Too windy for load testing?

RC20 said:
Kind of reminds me about that cool sight on the 1903 that adjusted for the right hand spiral that offset to the left or whatever.
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Yeah, except wind is more variable. Spin drift is always in the same direction. It varies with atmospheric density and bullet gyroscopic stability factor, so that nifty, if delicate, '03 ladder sight is really set up for .30-06 150 grain ball ammo at near sea level. Fortunately, the foot or so of deflection it causes at 1000 yards is small enough that changing bullets won't move anyone off paper. It'll only be a couple or three inches of difference one way or the other in most instances.
 
We have been in a deep freeze up here in NH since xmas, minus 10 or more with windchill, No shooting for me. If it were warmer and the wind was a steady 15 cross I would still shoot @ 100 yds I dont think it would move the bullets off target at all unless I was shooting 22 rimfires which I dont..
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We have been watching that. Pretty amazing to see Mid West and East Coast go well below our temperatures (under 10) wind off and on.

Our 100 yd range is close for December - days too short (Sun barely breaks the Horizon right now) to make it worth going to the 300 meter range (and cost)

If we go sub 0 the wind is usually non existent though that's less sure these days of non climate change.

We are good to -40 that I have seen a few times, its a bugger when you aren't set up for it. We are used to hurricane forced winds as well and seldom have issues with that. Our Hurricanes are not named as my wife likes to say. Usually with a warm spell, early spring or late summer.

Screwy is we have had little snow. What we had melted off and only got 6 inches of wet stuff after.

My neighbor got a new snow blower and is doing everyone driveway, I don't even have to shovel!
 
That's funny. I did the same thing the first year I owned a snow blower. Then the next year the guy next door got one and did the same while mine sat in the garage. There's just something about having an excuse to play with a new toy.

Snow here has been too little at a time to do anything but cover the lawn with a little white. The sidewalks and driveways are staying clear. That's about to end tonight, I gather, when more serious snow is supposed to move in.
 
well this has gotten way off topic but interesting as heck anyway.

All these cold stories make me feel guilty about not wanting to shoot when it is in low 40's. I drove south with a snow shovel attached to the front of my truck. When someone asked me what that funny shovel was for I drove another 200 miles south and declared it my new home.

Again this is just my range but the worst wind to shoot in is tail wind due to a skip berm for the first 250 yards with a open area on the far side. It acts like a funnel for tail winds into the mid and long range area. It creates a vortex effect at about 300 that I find impossible to read with any confidence
 
There are 10 flags going out to the target in 100 yard intervals at the 1,000 yard range I shoot at. I have honestly been out there shooting with at least 1 flag showing winds out of each cardinal direction plus some 2 o'clock , 7 o'clock winds......all at the same exact time. Good luck shooting through that!
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So much for wind being predictable. Many times I have pointed out flags, same distance, on the left side and right side of the range, pointing at each other!
 
Absolutely. Air is frequently turbulent. I have been reading a biography of the Wright Brothers, and their notes and letters show wind changing direction at Kitty Hawk was a problem for their experiments.
 
If its blowing straight to or away, not an issue (shorter ranges)

If it average out, not an issue.

Assumes you are not Dale Tubbs shooting 1s.

As long as my target stays up, I can get a good idea.

Wind may be strong from left or right but also its not consistent full length so its not a full 100 yard affect (for most of my shooting)
 
What can possibly be learned about potential accuracy while shooting in a variable wind?
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If the groups are significantly wider than they are tall. Or that there is more dispersion in the horizontal plain than vertical plain, then you can use the vertical dispersion as a proxy for calm group size and mostly ignore the horizontal measurement.

When you look at my last F-class target, which I don't have a picture of right now, but you can see that only 2 rounds out of 60 scored rounds were above or below the x-ring at 600 yards. All other non-10's and non-x's were missed due to wind. The electronic target had a "waterline" of holes from just outside the 10 ring left to just outside the 10 ring on the right....score was 588-23x

The load is an honest 1/3-1/2 moa load. Wind is the reason for the dispersion and is evident by 1/2 moa vertical difference between the bottom and top holes.

So, if I'm load testing in the wind at a longer distance, I measure the group from bottom to top only and not horizontally.

Yes, the wind can impact vertical dispersion, but not tremendously at even 600 yards.

So if you want to know what can be gleaned from load testing in the wind, as long as you can isolate the impact of the wind, a lot can be gleaned
 
Unless I weight it down or block it down, my chronograph tips over in 'wind' (and I'm sorry I've never measured how much wind it takes).

If my chronograph is upright, I can record the velocities. If the wind disturbs my aim, its too windy for groups.
 
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