My question for those who are knowledgeable about wind is if you were going to dial in some wind on your windage turret, how do you go about determining how much wind you would dial?
Dialing wind Question
- Thread starter Virginia Shooter
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First, most don’t dial wind they use hold over marks on the reticle. Wind changes so quickly by the time you dial it way have changed direction and/or velocity.
Your question will open a can of worms on here. It’s a complicated answer. There’s a lot of variables.
This guy has a lot of free informative vids on shooting and using a scope properly.
Your question will open a can of worms on here. It’s a complicated answer. There’s a lot of variables.
This guy has a lot of free informative vids on shooting and using a scope properly.
Same way you figure how much you would hold. You have to make an informed guess on the wind speed and direction not just at your location but down range. Then use your ballistic program to give you a number to dial or hold. As mentioned most will hold the wind but some do dial and initial wind call and then make an adjustment with a hold if it’s off.
Always remember to dial it off after you shoot though as you will mess up the next shot at a different stage or location with the old wind call.
Measure wind speed and direction, look at mirage to validate, talk with other shooters in the squad that know what they’re doing. If you’ve already shot a stage and you know what you needed for wind hold, start with whatever MPH that was. I used to be a never dial wind guy, but I started doing it more this last year. I’ve seen quite a few more people dialing wind recently. Especially on stages with one target engagement. I think it’s more precise to put the center of the reticle on the target than hold windage.
^^^^True, but worrying about wind downrange is not something I'd tell a beginner. The wind where the shot is taken is acting on the bullet as soon as it leaves the muzzle, so it has the greatest effect on trajectory. Don't worry about wind down range till you have wind the wind at the point of the shot down pat. Simple is better when you start shooting.
If you shoot out west in 40+mph wind at distant targets sometimes you have to dial.
For me the only times I dial wind is if it's a strong consistent wind, and even then I don't dial it perfectly. For example I might dial a MIL in certain conditions (left or right) but I hold from there. Please note that I don't do that every time but it's something I am experimenting with. Usually I do that if it's consistent relatively strong wind.
If it's just gusty, zero now, but 5-10, then back to zero...no dial.
As far as how much windage to apply it depends on the caliber, the distance, the wind direction, and the wind speed. Lots of other factors too depending on what you are doing. Wind direction is probably the most important factor for general discussion purposes.
There is a whole science behind figuring out the wind. You can get lots of good clues here on the forum but it is really a huge subject that can get way complicated if you let it.
In other words if you are shooting a 50BMG at 200 yards with a 5mph direct cross wind, you probably don't need to worry about it so much. If you are shooting a 22LR at 400yards though, you need to figure it out pretty quickly.
How complicated the answers are get increasingly complicated the farther away the target is.
How complicated the answers are get increasingly complicated the farther away the target is.
I hesitate to dial wind because then my wind adjustment on the clock has no direct x.x mil connection to the actual wind, because I’m adjusting off an already dialed value. If I’m thinking I need to hold 0.8 left, but already dialed 0.3 then my wind adjustment value as I move through the stage and target list doesn’t line up with 5 or 10 or 15 kmh. It gets really complicated when there is a significant pan from the left target to the right and do a corresponding change in wind direction affecting that bullet.
So let's say that you have 2 distances like maybe a barricade stage (400 and 500). A full value wind from the left at 8-12mph. My 400 wind hold is .6 to .9 left and at 500 is .8 to 1.1 left. Would you dial .6 left in the windage turret and then only need hold with the turret .3 for the higher wind at 400 and .2 and .5 at 500? The plates are .5 and .4 wide so they will absorb .2 tenths of error.
Yeah that’s a way you can do it. That’s not a lot of wind so you could just hold it all. Either way just know where you are starting and where you want to be when you take the shot and then correct accordingly.
