Re: Range Session - Progress Report
My NF parallax is on the objective so I don't play with it while I'm shooting to see mirage. Wind at the target doesn't effect the bullet, it's already there, I use a spotter and focus about 1/2 way to the target then aim the scope at something out at target distance that lets you see the movement. On our range I use the big number boards in front of the targets.
Mirage will show changes before the flags will.
Mirage lays flat at about 12MPH so above that you need something else, but a less than that it is useful, but then again the clouds can roll in and it vanishes.
You'll have to shoot and learn what the mirage means to your rifle. There are exceptions to all rules, that said, one rule is don't shoot into a boil. Usually a boil means that conditions are about to change, so by the time you get out of the scope, into the rifle and sling one down there is a pretty good chance it didn't go down the middle. Just be aware that a wind at or away from you can look like a boil.
I can't look at the mirage yet and know what I need to dial, but I can look and see if it is moving like it was last time I shot, and if it is faster/slower then I need to either dial something or I need to hold off. I prefer to dial.
I have this discussion with the sling shooters pretty regularly. Shooting sling is harder to master, but scoring high is harder in TR because wind reading is so important. One MPH of full value wind is a point. On the other hand, if we were shooting on the HP targets everyone would be shooting clean and matches would be decided on X count.
A note on flags that I just figured out. All of the wind velocity vs flag positions that are shown in the range books seem to be based on the old cotton flags. They were heavier and responded less. I've finally figured out that the new nylon flags stand out about 2x as much as what is shown in anything I've seen in print so cut the values shown in your range book in half.
