I assume that the Mildot scopes on some sniper rifles (where there are small dots on the cross hairs close to the cross) are similar to real ones, and you can estimate distance with them.
Theres a simple formula:
(Height of target/number of dots it covers) X 1000 = range in M.
heights are as follows:
Player is around 2m tall
Player Crouch is around 1m
Player prone is around .5m
PR doesn't have proper ballistics so no optical mildots and BDCs actually work like they do IRL. Only game I've played where they do is the ACE mod for Arma.
"Clear the battlefield and let me see, All the profit from our victory." - Greg Lake
Yes, mildots are meant for range finding. For bullet drop compensation you just adjust the node on top of your scope, though it is possible (but not recommended) to use the mildots instead (for example the leupold 10X scope I used had 3.5 clicks = 1 mil for elevation, and 1 mil is by definition the angle that spreads to 1m at 1000m range).