97B"E" in variable high wind at 100 yards, bench, red dot

[Joe L]

It has been windy in the mountains of New Mexico, so I didn't even attempt to go to the range to shoot the pistols at 100/200 or the .308 sniper rifle at 500 meters.  I'll only be here a few more days, and I needed a project, something new, and the wind predictions for today were 40 mph and variable, so I thought, what the heck, I have no idea how the wind will affect an 800 fps .45 JHP anyway, why not go try it? 

I used sandbags on two video cameras and a monitor, and still had stuff flying off the bench.  And, worst of all, the wind velocity AND direction were constant alright, constantly changing.  Couldn't have been more challenging except I don't think the wind speed reached 40 mph while I was there.  Probably 30, from 3 o'clock to 6 o'clock, low probably around 10 mph.  I limited myself to 30 precious Atlanta Arms 185 gr JHP, including 10 sighters on target 1. 

I'm finishing up a video--everything worked--but it won't be done and uploaded to YouTube until this evening some time.  It is long, probably 15 minutes, because I couldn't edit out the time between shots as I was making verbal wind calls at that time, just like the big boys do with their PRS rifles!  Well, kinda. 

And no, I didn't even try hitting the large steel gong seated single hand in that much wind. 

I'll post my thoughts about the results of this experiment after the video is uploaded.  Short version--I am less fearful of wind effects now than I was yesterday, even when shooting a low velocity .45 pistol.  A little more practice would be helpful, however! 

Joe

[Joe L]

Video is 15 minutes long and won't be finished processing by YouTube until around 10pm MST, or about 2 hours from now.  That is the problem with long videos! 

https://youtu.be/quTS3_wiL6E

Let me know what you think.  I probably won't reply until Wednesday morning, however. 

Joe

[Joe L]

Here are some of my thoughts about this experiment. 

1.  Shooting a pistol in the variable wind conditions is just like shooting a rifle in the wind from a ballistics standpoint.  The wind hold can be calculated accurately IF one knows the velocity and direction of the wind over the path of the bullet at the time the shot is released.  I could do that on paper, but I won't. 

2.  The difficulty with the pistol is that, even on a good shooter, calm day, an average group size is, say 6".  If the effect of the wind is calculated at 9" at 30 mph from 3 o'clock, one might see a hit under those conditions at 12" off center or 6" off center.  So one has to shoot at least one 5 shot group at constant wind conditions, and stop shooting long enough to see the result and assess the hold distance before one can determine experimentally what the max offset will be for the max wind and then adjust the hold from 0 in calm to 9" at max while guessing the wind condition at the moment of shot release. 

3.  What I found was that adding another variable to the 100 yard pistol challenge caused me to increase my group size to something like 9 or 10".  I think the reason is that I did not learn in one outing how to make a wind call confidently while delivering a perfect shot.  It would have been easier with a steady wind rather than one that would gust an additional 15 mph in a matter of 2 seconds.  Yes I was able to deliver some good shots.  Some of them were pure luck.  But the bad shots were either bad wind calls or bad trigger control due to the additional tension resulting from the additional mental task of guessing the wind.  This is challenging enough on a calm day.

4.  To do this well will take a lot of practice so that I can reduce the added mental tension from making the wind call to a level where I can still execute a good long range pistol shot.  That is the lesson here for me. 

Joe 

[Joe L]

Now that I'm back home and have had some time to study my 4 videos from last week, I think this one of the 97B"E" in the wind on Tuesday is my favorite.  Tuesday wind conditions were the most challenging, and my expectations were low, and the results were surprisingly good.  I'm also thinking there was some luck involved that supplemented whatever skill I have.  These Tuesday results made the next three days possible, as it got me over any fear of shooting the pistols in the wind.

Trying this at 200 yards in the wind is going to be quite difficult as the wind hold will be feet, not inches.  Not sure yet how to approach that.  Might be a Spring project.  Wind is bad enough.  Sub freezing temps with the wind might take all the fun out of the attempt.

Joe