Hardest wind to conquer

The hardest wind to conquer: shooting when there is none. The wind always has a lull, and at times dead spots between pushes. If you're patient and learn to recognize the pattern you can shoot in these dead spots and not have to worry too much about hold off. Of course learning calls for steady wind conditions is as important because if you're on the clock that lull may not materialize in time.

We were supposed to have 30 mph winds today, so I set up to do a little wind test. I was shooting out of my garage at a target placed at 50 yards, using my R9 carbine because I have been shooting it a lot lately and was confident in my zero and ability to group at that distance. I kept hoping for that 30 mph gale to develop, but the wind topped out at maybe 20 mph as best I could tell. Wind was directly from my 3 o'clock and somewhat variable, ranging from under 10 to perhaps 20 mph. I tried to catch the wind at its peak, but only managed to do that a couple times (far left shots). Wind drift was east (left) and dependent on wind velocity at the time, with no obvious vertical deflection. Pellets were the JSB 8.44 in the 4.53 diameter that my gun likes. Interested in your comments.

So the verticle dispersion is the same in calm conditions?

Just looking for info from others on their experience reading wind. I have the most trouble when its coming straight at me. Hopefully we can benefit from others tips to improve our shooting in windy conditions.

Thanks

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Sonny:

First and foremost I need to clarify that the chart ported below your initial post does NOT apply to airguns, that chart is for powder burners...The correct chart is the Green one posted by Stever...Of course!  (hello Dick - take care of yourself)

The ability to read the wind only comes with experience, no chart is going to tell you where to aim and shoot to hit dead on....Air gun charts for wind will give you a general idea but keep in mind that ALL of the wind charts I've seen are for rifling turning to the right which are the most common, nevertheless, there are a few left turning barrels mostly used in older guns...Verify the direction of the rifling in your gun.

Something else to consider is that wind drift depends on wind but also on the Twist Ratio of your gun and in the deepness of the grooves/lands (indentation that the rifling puts on the pellet)...Temperature and elevation have also something to say about wind drift and elevation changes are not linear...To make things worse, not all guns have the same drift and if you shoot several guns it may be an issue; Nevertheless, the general felling for where to aim will only come with time and practice. The compensations that you will need to make will be in pretty much similar directions for most guns, but the amount of holdover will definitely vary....

Practice with wind and if there is no wind where you shoot at home, plug in two - three good fans and place them in different locations varying the direction of the blowing over your line of fire and ALWAYS use wind flags...People who don't use flags are only fooling themselves....This will give you a good feeling on how to cope with wind.

Best regards,

AZ

John, the 0.87" vertical for the core group of around a dozen shots is about what I get from that rifle in calm conditions. That group represents the prevailing wind condition. The one or two shots to the right were taken when there was a brief lull in the wind, the two or three to the left were my attempts to catch the maximum wind condition. I hoped for more variation in wind so I could produce a nice horizontal stringing of shots. I thought maybe the shot string would be inclined up or down slightly. As it stands I am not picking up much of a vertical trend with increasing horizontal displacement. Looks like I will have to wait for the next windy day to be sure.

Well sir it seems you've found a great combo in barrel and pellet for predictable wind drift. This is exactly why when people ask about the most accurate pellet for their gun I always suggest they test for the most accurate/predictable one used in the wind.