Favorite Shooting Conditions?

[mac86951]

Ok, so we all love a nice warm day with no wind, but how often does that really happen?

I live in the Southwest, in an area that didn't require jackets until Dec. 10, 2012. Then we went the other
extreme and I shot F-class as the temperature was changing from 1°F to 38°F by the end of match.

For the area, right now is the best time to get out and test some loads. We are near 60°F during mid-day
and due to the calm cool evenings and mornings wind is 1-6mph through the morning making for great shooting
conditions. Due to the time of year, the range is also empty, I got a 30 stand 200 yard range all to myself for 3 hours
on a holiday weekend with no wind and 55°F. I would put that down as my ideal conditions (ok, the longer range
out to 760y is my ideal, it had a few other shooters that day).

How about you? What is your ideal, and favorite time to go shooting?

-Mac

 

[jonbearman]

I like mid morning on weekdays when no one is around.My best temp is 60 degrees with little to no wind and shooting in the shade.I love it when the humidity drops to get less mirage.

 

[Hombre0321]

Depends on what I am trying to accomplish on that day. If it is load work up, no wind can be a good thing. If I am getting trigger time and practicing for a match and or teaching myself about shooting in the wind you then need some wind. No pat answer really sometimes you need the wind and some times you don't.

Roland

 

[newgun]

It has sure been nice to have that cold air to cool things down really fast. But the mid 50's to the mid 60's and light wind is what I really like. We get lots of rain so when that stops I go. But I like to go in all kinds of weather. Like right now.I'm headed out.

 

[M-61]

Mirage and/or wind....my two least favorite times to shoot. If they are both absent I don't care much where the temperature is.

 

[rmr]

when shooting a match, I personally love it when its HOWLING... wind blowing so hard, you wonder if the centers will stay in the target frames. I like it like this for several reasons:

#1 I'm mental. everyone else hates the wind, so embrace the difficulty rather than run from it. learn it, love it. you'll end up with skills others don't have.

#2 the "no wind condition" is hard for me to shoot at long range. there isn't anything to look at. sometimes no mirage, and no flags mean that I don't have anything to judge conditions on. I've often witnessed 12-18" of vert at 1k, and it was a "no wind" morning. WTH? were did the vert come from? beats me. give me a solid, constant, 20mph wind any day.

#3 the harder it blows, the less likely its going to switch on you. granted, a throttling condition from 20 to 30 is hard to shoot, but at least you know its doing it. detecting a L->R 5mph switch is harder, and its still a 10mph wind value.

all this assumes that the equipment is dialed in. as for that, any day at the range is a good one. :-D

 

[Leaddog]

Love wind and mirage. Ask my shooting buddies.

 

[LHSmith]

By all means, early A.M. dead calm when the flag tails don't even flicker.......YUP, that's the best time to shoot small :

 

[K22]

This is an easy one for me. It's about 6:00 pm. - in August after the farmer just cut the hay. The sky is blue, high clouds, temperature is hovering around 80 degree with no wind. I'm set up about 200 yards away from a tree line on the edge of a large hay field. A large ground hog has just poke his head out of the weeds, surveying the area. I raise my 223 on to my shooting sticks.... well you get the idea. ;D - It don't get no better than that!!!! 8)

 

[DBailey]

when shooting a match, I personally love it when its HOWLING... wind blowing so hard, you wonder if the centers will stay in the target frames.

Me too! Add rain and it's perfect!! But I like it because it justifies all those bad shots I make.
If the conditions are nice the score keeper is thinking "he barely hit the target. :-[ ".
If the conditions are horrible he's thinking "He Hit The Target!!! "

 

[Minesweeper3433]

Laying under a covered bench when I see the clouds come rolling in for a storm. Right before the storm hits everything goes dead calm. I have shot half inch groups with my 22lr at 200 yards before when it was like that but then you get the torrential downpour and you can only hope your target survives to be dried and hung.

