Anyone compete using windflags ?

[JFrank]

I got to shoot over the flags Saturday. Wind was around 8-10 mph and shifting. Those flags rotated 360 constantly. I was at a loss to decipher how to hold. I don’t know if I learned anything more than not to overcorrect. Right now my heads spinning about as much as those flags were. Do the ball type heads react differently than the daisy heads? Thanks, folks.

I got to shoot over the flags Saturday. Wind was around 8-10 mph and shifting. Those flags rotated 360 constantly. I was at a loss to decipher how to hold. I don’t know if I learned anything more than not to overcorrect. Right now my heads spinning about as much as those flags were. Do the ball type heads react differently than the daisy heads? Thanks, folks.

If your flags are rotating 360 constantly, perhaps your in a vortex....???

Seriously though each condition I see is an opportunity to learn something, so what I try to do during the sighter period is take a shot to identify how much the bullet is moved per condition and where it’s hitting, I may need a couple clicks or holdover without over correcting and getting burned during a letoff. I’m also trying to get a handle on the condition I want to shoot in.
I’ll need X amount of time to get all my rounds down range so a wind cycle that changes rapidly won’t help me nor will a dead calm that last for ten seconds.
I’ll mentally time the cycles to identify the one I want and sometimes just wait until mine comes back and then shoot.
I suck at wind reading but I keep at and maybe one day I’ll get it..
J

 

[garandman]

My favorite Is when my 1st flag shows a straight up tail wind and my 2nd flag shows a straight up headwind… at the same time. ... saw this repeatedly this past Saturday.

 

[james]

I participate in local rimfire benchrest matches where we shoot factory class at 25 yards and custom at 50 yards. I just started using flags this year and it really made a difference. I'm a real greenhorn at using them however I simply placed one flag about 12 yards out from my bench. I sighted in when the flag ribbon was hanging straight down. During the match I waited for flag to drop down then shot. I know there is much more to using flags and their placement however this simple method really improved my results!

 

[JMayo]

These were the scores. The worst I've done since my beginning days.
I drew the worst possible bench !

 

[jpx2rk]

My favorite Is when my 1st flag shows a straight up tail wind and my 2nd flag shows a straight up headwind… at the same time. ... saw this repeatedly this past Saturday.

Been there, done that, but threw the T shirt away.

It's always interesting when one set of flags indicate "X", the next ones over indicate "Y", and you are in the middle. And I suck at reading the wind as well.

 

[VLNBYR]

Wind or no wind every rifle will shoot a group. Pick an aiming point and shoot 5 sighters as well as you can and use that group as your guide for the target. If you overlay all your shots for score onto one bull that group should center on the center of that bull to achieve the highest score. Too many times shooters will miss multiple shots one way because they're scared to death of missing one the other way.

 

[JFrank]

Wind or no wind every rifle will shoot a group. Pick an aiming point and shoot 5 sighters as well as you can and use that group as your guide for the target. If you overlay all your shots for score onto one bull that group should center on the center of that bull to achieve the highest score. Too many times shooters will miss multiple shots one way because they're scared to death of missing one the other way.

So if I read you correctly your saying fire a group with the exsisting condition then move the center of that group to center the bull 3 clicks left or whatever it is

 

[VLNBYR]

Pretty much it, some click the scope some hold off. The key is multiple sighters, nobody ever gets the wind right 100% of the time thus the need to find out where your average shot is going to impact. The whole thing is lost on 99.9% of all shooters because they don't have a rifle capable of shooting where they want it to anyway.

 

[garandman]

In my experience "Existing condition " rarely lasts long enuf for a 5 shot grp.

Where I shoot, wind swirls and varies, both in direction and speed.

I suspect a shooter will drive himself crazy trying to be able to shoot every wind condition / direction / speed. So as one author suggested, find the most prevalent and prevailing wind condition and wait for that condition both in direction and speed To pull the trigger.

If that prevailing and most prevalent condition is sufficiently frequent, then I might adjust my crosshair. But given the swirling varying nature of the wind in most of the places I shoot, It's easier just to hold off.

 

[garandman]

Heres 25 rounds fired at a recent wind reading practice session.... the arrow indicates wind direction, the degrees = the wind value (flag tail at 0 - 30 - 45 degree angle) and the dot = my hold off.




#12 was just a bonehead hold, and #14 I cannot explain. Prolly just yanked the shot.

 

[JMayo]

I watched one if the top PSL/ARA/ir50 shooters at the triple crown nationals. He was using the PQP one piece rest, capable of going between sighters and scoring bull with no trouble at all.
He'd look at flags, shoot several at sighter, look at flags, zoom over to shoot score shot. He prolly went through 3 boxes of red box eley every target.
Unreal scoring, just blew everybody away in all three disciplines we were shooting.
If I are going to try to improve my multi target on one card disciplines I'd get that joystick one piece. Just can't beat the ability to go between sighters and score within a wind condition.
I suppose a seb/farley would work better for a 2 piece set up. You'd have to lower for bottom rows.
I'm gonna use my farley at my club shoots.