Reading the wind????

[Knackers]

Thanks fellas, this is all good stuff please keep it coming.

[shane]

Knackers the guys have all given good advice, the only thing i would add is that as you know the wind out our way blows fairly well. Often its that hard you wont be able to read your little flags with great accuracy as they are getting blown flat out. So it becomes hard to tell the differance between say 20kmh and 30kmh.

If you are shooting earlier in the morning or just before dark you will get more readable wind as its not as strong but if you are going to shoot in heavier wind it may pay to also use big material flags ( range flags) like the ones we had up the right hand side of the range at the Leeton shoot.
Make them around 8-10 feet long.

Just a thought, up to you. Maybe you will find it easier to avoid those windy days until you get a grasp on the flags?
cheers,
Shane

[Ned Kelly]

G'Day knackers,
Shanes right, those flags are good in light winds but when they wind blows strong, you might have to hang some light chain on 'em for ribbons

They get hammered in rough conditions at Portland Vic BR matches when the winds come howling in from the southern ocean

but careful watching and picking your shot can allow you to keep it together........any flag is better than none!

Cheerio Ned

[Knackers]

Well I went out to try my newly made flags this arvo.
As I'm going to Leeton for the 300 mtr Fly, I thought that I would shoot at 300. The wind was coming in from my left (Nth East) at around 25-30kmh
I shot a 3shot group and then drove down to see. About 2" low and 4-5" to the right. I stupidly wound up the scope 8 clicks which equates to 6" at 300 mtrs, and after holding off while watching the flags have a constant wave in the same direction, I fired another 3 shot group near the top of the target but much closer to the centre. I then wound the scope back down 6 clicks and fired another 3 rounds, which landed just right of centre.
I continued shooting several more groups (if thats what you can call them) but the wind was getting stronger and a storm passed to the north.
I watched the flags a lot trying to see patterns in their behaviour, and there was no periods when the wind dropped off, it was constant the whole time.
I have a pic of my first results, and I'll post it if you really want to see it

[albow]

Knackers

Don't worry about showing us the targets....... sit down, look at them and think back to the what the flags were showing when you shot each group. Then try to work out / understand how you achieved the result you did and use it as a learning experience for the next time you go through the same exercise.

Learn the cause / effect of the result on the paper for what the flags were showing for the group achieved.

JR said a well aged wiskey helps with this reflection but I prefer a middy or red wine

[ogre6br]

someone told me to have a freshly shaved face the morning of the shoot-and slightly dampen your cheeks- not wet but damp- and the feeling on your face can help with reading the wind strength.

is there any validity to this?

Later
P

[Knackers]

Well I have been practicing in the wind of late thanks to the help of the many forum members that gave advice.
Today at the range I took my home made wind flags and set them up and I am pleased to say that I scored 234 from 250 with the wind constanly blowing and gusting up to 28kmh and swinging from the Nth to the East and back again. I managed first place in the sporting class.
I will keep practicing, but I agree with some others that said "once you use flags, you wont shoot without them".

[Curtley78]

someone told me to have a freshly shaved face the morning of the shoot-and slightly dampen your cheeks- not wet but damp- and the feeling on your face can help with reading the wind strength. is there any validity to this?

Ogre6br,

I lick my hand and moisten the back of my neck to check for wind and yes you will also feel it on your face, you can also moisten the back of each hand to get an indication of which way it is blowing (Starboard or Port side).

I don't have flags (yet) I am struggling to justify shelving out coin when I could buy another rifle and watch someone else's flags.

I generally watch the mirage and then the fall of shot on the sighter target or splash plate.

[macca]

That's a good result Knackers.
I've been shooting for a long time and still stuff the wind up,I think you keep learning something new till the range is closed for all time.
Mother nature always has another trick up her sleeve.
Practice in lots of different conditions and as albow said recording and reasoning the results is the best way to learn.
Best of luck with it,
Macca

[Curtley78]

Since my last shoot at Silverdale and having been plagued with the slightest of breeze whilst trying to place ten shots within the inch for the Diamond medallion.

I have now decided to take it more seriously.

Today on the way home from work I called into the Kite shop at Brighton le Sands (kite works) and purchased a small wind sock for $30.00 (these resemble the ones you see at the airport, however this one is about two and a half feet in length).

They also have a vast range of carbon and fiberglass rods that could be used to make the traditional type of device, I would then use coreflute (the plastic material that Real estate agents use to advertise a property) for the pointer and tail fin.

They also sell the kite material that would be used to make the tail, however they had nothing in store.

[Tony Z]

Sean, it is interesting about the wind sock. Just yesterday i was chatting to a mate about our 600 match down in Ayr, and the wind sock came into the conversation.
Could you post a pic of your wind sock please? Also are they available in the 10 to 12 feet lengths and are they available in brilliant colours? Are they waterproof?

Thanks in advance Tony Z.

[Curtley78]

Tony Z,

The one I bought is flouro orange and they are all waterproof and tear resistant, I don't know as to whether they will stand up against some of Rinso's stray shots though.

They also have other various colours and sizes, including the gay rainbow design for those with fire stick twirling and basket weaving as another interest.

You will note in the photo that it is flying almost horizontal (this is because we had the blower on it to emphasize how it would look in strong wind). In the slightest of breeze it stands verticle, it will still give an indication as to the direction of wind though and one need only look at the tail.

I detailed the shop as kite works, however it is actually 'kite power'.

[Tony Z]

Thanks for that Sean. I am going to investigate it a bit more as to the sizes available because we will use them for 1K so they need to be very visible. Looking at what you have there it seems the way to go for us. I have spoken to a number of shooting mates that are pilots aswell and all have said the same thing, for anything over 10 knots they are the most reliable thing to use. Probably why they are on airports, ay.

Thanks again, Tony Z.

[Knackers]

I have spoken to a number of shooting mates that are pilots aswell and all have said the same thing, for anything over 10 knots they are the most reliable thing to use.

Tony, could you please explain for me the reasons that the pilots say they are the most accurate of wind device's? How do you read different strenghts of wind and being tubular in shape, does this make it harder to tell direction further out?
I have found wind the greatest challenge and I am enjoying learning to master it, so any help would be appreciated.

[Tony Z]

Knackers i am not exactly sure why they feel they are the most reliable but from memory it had to do with "pressure" filling the sock and extending it out rather than actual wind velocity. Warm air is less dense than cold air so one would expect a wind of similar velocity, one warm and the other cold, would have differing effcts on bullet flight. As would humidity where water vapour also decreases air density again giving differing wind effect. All this information is academic and what really matters is the drift you have on the day and the position of the flags that caused it. This is true of most ranges.
One third of the way to our target we have a very deep creek and gully that on any given day can feed air of a different temperature that comes out of the thick growth and gives more drift, less drift, high shots generally, low shots occasionally. I am hoping that a wind sock that may show variation of wind "pressure" might solve our problems and get our groups down and scores up. When i stand in the gully on a windy day, i can feel the temperature change on my face and hands, so one has to assume the air density has changed aswell, even though the velocity may not have. The other problem associated with variable air density coming out of our gully like a jet stream is light refraction giving us a different or shifting sight picture. No flag can help with this.
The gully really only effects our Fly and 600 shooting and at 1K the bullet path is well over the gully and groups show little effect from it. Rarely it does come into play, but we have other wind drafts further uprange that i am hoping the wind sock can help us with.

Tony Z.