My other favorite weather was when I was stationed in NY at Drum after a very heavy snowfall. We would go shooting and have to pack in our gear on snowshoes as the roads were closed. It is so quiet and still after those heavy snows it makes for an amazing day of shooting.

 

[ryanjay11]

I shoot F-T/R, but I believe Tony Boyer had it right when he said, "The wind is my friend." There will always be someone out there with a more accurate rifle, but the winners know how to read the wind. It is the great equalizer. It always makes me chuckle a little when I hear about how awful the mirage is. It is the best indicator for wind available in F-Class. Learn to read it and your scores will go up faster than purchasing the next big thing.

 

[watercam]

+3 for wind. Don't care much for rain with iron sights, too much to clean and dry. Snow would be a new experience I could get into (once). Just shot a Palma with the wind slowly but surely doing 360s around us the entire morning. Very exciting!

 

[Forum Boss]

fog layer down jusssst barely high enough to see the 1k targets clearly. dead calm, as in smoke hangin after a run. I've seen this happen with temps a tad cold, never in non jacket temps. during match season it's usually a drizzle that produces the best targets, March,April here. Tom

Tom, come down to Santa Barbara in May and June. We have a "marine layer" starting at about 2600 feet and a range at 2500. We get the "marine layer" predictably 5 mornings a week in late spring early summer. It's like a big down comforter hanging from the "ceiling". Shields the range from thermal effects and between 8 to 10:30 am there is pretty much zero wind because the marine layer is BELOW the top of the hills. Some days it's even misty if the cloud layer is right on the ground, but then you can't see the target. I got spoiled... Ever see a wind flag's light fabric tail hanging straight down, motionless for 45 minutes?

 

[mac86951]

Sounds like we all know the best shooting times for our ranges. I frequent Zia R&P club south of ABQ airport. Here in NM, we consider a 10MPH wind to be a zero wind day, so those rare winter days where we really have zero wind are few and far between. The only kicker is that our range faces south, so during winter days a sun-shield is highly recommended.

Plus at 5000 feet and in the desert, we get some mild days in winter followed by freak blizzard to rival the best in Chicago. Difference is that the blizzard will all be melted and weather back to mild in just a few days. Summer is usually HOT and Windy,
which makes for the best challenge as Mirage comes off just about everything.

-Mac

 

[82boy]

Me personally I hate a calm condition. When the flags are just sitting still and the tails are drooping to the bottom and not moving they are lieing.

I personally prefer conditions that are steady, and repeatable. I don't really care how hard the wind is blowing, or what direction it is blowing as long as it continues to do so all day long. The other factor is light conditions. Ideally my perfect day is a overcast day with no sun peaking through the clouds, and a constant, repeatable breeze. It can be raining or not it makes no difference to me, the only problem is the targets get wet.

 

[Bob Sebold]

My favorite is a west wind at Lodi. You can get 180 degree shifts if the winds a very small amount in direction. You want to here a whole say "say the hell did that come from?" Its very fun. One of the hardest places to shoot f class high master scores. Nobody does it in f class with a good west wind. West wind is of course our predominate wind there so it can get really interesting some times. Anybody can shoot a record when its calm, I know, done it. I would almost rather shoot a shitty score that was just a little less shitty than everybody else's score.

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I recently visited NM and Colorado. Some major wind during the day. So, in the am is it calm for a few hours?

 

[R.Morehouse]

60* temp., I like the wind coming from the left the best. 7ish to 15mph, switching from 7:00 to 11:00 over my flags makes for a fun trip to the range....I am not a big fan of the dead calm conditions or winds of varying velocity from 6 or 12:00.......I guess I need to do more of that.....LOL

Regards
Rick

 

[n.c.outlaw2024]

I prefer warm sunny days and calm winds. Usually going to be in the middle of nowhere with limited mobile coverage. A few other mates with me in case of accident or emergency. Really dislike shooting in large groups oh and absolutely 100% no alcoholic beverages allowed.