Wind Reading Drills
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Wind Reading Drills
I shoot NRA and ISSF smallbore competition, and one of the areas for improvement that I've identified is in my lack of wind reading skills. Can anyone share some of their favored drills for learning this rather important skill? Thanks in advance!
Don't shy away from training on windy days and actually deliberately fire shots when the wind has changed. The first trick to being able to read the wind is to understand the effects that a change in the wind will have on a shot.
Next start looking at how many clicks it takes on your sights to move the shot the necessary amount to counter that wind change. Also, same thing goes with "holding off" or "shading", deliberately aiming off center to counter the effects of the wind. I will caution however, shading is not for the faint of heart.
Cheers,
'Dude
Next start looking at how many clicks it takes on your sights to move the shot the necessary amount to counter that wind change. Also, same thing goes with "holding off" or "shading", deliberately aiming off center to counter the effects of the wind. I will caution however, shading is not for the faint of heart.
Cheers,
'Dude
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KatoomDownUnder
reading the wind
Google Don Brooke and his articles in the UK Emag, http://www.targetshooter.co.uk/
Don is arguably one of the best shooters ever in Australia and has been a coach to both full bore and small bore.
I can't remember which issues of the Target SHooter UK mag have his articles on reading wind but they are very informative.
Don is arguably one of the best shooters ever in Australia and has been a coach to both full bore and small bore.
I can't remember which issues of the Target SHooter UK mag have his articles on reading wind but they are very informative.
Practice, practice and practice some more in the wind. Not only do you need to account for the bullet getting blown around you have the body and rifle being moved as well which presents it's own set of issues with getting on the trigger at the right time.
If you want a drill I would get a kite string and some old VCR tape or something very thin and airy. Run the string from your shooting point to the bottom of the target. Every 5 yards tie on a piece of VCR tape about 12-15" long. This is the best way I have found to see the wind. Now shoot and see what happens when things are at varied intensities and directions. Have your normal wind flags out as well and note how they are reacting for future reference. And remember to pay attention to everything around you to give you hints if a switch is coming or a lull etc.
I only shoot silhouette so I don't dial around for wind, not time to mess with it. But I have developed a good ability to read the wind and with the help of a spotter holding off on a refined spot relative to the wind call is beneficial for aiming small. On really windy days it does take a lot of faith to break the shot completely off the animal but once you do it enough you get the trajectory drift pictured in your mind for the amount of wind you are seeing. Since you have confidence that the wind will be your friend and take you into the center.
Really though reading the wind is something that you just have to do to learn. Go shoot some silhouette and do some spotting it will speed up your learning curve. Spot as someone else shoots in the wind and learn from what you see, just make sure your shooter is aiming at the same spot each time ;)
Bo
If you want a drill I would get a kite string and some old VCR tape or something very thin and airy. Run the string from your shooting point to the bottom of the target. Every 5 yards tie on a piece of VCR tape about 12-15" long. This is the best way I have found to see the wind. Now shoot and see what happens when things are at varied intensities and directions. Have your normal wind flags out as well and note how they are reacting for future reference. And remember to pay attention to everything around you to give you hints if a switch is coming or a lull etc.
I only shoot silhouette so I don't dial around for wind, not time to mess with it. But I have developed a good ability to read the wind and with the help of a spotter holding off on a refined spot relative to the wind call is beneficial for aiming small. On really windy days it does take a lot of faith to break the shot completely off the animal but once you do it enough you get the trajectory drift pictured in your mind for the amount of wind you are seeing. Since you have confidence that the wind will be your friend and take you into the center.
Really though reading the wind is something that you just have to do to learn. Go shoot some silhouette and do some spotting it will speed up your learning curve. Spot as someone else shoots in the wind and learn from what you see, just make sure your shooter is aiming at the same spot each time ;)
Bo
I'm not really clear by what you mean by "drills". To learn to shoot in the wind you must first ... shoot in the wind. How many times have you seen shooters at the range pack up when the wind picks up? That's no way to learn.
