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Curious to see what others have to say about load development and where they draw the line with windy conditions. Do you base it upon caliber shooting? Distance? Cross wind/direction? etc.? Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | ||
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I try to pick a day with light wind. Going today as wind is listed to be 5mph max. Wind flags will be placeed at 25 and 65 yards. Target at 100. Try to shoot during the same condition. The wind closest to the muzzle is most important. The sooner the bullet is pushed off course by the wind, the bigger the group will be at 100 yds. If the wind hits the bullet at 75 yds, the effect will not be as great. Wind Chart http://i43.tinypic.com/2hh126w.jpg | |||
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It is the variability and direction of the wind moreso than its speed that is the concern. If the wind is pretty much straight with (or against) the direction of my target, I will work in pretty stiff wind, even if it is somewhat gusty. If it is at near a right angle to my target, and especially if it is variable or gusty, I don't put too much faith in my groups as an indicator of accuracy. Naturally, the smaller and slower the bullet the greater the influence of wind on it. There are days that I am comfortable working with a .300 Magnum and 180 grain spitzers that I wouldn't bother with a .22 Hornet. Bottom line: I like the effective wind (considering direction) to be less than 10 mph and its variability to be less than 3 mph to work with most calibers. Even then, I only look at groups and not POI -- the fine zeroing has to wait for a reasonably calm day to assure that the windage zero is not skewed. | |||
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Wind bad, group big! | |||
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It seems like out here in Idaho the wind is almost always doing something. When you try to time your shots in between gusts you don't have that much luck. I try to shoot early morning or later afternoon to minimize the effect but have often ended up giving up on any final adjustments to the scope and resign myself to coming back another day to finish the job. The wind is a tremendous influence on those shooting/hunting days as well. I remember shooting 305-315 yards at some rockchucks with some hot 22-250's a couple of years ago that were on the edge of about a 200 foot canyon in the rocks with the wind really moving. I had the record that day with 2 shots and 2 kills by holding about 14-16" into the wind. The rest of the day was almost 1 per 5 shots as the wind would fluctuate. | |||
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I guess I'm luckier than I thought... my local range in indoor, with 50m and 100m bays. | |||
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I have a roll of the Day-glo surveyors tape in my shooting kit. I tear off a yard long strip and hang it on the target backer and some branches between me and the target to get an idea of what the wind is doing. If the tape is horizonal I have another cup of coffee. Jim "Whensoever the General Government assumes undelegated powers, its acts are unauthoritative, void, and of no force." --Thomas Jefferson | |||
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Here is something that I observed. Multiple times I have shot a 45-70 at 100 yards in a light breeze. By my gesutimate the wind is about the same speed as a fast walk somewhere between 3 and 4 miles per hour. This wind speed at 90 degrees will make a 500 grn RN cast bullet drift about 1 inch at 100 yards. | |||
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Wind flags ain't just for bench rest. While those guys use flags that cost big bucks, I find I can get by with 3 or 4 3ft dowels and some survey tape. Generally I put a flag at 25, 50, and 75 yards. No need to put one at the target because you want to know what the wind is doing before your bullet gets to the target. It's surprising how different the wind can be in just a 100 yard space. As you'll learn, just because you can't feel wind at the bench, it may be blowing hard at say 50 yards. Then you just try to shoot when the flags are the same each time or, if you're lucky, when they're hanging limp on the sticks. It takes practice but if you learn to use the flags, even on calm days, your groups will shrink. Bench rest shooters will tell you that it's the man that can read the wind that wins the matches. FWIW, I was at a BR match one day when the wind was blowing a ton from 9 o'clock and was relentless. One fellow shot a .017". That's one raggedy hole. Setting the flags up by yourself can be a PIA but you'll find it's worth it. Aim for the exit hole | |||
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The smallest groups I ever shot were fired on a warm day with a slight breeze. Inadvertently I has set my target directly behind some sort of high tassel grass. One tassel was at about 60 yards blocking my target. I simply waited until the breeze moved the tassel to full left = about 3 inches. When the tassel got to that position and held a second I fired. The 6X47 that day grouped into about .300 several times and I am not really that good. | |||
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Living here on the Front Range in CO, the wind blows daily 5-15 mph. Luckily, it is usually from the north or south and the range is oriented in a north-south direction. However, I commonly won't shoot load development rounds, if the wind is greater than 10 mph. I typically make up a few different loads for different calibers, and if I find a day to hit the range, I'll take whatever caliber suits the wind conditions. On those rare days we get little to no wind, I take the 204 Ruger. Most other days it is the 300 WM or the 7mm-08. The 22-250 and 243 are reserved for those in between days. Graybird "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after ... it's the reckoning." | |||
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I know I'm not very good at judging what the wind is going to do with my bullets, so, if there is much wind at all (for sure if it is 10mph or more) I test my loads at 50 yards. By doing this I almost take the wind out of the equation and I feel I get a better feel for how my loads are grouping. What ever the size of the group is at 50 yards I double it to get an idea of what the group would be at 100. I know this isn't absolutely accurate, but I feel more confident in measuring groups that way than the uncertainty that would exist of measuring a group shot at 100 yards with a substantial wind. Red C. Everything I say is fully substantiated by my own opinion. | |||
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Man hit the nail on the head----read this again and learn something!!!  | |||
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Depending upon what you are shooting and what you expect to get for group size-- you may only need cheap flags or you may want those good flags. On the cheap side I used some Walmart arrows with surveyor's tape attached to the nock end which were then drilled at the balance point and attached to the top of drilled dowels. On the precision side I have used Rick Graham's excellent flags for quite a while--including the one that shows you up and down drafts (a must if you shoot on terraced ranges)and have shrunk my groups to the point where I try to get other shooters at the range to sign the targets, because I would not believe me if I told me that group was shot at 200 yards..............It all depends upon how much you are willing to dedicate yourself and your bank account to shrinking the size of your groups--oh and case prep and table manners and component selection and--well you get the idea, I am sure. If the enemy is in range, so are you. - Infantry manual | |||
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Hey GrayBird, The Range I currently have access to(and the last 4-5) does not have specific shooting hours. Therefore, it is possible to arrive in the Dark, shoot all day, and depart in the Dark. It is "typical" that the wind tends to Calm right at sunrise and right at sunset for a short period. It may only be 20-25min, but if you have your rifles ready to go, targets hung and Test Cartridges lined up, you should be able to get a good number of "Low-to-No" wind shots. I have Wind Flags made from old Car/truck antennas with Turkey Feathers tied to them. It is quite interesting to view them through a Spotting Scope and see what the wind is doing at different distances. Also set them up in some disked fields I was Hunting just to see what was happening at distance. Very enlightening. But, most of the time I don't bother with them. I mow the Range where I shoot and leave some tall weeds and grass along each side. Weed/grass tops are what I will see when afield, so it is really what I rely on. Plus you do not need to tote around anything extra. Best of luck to you. | |||
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