So, why is that metric knobs are becoming popular in the USA where the metric system has STILL not taken hold? Well, with us bringing in the falcon menace scopes with metric knobs in the sniper store I thought I would offer my thoughts about this latest trend.
The reason why it has become popular is because it now puts the adjustments in synch with the reticule so they are “speaking” in the same units. For those of you that do not know, the milradian has been in use on sniper scopes since the late 70’s, early 80’s (if not before) with the mil-dot reticule, which is a very handy way to estimate range with the milrelation formula. But, the knobs had always been, at least in the USA, in MOA or inches at 100yards, depending on the scope maker. (yes, there is a slight difference between MOA and inches at 100 yards). This all works just fine, but one would have to estimate how far one is off in inches, convert to MOA and make the adjustments to the scope, or remember that there is 3.6 moa per mil, measure the distance in mils, multiply by 3.6, dial it into the scope, etc. Sure, all doable, but it could be a lot simpler. Like, for instance, the Europeans with the metric system. Where is so happens that 1cm is .1 mils. So, with metric knobs on a scope where 1 click equals 1 cm, you would have 1 click now equaling .1 mils. So if you needed to adjust 1.5 mils according to a measurement given you by your spotter through his spotting scope with mil-dot reticule, by golly, dial in 15 clicks (1.5 mils) on your dials and engage. It is a nice way of doing things just a little bit smoother. The only down side is that you need to either start thinking in the metric system or mils, or both. The US Army has already gone to meters, but the soldiers all still think in english units. The one thing that will need to be done is either create your ballistic charts in mils, or just run with a BDC on your scope and make corrections from there based on mils.