shooters don't have access to 500+ yrd ranges, but if at all possible, I'd recommend getting a decent zero and verifying your dope before hand. The less time you spend in class zeroing, the more time you'll have to learn to use mil-dots.
http://www.tracearmory.com/training.html
