Reading a DOPE card

Both are angles, so the distance they cover grows with range. One MOA subtends about 1.047 in at 100 yd, so shooters usually call it an inch per hundred. One milliradian subtends 3.6 in at 100 yd, or 10 cm at 100 m. Neither is more accurate than the other — pick the one your scope is graduated in and stay in it, because converting under time pressure is how people dial the wrong correction.

Turrets move in fixed steps. The common ones are 1/4 MOA, 1/2 MOA, 0.1 mil and 0.05 mil. The card's clicks column is simply the correction divided by your click value, rounded to whole clicks. Set your turret value at the top of the DOPE card page before printing, and confirm it matches the scope you are actually taking out.

Drop in the trajectory table is signed from your line of sight: negative means the bullet is below it. The card flips that into a come-up, so the elevation column is what you dial or hold up. Wind is given for the wind speed and angle you entered. A wind at 45 degrees is worth roughly 70% of a full crosswind, and a straight head or tailwind is worth almost nothing in deflection.

Print the card, then shoot it. Confirm your zero, then check one mid-range and one long-range distance. If the card is consistently off in one direction, your muzzle velocity is usually the culprit — adjust it until the mid-range solution matches, then re-check the long shot. If it matches up close and diverges far out, the ballistic coefficient is the thing to tune.

Note the date, temperature and altitude on the card. A card built for a cold morning at sea level is not the card you want on a hot afternoon at 7,000 ft.