G'Day Mick,
thankfully there were no available trees to make a stake from
However after using the .223 in FO for the last 2 1/2 years, I've now got my ol BR rifle back from the smith chambered in 6x47lapua. If I've learnt anything about reading the wind in that time, it should really pay dividends now
My younger brother lives on the north Coast of Bananaland, and has taken up F class. He is working his way through getting techniques right, but maintains that he has few hassles reading the wind. I suppose he's right, considering over 13000 jumps (skydiving, not what you blokes are thinking!) and several years on the Aussie team. Incidentally he is also responsible for the redrafting of the rules for "rel" skydiving, and at this #^th birthday a couple of years back, one of his mates jumped into his front yard the next morning. The LZ was barely 8 meters square... and people think I'm nuts...
thankyou all for the detail and the variety of answers with reading the wind. an absorbing and extremely interesting account by all who have made an input. i have never seen this information in any shooting magazine, but the 1000yard blind shooting mention has got me confused and intrigued. just how and where do you aim at something you can’t see at that distance.
like roar, i am most interested in this discussion. i just have trouble imagining how this type of long distance shooting is achieved.
i believe that good scopes would be needed, what type and power are preferred.
anyone care to provide further information on this.
cjcj, "blind" shooting means shooting for group and score without a spotter between shots. Bloody challenging, until you see aJR or Tony Z or Albow or some of the "guns" do it.. Bugger me, some of these guys can read conditions well...
Here are a couple of pic's of my budget home made flags,made them using corflute(thank's winsomes ),nylon rod,graphite kite spar,paper clips,6mm stainless rod and a glue gun and a couple of bearing's.
Not overly hard to do like I have made mine,there are a fraction slower on the turn if there is a slight switching wind but a lot better than nothing and were cheap to make.
I made 5x of these over a month or so and in the end i purchased some of the BRT flags as well,the BRT flags shit loads better designed but for a budget set mine work fine.
One thing I quickly discovered was that they cant be perfectly balanced on the pivot pin as this will make them overly sensitive and very twitchy(nervous??).Anyway see what you think.
Well done there Chris. I especially like the the dual vane one with the twin tails. Let us all know how they work when you get the chance to use them.
cj, with the blind system of shooting 1K, or now 600 Aus, the sighter period is used to test the different wind directions and strengths. Then it all comes down to memory. A visual picture of what you remember the wind flags were doing when you fired that shot and where it impacted on the target.
What i do, and i know a lot of the 1K shooters do, is fire in the worst wind, fire in the best wind or slowest wind you are going to experience during the match. Look at where the impact is for the two extremes, then pick the average condition which is hopefully one that will return on a constant cycle through the record period. Test this average with a shot on the sighter to see if your impact is going to drop into the target centre. When the record period starts, run with the average, but if the wind goes sour and the cycle does not return to your average, you have your two extremes to go off. Use your judgement on this one.
It may be called blind shooting, but at no time do i feel that i am blindly firing away at a distant target in the hope of getting lucky.
I shot in the Bateman's Bay comp last weekend alongside Rinso, Max Coady, Karl Kuen, Steve Pellin and Chris (Festa) to name a few, it was a great weekend.
It all comes down to experience and the best experience is gained from getting on the range. Like a golf course every range is different.
You could feel the conditions change, the air went cold and you could feel this on your face, in saying this not all flags reported this until a few seconds later.
At Bateman's Bay you shoot down hill, which means the wind will have a different impact upon the projectile as opposed to shooting uphill. I found a lot of vertical on this range, this may have been attributed to evaporation and humidity but I'm not certain, I am more inclined to believe that it was caused because of the wind and the angle or pitch associated with shooting down hill and re-adjusting from the splash plate onto target.
I found that if I placed a shot on the 'splash plate' which is about 16-24 inches below the target that when I placed a shot on target the projectile was either still climbing or the wind had more impact upon it because of the lesser angle given that the angle of the POA had decreased slightly.
My problem is that I tend to chase the fly and alter my Point of Aim to counter the Point of Impact, whereas I should retain my first initial Point of Aim and concentrate on group size and find a little more patience to not shoot through wind.
I know what to do at Leeton and the next fly shoot in Canberra.
One bad target can wreck your over-all score, in saying this you could win the comp and not hit a fly (which happened in the .22 comp).
It is all good experience and there is nothing better then shooting distance (apart from barrelling stags, cats and foxes). Once you have shot 'fly' you'll be addicted!
chris.tyne wrote:Here are a couple of pic's of my budget home made flags,made them using corflute(thank's winsomes ),nylon rod,graphite kite spar,paper clips,6mm stainless rod and a glue gun and a couple of bearing's.
Not overly hard to do like I have made mine,there are a fraction slower on the turn if there is a slight switching wind but a lot better than nothing and were cheap to make.
I made 5x of these over a month or so and in the end i purchased some of the BRT flags as well,the BRT flags shit loads better designed but for a budget set mine work fine.
One thing I quickly discovered was that they cant be perfectly balanced on the pivot pin as this will make them overly sensitive and very twitchy(nervous??).Anyway see what you think.
Dont put those flags you have put that time and effort into anywhere near a target Rinso is shooting at.
Sean,I just grabbed a couple of BRT stands to show of my masterpieces ,but if you can find a couple of extendable poles like the ones that are used to retreive golf balls from water they are great.The flag in the middle is a BRT,I did not make that one.
Sean the rotational fitting that you refere to do you mean the position/height lock on the pole or the pivot for the flag head assy?
I will have to measure to be sure but I used 3/4 delrin/nylon rod,5 or 6 mm stainless rod,and a couple of small bearings with an Id of 5-6mm,it is handy if you have a drill press and I turned the nylon rod down on a lathe.
It is not hard to do when you know how,just time consuming.
Mate I had a look at the pictures that I just posted and can see may ways to achieve the same result,you could use timber dowel and seal it,if you sharpened the tip of the rod to a nice point and had a neat fit to to part where I have fitted the bearings to you could do away with the bearings,many ways to skin a cat.
The strangest thing happened last Sunday whilst at the small bore range.
On a good day I can place two shots through the same hole using only SK match or RWS 'target rifle'.
There was absolutely no wind although it was cool.
During the detail I felt a cold snap, the air had changed, again no wind. One of the boys had fired and the sound of his discharge was completely different.
Before Leanne had fired she asked what had happened as she also noticed the distinct difference in sound, I replied that the air had changed. After having fired I noticed that the round had fallen about an inch on my target as had Leanne's on her target.
Barometrics.
Some of the boys use 'Tennex Lite' during Summer when it is very hot, although asking them as to why is like asking a Freemason to divulge esoteric knowledge.
This prompted me to contact Fruitbat, my hangliding mate from work and pick his brains on the subject, I am still waiting for a book that he is going to lend me on the subject of reading wind. Apparently pilots learn to read the wind and air pressure by observing cloud patterns.
An example that he gave is that hen you see a cloud that looks like an atom bomb exploding, this in turn is causing air from ground level to rise dramatically.
The rise and setting of the Sun also has an effect on air pressure (have you ever noticed the cold snap just before the Sun comes up or sets)?
I just forget the term that he gave for this.
Casio manufacture a wrist watch that will provide temperature, barometric air pressure, compass and timer for about $600 for those that are interested.
,but if you can find a couple of extendable poles like the ones that are used to retreive golf balls from water they are great.The flag in the middle is a BRT,I did not make that one.