Shootin' the breeze

[rafterob]

Was working on getting some practice at 100 yards with my flintlock and was starting out pretty good getting 5 on the target. Then suddenly the balls were disappearing. The wind had picked up, but to me it seemed like it was coming straight from the rear. I shot a couple more and saw that they were on the right hand edge of the target paper. I picked a handful of grass and tossed it into the wind and saw the wind was cutting to the right and not straight from behind. Put my sight on the left edge of the target and was once again hitting in the target area. Always neat to see the effects of the wind on a round ball.

 

[Ninering62]

Was working on getting some practice at 100 yards with my flintlock and was starting out pretty good getting 5 on the target. Then suddenly the balls were disappearing. The wind had picked up, but to me it seemed like it was coming straight from the rear. I shot a couple more and saw that they were on the right hand edge of the target paper. I picked a handful of grass and tossed it into the wind and saw the wind was cutting to the right and not straight from behind. Put my sight on the left edge of the target and was once again hitting in the target area. Always neat to see the effects of the wind on a round ball.

Though I've never really been much of a PRB shooter, I have been a shooter for 50yrs, muzzleloading for a good 35yrs. I'm just in the last few yrs started increasing my shooting range capability out to the 400yds the fam has here on their property. I too still need much learning in reading the wind & how to accurately hold for it at longer ranges. And I too am getting a real good look at how the crosswind affects diff shaped & diff weight bullets differently & at different velocities, by just watching my POI change laterally out of the blue. I haven't shot or owned a .50 cal in a long time, but I just got one with a 1:24 twist 28 3/4" GM LRH barrel. I just put a front target globe & rear tang Lee Shaver midrange Soule on it to learn how to shoot cast conicals out to 400-500yds with it. It will be neat to see how the wind affects these 350gr-515gr conicals I'm gonna be testing at those ranges.

 

[mushka]

I remember shooting the breeze at the nationals in the 80's. It's very challenging and changes all the time. I found out how difficult it was to shoot sometimes. Hard but fun.

 

[hanshi]

Placing those little colored flags at various distances will help tremendously. Wind is tricky and if it's still where you shoot from it could be blowing happily at 200 yards or even 100; and at 400 yards one absolutely has to be aware of the wind situation.

 

[Ninering62]

Placing those little colored flags at various distances will help tremendously. Wind is tricky and if it's still where you shoot from it could be blowing happily at 200 yards or even 100; and at 400 yards one absolutely has to be aware of the wind situation.

Yes, exactly. I need to start using them flags myself. My backyard range is 15yds wide by 400yds long ( 450yds fence to fence ) and it runs east to west. The wind here always blows from the north, it could by dead north, north east a lot & north west sometimes. Always a crosswind to my range. I usually pic non windy days to shoot. But that’s not helpin me learn how to read & hold for a crosswind. Time to do things differently.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Was working on getting some practice at 100 yards with my flintlock and was starting out pretty good getting 5 on the target. Then suddenly the balls were disappearing. The wind had picked up, but to me it seemed like it was coming straight from the rear. I shot a couple more and saw that they were on the right hand edge of the target paper. I picked a handful of grass and tossed it into the wind and saw the wind was cutting to the right and not straight from behind. Put my sight on the left edge of the target and was once again hitting in the target area. Always neat to see the effects of the wind on a round ball.

As a kid, I hunted for years with a little .22 bolt action…I got to be very accurate with that little gun at distance. Once I started hunting with my .50 calibre….I found that my Kentucky Windage for the .22 and my hold overs for the .50 calibre were not that far from each other. Both guns were sighted in dead-on at around 25 yrds…I had a small single target range setup in our backyard…

Prairie dogs at 150 yrds, I used the same hold over for both.

The transition between the 2 was almost seamless.

 

[Boomerang]

I do notice that round balls are affected by the wind quite a bit.

 

[tenngun]

Problem with the wind is it’s ruled by a finicky Goddess. Just when your ready to shoot she send a gust or a low.
Then she laughs
Some times you can hear her

 

[Omahkapi'si]

If I wait for a day without wind out here I’ll never shoot.

 

[flntlokr]

Though I've never really been much of a PRB shooter, I have been a shooter for 50yrs, muzzleloading for a good 35yrs. I'm just in the last few yrs started increasing my shooting range capability out to the 400yds the fam has here on their property. I too still need much learning in reading the wind & how to accurately hold for it at longer ranges. And I too am getting a real good look at how the crosswind affects diff shaped & diff weight bullets differently & at different velocities, by just watching my POI change laterally out of the blue. I haven't shot or owned a .50 cal in a long time, but I just got one with a 1:24 twist 28 3/4" GM LRH barrel. I just put a front target globe & rear tang Lee Shaver midrange Soule on it to learn how to shoot cast conicals out to 400-500yds with it. It will be neat to see how the wind affects these 350gr-515gr conicals I'm gonna be testing at those ranges.

I like to watch the path of minies (and some large calibre bullets) when spotting for friends. It is interesting to see the sometimes S shaped trajectories over several hunderd yards as the crosswinds are different in different areas downrange..

 

[1BadDart]

I shoot air guns and 50 yard rimfire, the wind can do some very strange things.

 

[dwarvenchef]

Guess I’ve been sheltered (literally) as I shoot in Oak Scrublands. Wind has not affected my shots with all the dense vegetation around. Well the piggies fall down when I do my part at least.

Exposure to wind being directly effected by where you shoot, projectile speed, and weight. I shoot heavy for caliber bullets as often as I can and as fast as I can, well with in safe standards… no need to blow anything else up (don’t ask how I know that…), and in my area I get very little drift. Drop on the other hand… yikes..

On the plains I’m sure I’d be crying over the drift…

 

[Omahkapi'si]

I can shoot around corners now