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Wind holdover

4K views 16 replies 13 participants last post by  jaybirdjtski 
#1 ·
I am fairly new to longrange shooting. Can I get some advice on what I can expect in terms of wind drift at distance. I know you can't say exactly but any rough ideas?

Load=22-250, 50grain V-max

Thanks
 
#4 ·
Velocity plays a major role in wind drift too.

When I shot factory benchrest competitions, aiming about 1" of the bullseye at 100yds with my 6.5x55 and 142 MK was often required even at 100 yds and high velocities when shooting in a crosswind. So as ranges increase, and velocity drops, bullets start moving in all directions at increased rates.


there are ballistic programs that you can feed info into and they will give you an idea on drift and drop, but shooting is also needed to see the results first hand.
 
#5 ·
Shooting PD's with your rifle will usually require anywhere from slight shift from dead center to six inches at 300 yards. Real windy day with cross wind might require a foot of windage.

I shoot 22 Hornet which is around 2800 fps with 40 grain bullets. Most shots require around the width of a PD but have been as high as 24" dependant on wind velocity, wind direction and target distance from rifle.

Best teacher is actual practice in PD town. If you miss usually they will stand there unless you hit low in front of them. Shoot high and they carry on like nothings happening. If you miss close enough too them they will spook and go down. They tend to duck just like we do when we hear richocheys.
 
#6 ·
03 mossy. I'll try to help you out the best that I can. Assuming that you are using factory hornady ammo, I plugged in all the information into sierra suite and put in all pretty standardized answers for wind, altitude, etc. These values are for a direct cross wind.

5mph 10mph 15mph

100yds .46in .91in 1.37in
200yds 1.92in 3.83in 5.75in
300yds 4.57in 9.14in 13.7in
400yds 8.65in 17.3in 25.96in
500yds 14.5in 29.0in 43.5in

All of these values should be verified and they will probably be a little bit off, but at least it will give you a starting point.
 
#7 ·
Best advice is to acquire a ballistic program and plug in whatever variables you consider could be present where you'll be shooting. You need to know the actual velocity, the B.C. of the bullet, altitude, air density (humidity) and the actual cross-wind speeds to determine your question.
 
#8 ·
This should help

http://www.udarrell.com/22-250-rem-50-grain-bullet.html

http://www.shootingtimes.com/ballistics/22_250_remington.html

Also might try a couple of boxes of 75 grain bullets, zero at 150 yards and ignore the wind unless its blowing picnic tables around. Well, picnic lunch anyway.

Bring a notebook and chart your shots for range, time of day, direction, temperature, light condition, wind strength and wind direction in comparison to your shooting direction. By the end of the trip you will have a chart made up for your rifle under the conditions you shoot at. Ready made form on a clip board secured with rubber bands and a marker or good pen attached to your clip board makes it easy to do. Big baggy to stuff the clipboard in when you get one of those rain days will save your data.
 
#9 ·
Computer programs will certainly help get the numbers, but only lots of shooting will teach you what you need to know. Charts and tables don't show you what it looks like in the scope, or how to allow for range estimation errors and variations in wind speed over long ranges. I don't think many hunters pay enough attention to it either. How many times have you heard a hunter as he settles down for a long shot ask, "How much should I allow for the wind?" compared to, "How much hold over?"

One of my hunting partners once mumbled as he re-sighted after a miss, "Just once I'd like to be able to hold right on a gopher."

For me that about sums up my wind expertise. I have fired lots of "sighting" shots at prairie dogs because of wind. Wind is the reason I won't shoot at much farther than 300 yards on game animals. It is just not possible to always get it right in anything like typical field conditions, at least not for me. At perfectly known ranges, with flags, and stuff at the range, I know some people get very good at windage guessing, but I always seem to feel that I'm just guessing.

That doesn't mean I haven't hit some very long shots on prairie dogs, but I have also missed enough to know how much tougher wind is to "dope out" than is hold over for long range.
 
#11 ·
"I have fired lots of "sighting" shots at prairie dogs because of wind."

I have too! Trouble is the wind seldom stays the same during the day and dirrection and range I'm shooting changes with each shot. Most of the time it's just a guess but with some shooting you can become pretty good at guessing.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Just got back and wow!! This was my first go around with long range shooting and it was a blast. The morning of the first day was very humbling, I consider myself a pretty good shot but once you stretch out there and have to play the ever changing gusting winds its tough. I also relized that after looking through a $79 scope for 4 days and haveing to re-zero every 50 shots its time to save for a new scope. We had a great time and I am hooked!

By the way my farthest confirmed kill was 385yards! Thanks for all your advice on this.
 
#14 ·
Well there is definatly no shortage of cold days to try it! I am asuming what you are talking about is when its that cold you can see the vapor trail? My father in law was able to see the trail through his spotting scope when there was no wind out there.
 
#15 ·
As was mentioned, the velocity of the bullet your firing downrange has a lot to do with how much you will need to allow for wind drift etc. The speed of that wind will also have a big effect but the wind blowing up close may not be what is blowing down range some 400 yards away. There is a lot to learn about "Doping The Wind" in order to get a hit on target past 300yards.

I use rifle scopes that have Mil-Dot reticules to help me in the left to right aiming on targets but it still is NOT a given when your trying to hit a P-dog at 300 yards. Those who do so at 400 and 500 yards are very very talented. It also helps to know just what your bullet is going to do in a 5mph, 10mph and 15 mph wind. Now out West the wind is always blowing and seldom will it be doing 5mph, more like 7 on a light day.

Now even with my wind gauge device and mil-dot reticle on my scope, (dots are 3.6 inches apart at 100 yards), it is not like picking apples off a tree, when it comes to smacking a P-dog far down range. It takes lots of practice and time to aquire the abilities necessary to accomplish this down range shooting of far out younder way targets.
 
#16 ·
There is no vapor, per se, but the air disturbance in the turbulent bullet wake is like a heat mirage confined to a narrow path, and that you can see; especially against plain background. As Cheezy said, if you get bright enough conditions for the sun to reflect off the bullet base, you may catch a glimpse of the bullet itself. Either can tell you about where the bullet will land, and that's useful if you are not where you can see dust kicked up.

Target shooting literature contains a fair amount of information on wind doping.
 
#17 ·
Right here on the Beartooth website is a ballistics calculator that allows you to put in a variety of wind speeds. Other bullet manufacturers typically have similar programs. You could always pop for a laser range finder and a Kestral hand held wind gauge. The trick is figuring out what is a 20 mph wind and what is a 25 and being able to gauge this downrange.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/articles/wind-doping-basics-1.php

This is a pretty good primer on wind doping.
 
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