From: Kurt Borlaug - MN State Service rifle team coach and Capt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0H08JTs1Lg
"Gents, The USAR team has posted a bunch of videos filmed last summer at Perry. This one is of extreme value to us all. Pass it on to your buddies not listed here and talk it up. Follow links to more. There are some other good ones of 600 yard team shooting w/ Anderson coaching.
Also, Tom heard today that the Nosler order is on the way and we should be expecting the drop at my place early next week. Maybe we can do some testing on those pills before the snow flies.
Later, Kurt"
"Gents, The USAR team has posted a bunch of videos filmed last summer at Perry. This one is of extreme value to us all. Pass it on to your buddies not listed here and talk it up. Follow links to more. There are some other good ones of 600 yard team shooting w/ Anderson coaching.
Also, Tom heard today that the Nosler order is on the way and we should be expecting the drop at my place early next week. Maybe we can do some testing on those pills before the snow flies.
Later, Kurt"
Some thoughts on this:
Gents
This is a good tutorial.
The most important words in it are "shooting window". No matter what the wind is doing over a long period of time, there will be a "average condition" where the wind goes back to after rising or falling. This "average condition" should usually be your shooting window. Wait for it!
As we all know, there are two ways to play the wind. David Tubbs is very successful at "chasing the spotter"-- He continues to shoot as fast as he can through small wind changes in order to minimize the number of changes that he faces. Other shooters wait out the changes and shoot only in their "window".
The two best shooters that I watch all the time use the window method. Rick Curtis, and Nancy Tompkins are Window shooters. I watch them weekly in Sm Bore matches, and they are the last ones done in each 20 shot match, and usually have the top scores.
Other shooters, like me, use a combination of both methods, because I have a hard time staying in position for the 22 min it might take to get all 22 shots off using the window method---and it takes better wind reading skills to use the window method.
Other things come into play---
The wind does not rise and fall evenly. It rises more quickly than it falls. The wind also changes direction as it rises and falls, and usually with a predictable pattern. Wind gusts (big or small) are sinking cells of air. These cells of air have rotation. In the Northern hemisphere gusts of wind usually have a somewhat clockwise rotation. That means that "usually" a gust of wind will "veer" in the clockwise direction, (Click Here) and when the wind is dropping, the direction will change (backing) in the counter clockwise direction. So--if the wind is from 7:00 and it rises, you can usually notice that it is changing towards 9:00 and therefore may have even more effect on the bullet flight. Think about this in a 6:00 fish-tailing condition. When the winds goes to 7:00 (left wind), it will be at a higher velocity than a change to 5:00 where the wind is dropping. So the 7:00 wind will blow you twice as far out, as you would be by misreading a change to 5:00. The corollary to this, is that a veering wind from 10:00 to 12:00 might be rising in velocity, it will also have less value as a head wind.
If you want to learn about the wind, study a book on sailboat racing. Sailors get "all" their power from the wind. The angles they sail relative to the wind and the course they want to follow are what makes the difference between the winners and losers. Sailors are the masters of the wind. They go to great lengths to understand the changes in the wind and write a lot about it in books on sailboat racing.
Yes, the wind is complicated, hard to understand and apply correctly. This is the real reason to shoot only in your "shooting window:"
As for the coach telling the shooter to "favor" in prone slow fire with iron sights--- Come on! What is the point of that? Does the coach not know the value of the wind? Are they in such a hurry that the shooter can't click? I believe that shooters who are not Highmasters, should never be told to favor in prone slow fire. Generally, they don't have the skill to do that properly and it just shows that the coach is not sure about his wind call and wants to put the onus of that shot result on the back of the shooter. Master and below shooters should always shoot every shot straight away, while using Iron sights. The shooter worries only about elevation, while the coach handles the wind call. Can you imagine a Palma coach telling his shooter to "favor".
Once again it's good to point out that the best prone slowfire shooters are also Sm Bore shooters, or have a Sm bore shooting background. If you want to learn to read the wind-- shoot Sm Bore.
Jim E
This is a good tutorial.
The most important words in it are "shooting window". No matter what the wind is doing over a long period of time, there will be a "average condition" where the wind goes back to after rising or falling. This "average condition" should usually be your shooting window. Wait for it!
As we all know, there are two ways to play the wind. David Tubbs is very successful at "chasing the spotter"-- He continues to shoot as fast as he can through small wind changes in order to minimize the number of changes that he faces. Other shooters wait out the changes and shoot only in their "window".
The two best shooters that I watch all the time use the window method. Rick Curtis, and Nancy Tompkins are Window shooters. I watch them weekly in Sm Bore matches, and they are the last ones done in each 20 shot match, and usually have the top scores.
Other shooters, like me, use a combination of both methods, because I have a hard time staying in position for the 22 min it might take to get all 22 shots off using the window method---and it takes better wind reading skills to use the window method.
Other things come into play---
The wind does not rise and fall evenly. It rises more quickly than it falls. The wind also changes direction as it rises and falls, and usually with a predictable pattern. Wind gusts (big or small) are sinking cells of air. These cells of air have rotation. In the Northern hemisphere gusts of wind usually have a somewhat clockwise rotation. That means that "usually" a gust of wind will "veer" in the clockwise direction, (Click Here) and when the wind is dropping, the direction will change (backing) in the counter clockwise direction. So--if the wind is from 7:00 and it rises, you can usually notice that it is changing towards 9:00 and therefore may have even more effect on the bullet flight. Think about this in a 6:00 fish-tailing condition. When the winds goes to 7:00 (left wind), it will be at a higher velocity than a change to 5:00 where the wind is dropping. So the 7:00 wind will blow you twice as far out, as you would be by misreading a change to 5:00. The corollary to this, is that a veering wind from 10:00 to 12:00 might be rising in velocity, it will also have less value as a head wind.
If you want to learn about the wind, study a book on sailboat racing. Sailors get "all" their power from the wind. The angles they sail relative to the wind and the course they want to follow are what makes the difference between the winners and losers. Sailors are the masters of the wind. They go to great lengths to understand the changes in the wind and write a lot about it in books on sailboat racing.
Yes, the wind is complicated, hard to understand and apply correctly. This is the real reason to shoot only in your "shooting window:"
As for the coach telling the shooter to "favor" in prone slow fire with iron sights--- Come on! What is the point of that? Does the coach not know the value of the wind? Are they in such a hurry that the shooter can't click? I believe that shooters who are not Highmasters, should never be told to favor in prone slow fire. Generally, they don't have the skill to do that properly and it just shows that the coach is not sure about his wind call and wants to put the onus of that shot result on the back of the shooter. Master and below shooters should always shoot every shot straight away, while using Iron sights. The shooter worries only about elevation, while the coach handles the wind call. Can you imagine a Palma coach telling his shooter to "favor".
Once again it's good to point out that the best prone slowfire shooters are also Sm Bore shooters, or have a Sm bore shooting background. If you want to learn to read the wind-- shoot Sm Bore.
Jim E
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