Reticle hold over vs dialing for windage?

[ballisticdaddy]

I am fairly new to shooting past 600 yards and have been bitten by the f-class bug and love the challenge of impacting the target at 1,000 yards. I find that sometimes I am dialing for the minimal wind condition and then holding over if that conditions worsens but wonder if that is a bad practice? Would love to hear what some of the more experienced shooters have to say on this topic and how they deal with varying wind conditions.....I would like to thank you for your input in advance!

 

[spclark]

WHAT could be bad about it!

Lets you stay up on conditions, you don't have to keep track of klicks on or off... has to be one of - if not the biggest - plus when shooting optics, off a rest or not!

 

[Dans40X]

Dial/Dope it or you are guessing & only fooling yourself!

 

[ShootDots]

There are only 3 times I will dial for wind: 1.) When there is absolutely NO wind; 2.) when the wind is really (and I mean really) steady; and 3.) if I am off the scoring board and have NO POINT of aim.
If I have REALLY, REALLY steady conditions (which in Arizona, Texas and Louisiana where I have shot at) is a rarity indeed, I would dial all the way to the X ring. When I am off the scoring board, which I have been from time to time, I will dial in to the first number and use it as an aiming point.
EXCEPT for those conditions, I will not dial wind. I will hold off. Conceptually, it is the same thing, however, I make better judgement calls just holding off. There are some people, Scott Harris' wife, Christina, is one that is VERY good at dialing in for wind. I have watched her when I was scoring for her, and she is excellent!

 

[Immike]

I find that sometimes I am dialing for the minimal wind condition and then holding over if that conditions worsens but wonder if that is a bad practice.

That's how I like to do it. I want to keep my aiming within the 9 ring if possible for vertical control primarily. I always want to be holding some so I just put in enough to get in the center area.

 

[Dans40X]

Different Strokes for different disciplines,I guess!

As a prone,open sight,sling shooter,I personally don't need crutches/rests to hold my rifle off the ground.

Dope it or you'll be that puppy dog chasing his tail all day long.

 

[CaptainMal]

Don't understand the question.

You talk about "holding over", which is elevation. Then you finish with "dialing" for windage.

You talking holding over or "off" compared to dialing "over" or "off"? Maybe both? Very confusing to me as you wrote it.

My answer is I dial both elevation and windage at the start. Once things start it's all hold off or over as conditions change. Otherwise, I forget where I am and get confused if conditions keep changing.

 

[338 Mollett]

,I personally don't need crutches/rests to hold my rifle off the ground.

Now Dan

I personally don't need crutches/rests to hold my rifle off the ground.

LOL Now Dan be nice !

 

[Lbart]

ballisticdaddy
I prefer not to put wind on my scope if I can avoid it. I have been known of hold off the target frame if need be. What I don’t want to do is have to hold in the opposite direction from the way the wind is blowing if it switches on me. If I don’t have any dope on the scope that is not going to happen. I prefer to ride the wind back and forth across the target. Keep in mind I am easily confused

 

[XTR]

With very few exceptions F class shooters make most of their corrections holding off. As stated above, many will put some initial correction on the scope, but after that they are holding on (or between) the rings. Personally I like to be holding in the black, but it's not mandatory. I've shot Xs all the way to the target frame before.

With the exception of Scott Harris (see a trend there), every F class team I've ever shot on the coach called rings (as in "3 right") for holding off and rarely ever touched my knobs.

One other thing, nobody that I know uses the retical for hold offs. With a 32x, 42x, 55x or higher scope you can see the rings on the target. They are all ½ MOA apart (except the X-ring/10-ring), you don't need a ruler in the scope, you have one on the target.

 

[boltman13]

Like most F-TR shooters I will use my sighters and scope knobs to get reasonably centered up, at least the 10 ring in as constant a condition as I can judge. Then I hold off based on changes in mirage and/or wind flags. In quick changing conditions I would be afraid I would loose track of where I was with the knobs and miss dial. To me it's a question of KISS.

 

[Topstrap]

Nearly all the shooters hold for wind at our local steel plate matches out thru 1000 yards. By the time you reach up to make an adjustment it's changed direction or changed speed. Don't chase your tail, take you best first guess, shoot and get the others off to hopefully maintain the same conditions.

Topstrap

 

[Lapua40X]

... I find that sometimes I am dialing for the minimal wind condition and then holding over if that conditions worsens...!

Combining knob turning with hold off doesn't make sense to me. If hold off is suitable for one condition it should be suitable for all. Sounds to me like you're chasing spotters instead of estimating wind conditions based on flags or other data. My advice is do not chase the spotters. Spotters can't evaluate changing wind conditions. Practice (practice, practice and more practice) estimating wind conditions and shoot to that intuition. It's a bit painful at first but once you've got it down, once you've got the aim point centered, you'll have greater success holding off with either the scoring rings or your reticle - your preference.

 

[Ned Ludd]

As you can probably see from the different answers you received, there is no right or wrong answer. There are lots of different ways to estimate and correct for wind effects, including dialing, holding, and/or a combination of both. It largely boils down to personal preference. I use a combination of both, and trying to actually describe in detail how, when, and why I do what I do during which specific condition(s), would take a long time to write and would likely powderize both of our brains.

The best advice I can give you is simply to practice trying different approaches and figure out which you are most comfortable with and which works best for you. Then use that specific approach and develop a system that works for you. Start simple, keeping memorization to a bare minimum, and focus on dealing with big changes first. As the approach you've chosen becomes almost second nature, you will tweak and add things to further refine the approach to deal with more subtle changes. Wind reading is like a very long journey, not a specific goal, and no one will ever master it all. Start with the obvious "big" changes, and as you become more proficient dealing with those, they become part of your tool kit. It is much easier to add a new tool to the kit and use it when you're reasonably familiar with using the ones already in it.

 

[Brians356]

Don't understand the question.

You talk about "holding over", which is elevation. Then you finish with "dialing" for windage.

You talking holding over or "off" compared to dialing "over" or "off"? Maybe both? Very confusing to me as you wrote it.

That got me, too, but he seems to mean holding "off" i.e. sideways, not "over". But since he has not seen fit to answer ...
-

 

[Joe Salt]

Another good way is to dial over at first to get your center with wind and elevation then leave it alone till you get an average then click of the center of the average!

Joe Salt

 

[ASbobcat]

Like most F-TR shooters I will use my sighters and scope knobs to get reasonably centered up, at least the 10 ring in as constant a condition as I can judge. Then I hold off based on changes in mirage and/or wind flags. In quick changing conditions I would be afraid I would loose track of where I was with the knobs and miss dial. To me it's a question of KISS.

+1 for K.I.S.S.

 

[VaRandy]

If taking practice shots before a competition, try to get one bullet down with NO wind and another at highest wind. Note where each is and judge the wind and shot accordingly whether it is a flag at firing line, midrange, or downrange which is your decision to make.

 

[JabaliHunter]

Interesting; just about the only time that I don't dial for wind is on steel or hunting...

 

[butchlambert]

Quality of scopes holding adjustment keeps me from cranking knobs. It will bite you in the A$$.