Confidence

I haven't noticed that John, but have rarely shot with the wind directly at my back in competition.... But at EBR the wind was from either the 1 to 2 o'clock or 10 to 11 o'clock position, and it shifted plus changed speed almost by the half minute. One thing I like about the older FX ST barrels is the super low spin rate. What this does is minimize the aerodynamic jump compared to most guns that have either STX or LW (or equivalent) barrels with higher spin rates. The .30 FX ST barrel has an effective twist of around 1:50, and shooting the pellets at around 875 FPS keeps the pellet stable but spin rate low. In the case of EBR, with the winds coming from the above mentioned directions, its possible to get an upward jump from the 10 or 11 o'clock, or a downward jump from the 1 or 2 o'clock wind directions. I did notice a slight (1/4 to 1/2") jump up or down in these situations where it blew a little harder from those directions. That's why I almost never shoot more than two shots between sighters. Just when you think you have it dialed in, the wind direction shifts or the speed changes as you pull the trigger...

Honestly, not many of us that shoot 100 yard events are "skillful" at reading wind conditions. What we do is shoot a few sighters to get the dope, then shoot a few targets, watching to make sure conditions don't change much. I use a wind flag at about 30 yards, some use none, ,some use more. But if you told most of us to just shoot at 100 yards, using the wind flag(s) and observation for each shot, but no sighters, we'd probably all suck. Maybe some are good at that, but its doubtful seeing the amount of sighters used at 100 yards events. I hunt a lot, much more than I practice shooting targets, so I have some idea of how to dope for the wind, since there are no sighters when hunting. But I'm certainly not skillful at it...

I think you're correct. My intentions were exactly as you say, to remove one variable from the shooting, so that all you need to do is dope (guess?) the wind. That's why I for one only shoot two targets before I shoot another sighter, even if the wind doesn't appear to have changed. I've been burned way too many times trying to shoot more than two. It might be only one sigher, then another two targets, but if the wind changes and you shoot a 3, 4, or 5, that can ruin your score, even on just one out of 25 targets. I shot 4 targets in the 7 ring at EBR in the finals. and I know what happened to all 4. Three of them were wind with a slight change, or whatever, and the fourth was me, slightly jerking the trigger. That one was read perfectly and was directly above the X, but on the line between the 6 and 7. I was calm the entire 30 minutes, in fact I never noticed the photos being taken, or people talking behind me, none of that. I could have had a bomb go off next to me and I wouldn't have noticed...

Sure. I’m still in CDMX but have WiFi. The reason I came up with a max of two between sighters is I’ve gotten burned before trying to shoot more than that between sighters, especially with swirling winds. 

My normal method Is to shoot a sighter. Wait about 15 to 20 seconds. Shoot another sighter. If they are close (inside an inch, preferably 1/2 inch), I’ll check to make sure the flags and other wind indicators look the same and haven’t changed, then shoot a Target. If it’s good I’ll quickly shoot one more. If the first and second sighters are not very close, I’ll wait a minute and do the two sighter method again until I can get two close. Any more than that, unless you are 100% certain conditions haven’t changed, I’ll stop, wait a minute, and shoot another sighter. Then rinse and repeat. 

There have been times more than once where I was certain another shot or two would be fine and I got burned with a 7 or worse. Some ranges have a more consistent wind like the Airgun range in Green Valley AZ (Saguaro Classic Tournament) where you can get away with 3 or 4, but that’s the exception to the rule.

This (below) is what can happen when you’re cruising along thinking everything is great and you fool yourself into thinking you’ve mastered the wind. This was at the 2019 Saguaro Classic near Tucson, AZ. Five shots per target, 10 targets, max score of 500 points, 100 yards. Same size target as EBR or RMAC. I shot bottom to top, so the top target was my last. The previous target I got slightly caught but the one to the left still plugged an 8. If I remember correctly I was holding about a Mil to 1.25 Mil for a left to right wind. Then the last four were good, and I moved up and shot without a pause or sighter. Look at my last shot... ;( That cost me a win. The wind flag looked the same. The wind felt the same. But if I’d have shot a sighter after each two shots this wouldn’t have happened. So that’s where my two shot general rule comes from...

This was my best target in the finals, same tournament, Target #6 out of ten, 5 shots at 100 yards. Never measured it but well under an inch C2C. I’d estimate .6 to .7 inch. 

If only that worked at only 25 meters!

Click to expand...

I’ve learned a great deal of what I know from LD... but I’m still practically a newby at 25M. In case you’ve never heard of him, LD is the “Yoda” of 25M and Field Target competition.

My method works for me at 100 yards as evidenced by my recent win, but I’m sure there are better ways at the shorty distances...