Get/make yourself a set of wind flags. Learn how to read them- learn how to read yours. Adjust accordingly. Keep in mind that, in my exp, one set of flags won't really cover all wind speeds well. I have two sets for </> 25 mph.
Not sure about NRA, but I believe ISSF actually specifies the material weights involved in flags - I might be wrong. Even then you can read various shooters blogs and see that not all the flags react the same, even though they meet ISSF "specs".
Some starting points:
http://www.6mmbr.com/windreading.html
http://artoftherifle.blogspot.com/2012/ ... -wind.html
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/20 ... -tips.html
You can also search the web and find books as well as video on shooting in the wind.
They main thing is to shoot in the wind and keep good notes.
As always, my comments are worth exactly what you paid for them.
Get/make yourself a set of wind flags. Learn how to read them- learn how to read yours. Adjust accordingly. Keep in mind that, in my exp, one set of flags won't really cover all wind speeds well. I have two sets for </> 25 mph.
Not sure about NRA, but I believe ISSF actually specifies the material weights involved in flags - I might be wrong. Even then you can read various shooters blogs and see that not all the flags react the same, even though they meet ISSF "specs".
Some starting points:
http://www.6mmbr.com/windreading.html
http://artoftherifle.blogspot.com/2012/ ... -wind.html
http://riflemansjournal.blogspot.com/20 ... -tips.html
You can also search the web and find books as well as video on shooting in the wind.
They main thing is to shoot in the wind and keep good notes.
As always, my comments are worth exactly what you paid for them.
As others have said its all about training in windy conditions. I'd also suggest you learn aiming off to go one or two rings off, in all directions so you know where to aim. You may decide you want to adjust the sights but most windy conditions I've ever shot in have always been variable and blustery so aiming off has been the only way to go.
Rob.
Rob.
Have a shifty at this. I wrote it a few years back and recently I got a request for a person from Poland who wanted permission to translate it!!
I have posted it here before.
I have noticed it is now out of date. Shooters only have 50 minutes with electronic targets and 60 minutes for paper targets to fire the 60 counters. You get the extra 15 minutes for prep and sighters before the counters start. So please ignore the bits about 75min (straight) for 60 shots in prone!
I have posted it here before.
I have noticed it is now out of date. Shooters only have 50 minutes with electronic targets and 60 minutes for paper targets to fire the 60 counters. You get the extra 15 minutes for prep and sighters before the counters start. So please ignore the bits about 75min (straight) for 60 shots in prone!
- Attachments
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- Magical Mystery Tour of Wind Shooting (2).pdf
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KatoomDownUnder
Aiming off in the wind
The articles by Don Brooke also go into shading (aiming off). It's an art that some never master but we all need to try.RobStubbs wrote:As others have said its all about training in windy conditions. I'd also suggest you learn aiming off to go one or two rings off, in all directions so you know where to aim. You may decide you want to adjust the sights but most windy conditions I've ever shot in have always been variable and blustery so aiming off has been the only way to go.
Rob.
Request for Downloaders of my Wind Reading Article:
I would appreciate it if you could tell me if it has been useful. Any improvements you think may be useful. Anything that ...well...hasn't seemed to work...
I did receive an email from a coach in California who uses it as introductory material for his youth program.
That's' the sort of thing I am looking for.
Thank our
Regards
Ross M
I would appreciate it if you could tell me if it has been useful. Any improvements you think may be useful. Anything that ...well...hasn't seemed to work...
I did receive an email from a coach in California who uses it as introductory material for his youth program.
That's' the sort of thing I am looking for.
Thank our
Regards
Ross M
I used to compete in Bench Rest (not exactly Small Bore), but I did learn to read mirage which is much more easily seen than trying to figure out the flags.
This was easily seen through the high power scopes we used. especially when focused a little shy of the target.
It will give you an instantaneous "read" of the conditions. It gives you an opportunity to "machine gun" in your shots.
This was easily seen through the high power scopes we used. especially when focused a little shy of the target.
It will give you an instantaneous "read" of the conditions. It gives you an opportunity to "machine gun" in your shots.