You have to pick a single number that you believe is correct. You need to be aware of the high and low but the average is generally what I am going to start with. Let's say in this example the average is 10mph. I am going to dial .8 on the gun for the 400 yd target and then hold +.2 for the 500 yd target. If I see the from the first impact that I only needed .7 then I am going to correct that on the dial and hold .2 for the far target.
I do not recommend going half way on dialing. It generally defeats the purpose (exception is where wind holds get very large). If you are going to dial, dial the full value. Dialing makes sense when there is only one target distance or a situation like your example where the wind hold from target 1 to target 2 is relatively small.
And never forget mid stage what you chose to do. Most of this stuff is more of a mental exercise than a shooting one.
Yeah tons of mental work comes into this as you need to know the plan and stick to it after the buzzer goes off. Being able to think on the clock is a tough skill to learn.
I personally always just hold for wind. I know a lot of people who may dial like .1 or .2 if they know it's a favored wind just so they can center the reticle and a few more that will dial .5 or .6 but I've never liked it. Nothing worse than dialing for wind only to find out you dialed too much and then to correct it, you have to do the opposite by taking wind out, by adding it. I hope I said that right and it made sense.
My club most times tends to have some sort of mild switchy headwind/tailwind… and when in situations like that, where it can be like .5-.6 either way, I just hold for wind using the reticle.
But over the last year or so, if there’s a pronounced crosswind and I’m sure which direction the wind is coming from, I’ve become a fan of dialing some wind in the gun.
Like has been mentioned, I pick a number and just commit to what I feel is my best guess at the average. During a stage I still make corrections to my hold using the reticle, and rarely touch the windage turret on the clock, but being in the ballpark and having holds more centered up near the center of the reticle does seem to make things easier.
But over the last year or so, if there’s a pronounced crosswind and I’m sure which direction the wind is coming from, I’ve become a fan of dialing some wind in the gun.
Like has been mentioned, I pick a number and just commit to what I feel is my best guess at the average. During a stage I still make corrections to my hold using the reticle, and rarely touch the windage turret on the clock, but being in the ballpark and having holds more centered up near the center of the reticle does seem to make things easier.
If you don't understand how or why someone dials for wind then don't worry about it. When you figure it out you can then try it. It's one of those things that should be ignored unless you are shooting a mover IMO until you become a higher level shooter. The added complication will fuck you hard and cost you more points in the long run.
I dial nowadays a lot than I used to. Dial vs holding is really dependent on the stage and conditions; being good at both is needed.
In most cases there is no reason not dial in a prone troop line scenario. You have all the time in the world to get it done. Though that might be easier said now that I have some time doing in the game.
I will say it is much easier to forget how much your holding than what you have dialed, as what you have dialed is what you have dialed and you can look at it your windage if you forget, but with holding wind you can get lost in the sauce and forget what you just held. That being said dialing the wrong way between shots can happen if you aren’t careful.
Sometimes I dial what I need for the first target and hold for the rest, sometimes I dial for all and sometimes I hold for all. It really just depends on the stage and the conditions.
At box canyon this year the most I have dialed was 4.2 mils and both impacted.
Hope that helps, but the answer here is “it depends” and “practice both”.
Jon
In most cases there is no reason not dial in a prone troop line scenario. You have all the time in the world to get it done. Though that might be easier said now that I have some time doing in the game.
I will say it is much easier to forget how much your holding than what you have dialed, as what you have dialed is what you have dialed and you can look at it your windage if you forget, but with holding wind you can get lost in the sauce and forget what you just held. That being said dialing the wrong way between shots can happen if you aren’t careful.
Sometimes I dial what I need for the first target and hold for the rest, sometimes I dial for all and sometimes I hold for all. It really just depends on the stage and the conditions.
At box canyon this year the most I have dialed was 4.2 mils and both impacted.
Hope that helps, but the answer here is “it depends” and “practice both”.
Jon
Good points. That was sort of my idea - dial for the 1st target and then hold for the rest. I don't see impacts as well as I move away from the center of the reticle.
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