Which Wind to use?

[tracker12ga]

Lots of good information hear, thanks guys. Out of the three, it looks like that the wind at the target area is the least important of them. I will play it on the safe side and take into whats happening with the wind at the beginning and mid way point.

[BMcKell]

The bullet is affected by wind the most right before the target. That is when the bullet has the least velocity and is dropping like a rock. One way to read it is to focus on your target and the back it off so you are focused on the heat waves in front of the target. If they are boiling straight up, no wind. If they are moving up at a 45 deg. angle, 2 to 3 mph wind. If they are going sideways, at least 5 mph. The last third of the distance is the most important.

Another thing I like to do is experiment with my wind meter and see how far weeds bend or trees blow at different wind speeds. It gives you a reference when you see a tree blowing in your scope.

[BMcKell]

This thread got me thinking, and I didn't know exactly. I put a 1000 yard shot into my Sierra program with multiple wind directions. 3 MPH wind from 3 oclock for the first 500 yards, and 3 mph wind from 9 oclock for the second 500 yards. The bullet in my example would hit about 5 inches to the left at 1000 yards, but is angled back toward the right and would cross the line of sight again at 1400. So the correct answer is the bullet is affected more at close range. I'm glad I got into this discussion because I learned something. I was always taught not to worry about the wind at the muzzle because of the high velocity would not affect it very much.

[BMcKell]

I think the best way to sum it up is to say: The bullet itself is affected most by wind closest to the target, BUT the entire shot, or bullet path is determined by the wind closest to the muzzle.

[milanuk]

Now that last bit I could agree with. Of all points in the bullets travel, it is more easily affected when it is going slower (towards the end of flight). Wind earlier in the flight has a larger cumulative effect on the over all trajectory, as it imparts a (very small) sideways momentum to the bullet.

If you can put in multiple wind speeds from multiple directions, then Sierra has changed a *lot* since the last time I looked at it (couple years ago) - actually I wasn't aware of *any* consumer-grade programs that did that.

I really, really hope my new copy of Bryan's book shows up soon... I left my original copy with our hosts in Ireland last week - figured it'll be a while before any other copies make it that far ;)

[ss7mm]

Check out LoadBase Mobile 3.0

[milanuk]

Very cool. Now they just need to make a version for the iPhone/iPod Touch