PRS Talk Quick compound/complex wind calls

[LPO]

Edited for clarity

I searched through many discussions on wind and didn't find anything addressing this specifically in enough detail to satisfy my curiosity. If anyone reads this and can point me to an existing post/discussion I missed, much appreciated. Otherwise, any insight is helpful.

Goal: Find a way to quickly and accurately quantify complex wind values along a trajectory to obtain wind holds for a PRS stage


Background:

• Location: Shooting in Central AZ @ Cowtown Range (Map)
• Topography: N/S oriented Dry-wash ravine/canyon 200-1200yd, 1375-1550ft elevation.
• My last PRS match had significant wind, gusting from 5-15MPH, swirling, changing direction and generally making it a difficult scenario.
• To give an idea of how rough it was of 167 total points over 16 stages and 2 days, 1st place scored 104 points. There were multiple professional shooters whom routinely clean matches in fairer conditions
• From what I've found so far from talking with better shooters at the match, and research, sometimes it comes down to starting with the best educated guess and rolling with the punches. That said, I'd like to get better at getting my first rounds closer.

Questions:

• Are there any tricks for recording wind observations for multiple wind velocities along a trajectory? For example, on a 600yd 12" target (2MOA, .55mils), if the wind at the shooter is 5mph from 12 o'clock. 300yds looks to be 5-7mph from 2 o'clock. 600yards looks to be 10-12mph from 3 o'clock
• Are there any tricks for calling wind holds once you have the info from the above question? Would you average them together for a ~7mph 1:30 o'clock wind?

 

[Rio Precision Gunworks]

If top shooters are only hitting 60%......then no, there's nothing that's going to help you a whole lot.

Some days are just not feasible for having a high hit probability. It's basically like asking "if it's raining so hard I can barely see the target, what can I do to perform better in that type of rain?"

There's almost nothing you won't find in books or google that anyone will bring to light here.

 

[OREGUN]

I’m not even sure what your various questions are asking. Weighted averages? Wind speed at multiple distances? Record wind at the target?

One trick that works pretty well is to learn to scale your wind call as a ratio of the distance (assuming same direction of fire). So if .3 is required at 600 yards, that’s a 1/2 relationship so 800 is .4 and 1000 is .5. Mess around with your kestrel and see what that looks like for your cartridge at your velocity.

You can only measure wind where you are. The rest is judgment, experience, familiarity with the location, etc. Try to get as much wind on the plate as possible…on a plate that’s .4 wide, if your actual wind to center is .6, you can be wrong to whatever amount of wind gives you .4-.8 and still get a hit. So when you are making an initial wind call, look at wind values for the distance that give you the widest possible range resulting in a hit.

I usually end up with an informal bracket system in my head…conditions over the last several stages shot “straight up” at 300 yards, .2 at the 5-600 yard targets, and .5 at 800. That is assuming similar directions of fire and terrain…not always the case but often enough.

 

[LPO]

I’m not even sure what your various questions are asking. Weighted averages? Wind speed at multiple distances? Record wind at the target?

One trick that works pretty well is to learn to scale your wind call as a ratio of the distance (assuming same direction of fire). So if .3 is required at 600 yards, that’s a 1/2 relationship so 800 is .4 and 1000 is .5. Mess around with your kestrel and see what that looks like for your cartridge at your velocity.

You can only measure wind where you are. The rest is judgment, experience, familiarity with the location, etc. Try to get as much wind on the plate as possible…on a plate that’s .4 wide, if your actual wind to center is .6, you can be wrong to whatever amount of wind gives you .4-.8 and still get a hit. So when you are making an initial wind call, look at wind values for the distance that give you the widest possible range resulting in a hit.

I usually end up with an informal bracket system in my head…conditions over the last several stages shot “straight up” at 300 yards, .2 at the 5-600 yard targets, and .5 at 800. That is assuming similar directions of fire and terrain…not always the case but often enough.

Thanks for the tips. I updated the post to be less muddy. Apologies for the 'tysm.

 

[LPO]

If top shooters are only hitting 60%......then no, there's nothing that's going to help you a whole lot.

Some days are just not feasible for having a high hit probability. It's basically like asking "if it's raining so hard I can barely see the target, what can I do to perform better in that type of rain?"

There's almost nothing you won't find in books or google that anyone will bring to light here.

Thanks, I figured that would be the case. While that specific instance may not have been salvageable, I would like to figure out as much about wind calls that make the difference between my 50pts and 1st place's 104pts. I guess I have an extreme example I'm basing my initial motivation off of and will try to focus on the basics.

 

[Rio Precision Gunworks]

Thanks, I figured that would be the case. While that specific instance may not have been salvageable, I would like to figure out as much about wind calls that make the difference between my 50pts and 1st place's 104pts. I guess I have an extreme example I'm basing my initial motivation off of and will try to focus on the basics.

It's gonna be tough to judge when conditions are that bad. So, try to take that match with a grain of salt.

Moving on to something that will help you though. How much better would your scores be if on normal non crazy days, you only averaged 1 miss per stage? I'm assuming your scores would drastically increase. You can do this by hammering your fundamentals. This gives you the ability to account for the location of every round you fire. Once you do that, except on very switchy days, you'll only miss the first shot and then you have your wind call. Make the correction and hammer down.



Yes, that sounds easy and on paper it is. But it will take a lot of work hammering in fundamentals of marksmanship and position building. You don't even have to shoot past 100yds. You can practice shooting 1" stickies off a barricade at 100yds. With and without a timer. Once you're averaging around 1 missed shot per stage, then it's time to move along to wind.



IMO, wind reading is likely the most overrated skill for anyone not shooting 80-90% or better in most matches.

 

[mmlook]

Thanks, I figured that would be the case. While that specific instance may not have been salvageable, I would like to figure out as much about wind calls that make the difference between my 50pts and 1st place's 104pts. I guess I have an extreme example I'm basing my initial motivation off of and will try to focus on the basics.

if you’re talking about the match i think you’re talking about.

talk to Andrew them next time you see them.

If I'm not mistaken, that's Rusty's local range as well.
- definitely worth asking him as well.

basically you're going to want to write down as much as possible, and make corrections quickly.
- won't be uncommon to write down 2-3, maybe even 4 wind values

 

[LPO]

This popped up in the 'similar threads' category and echoed what you guys have been saying in more detail. Surprised I didnt find this in my search.

Here’s what you really need to know about wind at a match

Been in a wind kick lately. Here’s what you really need to know about wind when at a match. And it’s not how to read wind down to 1-2mph. The important thing is how to only miss once on a stage. This is assuming your fundamentals are sound and you can spot your shots. As well as assuming you...

www.snipershide.com

 

[3guns2hands]

OP,

that was not a good match to worry about the wind, both days were not shooter friendly at all. When youre fighting the COF, even getting all rounds off is a huge endeavor. I did not find the wind to be very complicated, but looking at the match data, more shots were dropped due to COF than by wind by the majority of shooters. BLUF, that was not the match to compare anything to.