MIL vs MOA: Understanding the difference in scope measurements

By Jacki Billings

The Bushnell Elite MIL Scope, left, and Vortex Viper MOA scope, right, illustrate a difference between MIL and MOA. (Photos: Newegg, Graphic: Jacki Billings)
Within each sector of the gun industry silent wars are waged. Tactical shooters debate Keymod vs M-LOK, while pistol hounds growl over .45 and 9mm. For long range shooters, hunters or scoped shooters, the conversation lingers around MIL vs MOA.
While both represent measurements of an angle within a circle, helping shooters make adjustments at distance, they come with their own set of quirks and mental math. So what is MIL and MOA and, ultimately, which system is better?
MIL is short for milliradians and represents 1/1,000th of a radian. What exactly is a radian? Simply put, it’s a measure of distance traveled around a circle. To better conceptualize this, think of a round cake. If a person sat down to eat a cake and devoured exactly half, he/she would have eaten 3.14159 radians of cake or 3-4 slices depending on how big those slices are. In reality, the size of circle is irrelevant because radians measure the amount of travel around any size circle. A radian is a measure of an angle. A milliradian, therefore, is a small

Source: Guns.com