s gaging the wind

[paulvallandigham]

Pinwheels are often seen on ranges, giving you a clear idea on wind speed at different spaces on the range.

Wind flags: The most interesting, and apparently effective flags I have seen were made from lady's rayon silk scarves. A knot was tied into the end of the scarf to provide the weight. Since the fabric is so light, the flags were good for judging even the lightest winds. These were being used at Friendship on a 200 yd. range, BTW. I don't recall what Kind of flag the 500 yd. guys were using.

There is NO question that RBs get blown the most by cross winds going down range. The stronger the wind, the more the ball moves off target. The 100 yd. targets have long been used to determine the winners in these matches.

My friend, George Mitchell told me that with his .69 caliber Slug Gun, cross-winds don't even begin to move his heavy PP SLUG until the winds are above 20 MPH.

On the other end of the scale, Phil Quaglino was teaching my brother, Peter, how to read wind one day a few months back. Pete was shooting his .40 caliber RB gun. Phil was test-firing his new, .28 caliber pea-shooter that he built for himself to use to hunt varmints, and small game. Because of medical conditions, and problems with his shoulder, he can't take much recoil. He had a scope temporarily mounted on his .28 cal.rifle, and was shooting it at the 100 yds. target line. While he paid attention to the wind speed close to him, he watched the trees behind the backstop for movement to decide when to shoot. He put 5 consecutive shots in the X ring off the bench that day, taking his time to fire when the trees were moving, and the winds near him were fairly light. I leave it to your own imagination as to how much any wind would move a .27 cal. RB over 100 yds.( #2 buckshot)

 

[ResearchPress]

Don't just think wind flags. There are other indicators; listen as the wind picks up through trees, which way did the smoke drift when you fired your shot, what's blowing round on the range. If you're on a range with permanent flags, are they wet - they will be heavier then and react differently to a dry day.

If you have a spotting scope, on a bright day there may be mirage visible. Watch the way it is running. Mirage will react quicker than flags to wind changes.

Wind changes closer to the firing point will have greater impact than those nearer the target.

In the end, you need time on the range in a variety of wind condition. Make notes as to wind direction and sight settings or where you aimed off.

David

 

[J.D.]

I guess I should have been more specific.

I had not seen wind flags on a range until I saw them at a NMLRA sanctioned ML match. Haven't seen 'em on high power ranges, though I haven't shot long range high power. Long range high power competitors might use wind flags, but I doubt it.

That said, I no longer enjoy shooting at paper, so don't do NMLRA style matches, so I don't have much use for wind flags.

God bless

God bless

 

[dkbowyer]

:thumbsup: Hey thanks for this. Ladies stockings and scarves would probably be the perfect flags. I'll set up a set of them with different knots and see how they work out. :thumbsup:

Thanks a lot!!

Oh, and by the way, I plugged a .28 caliber into my progam with a 20mph crosswind and it says that the ball should blow off about 41 inches at 100 yards with 10 inches of drop. That be a bunch!! I put in 2100fps muzzle velocity as a guess. The problem I'd have with that much departure is not having a point of aim. I was at the Four States shoot a few years ago and we were shooting silhoutes (sp?). These folks did all they could to screw up the shooters. Odd ranges and odd targets. One target was a straight iron pipe about an inch across hung horizontal. It messed up every shooter until my buddy Charlie Taylor shot the thing dead center. Everyone could hit it then cuz they had a grey lead splatt to aim on. It's odd but having to aim 41 inches would leave a person aiming into midair, well off the paper and would cause me extra difficulties at the moment. Well, I guess, practice makes perfect though I don't think I'd ever have a prayer shooting a .28. Takes a heap better shooting than what I can do!

Charlie Taylor is the one who set me up shooting .45's years ago and I've never shot anything else. It seems to be the middle compromise. To step up to a .54 or .58 would burn a lot of powder and lead, punish the shoulder on a 100 shot day and would throw a slow enough ball that the .45 isn't too much different in ballistics since I usually shoot it around 2000. The small balls drop their BC enough that they have exaggerated drops and blowoff. I've just never seen the need to switch. Charlie did win several matches with a .40 caliber, including that Four States shoot.

Thanks for the help.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I want to assure you that Phil was never firing a shot at 100 yds. with the wind blowing at 20 mph. The day he was shooting, the winds were not that fast, and were variable. He waited to see the leaves and branches move on the trees behind and above the trees. He fired when he saw the same degree of movement of those leaves in his scope sight. He did not share information on how much he held off to compensate for wind drift of that small, 27 cal. ball.

 

[cal]

I am a round ball match shooter and shoot at 25,50 and 100 yards. I always put flags at about 5,20,40 and 85 yards. I use a plastic material like the police emergency tape so that in the rain they don't absorb moisture and become heavier. I make all my flags alike. I determine the length by having a helper hold the flag out of the window of my car and then cutting the flag to a length that will assume a 45 degree angle at a speed of 5 mph. My flags assume an angle of about 80 degrees at 10 mph. At the ranges where I shoot I often have enough time to wait until the wind dips down to 5 mph before I shoot.
Cal

 

[paulvallandigham]

Cal: Great post! This is the first time I have read anyone explain HOW they go about making their wind flags, and why. You make it sound simple. Thank you for the information. :hatsoff: