"Miracle Device" Cuts Groups in Half — Guaranteed
Well, yes, that headline is a come-on. But there’s truth in the promise. The “miracle device” to which we refer is a simple wind indicator aka “windflag”. Remarkably, many shooters who spend $3000.00 or more on a precision rifle never bother to set up windflags, or even simple wood stakes with some ribbon to show the wind. Whether you’re a competitive shooter, a varminter, or someone who just likes to punch small groups, you should always take a set of windflags (or some kind of wind indicators) when you head to the range or the prairie dog fields. And yes, if you pay attention to your windflags, you can easily cut your group sizes in half. Here’s proof…
Miss a 5 mph Shift and Double Your Group Size
The table below records the effect of a 5 mph crosswind at 100, 200, and 300 yards. You may be thinking, “well, I’d never miss a 5 mph let-off.” Consider this — if a gentle 2.5 mph breeze switches from 3 o’clock (R to L) to 9 o’clock (L to R), you’ve just missed a 5 mph net change. What will that do to your group? Look at the table to find out.
Values from Point Blank Ballistics software for 500′ elevation and 70° temperature.
Imagine you have a 6mm rifle that shoots half-MOA consistently in no-wind conditions. What happens if you miss a 5 mph shift (the equivalent of a full reversal of a 2.5 mph crosswind)? Well, if you’re shooting a 68gr flatbase bullet, your shot is going to move about 0.49″ at 100 yards, nearly doubling your group size. With a 105gr VLD, the bullet moves 0.28″ … not as much to be sure, but still enough to ruin a nice small group. What about an AR15, shooting 55-grainers at 3300 fps? Well, if you miss that same 5 mph shift, your low-BC bullet moves 0.68″. That pushes a half-inch group well past an inch. If you had a half-MOA capable AR, now it’s shooting worse than 1 MOA. And, as you might expect, the wind effects at 200 and 300 yards are even more dramatic. If you miss a 5 mph, full-value wind change, your 300-yard group could easily expand by 2.5″ or more.
Forest of Windflags at World Benchrest Championships in France in 2011
If you’ve already invested in an accurate rifle with a good barrel, you are “throwing away” accuracy if you shoot without wind flags. You can spend a ton of money on fancy shooting accessories (such as expensive front rests and spotting scopes) but, dollar for dollar, nothing will potentially improve your shooting as much as a good set of windflags, used religiously.
Which Windflag to buy? Click Here for a list of Vendors selling windflags of various types.
Aussie Windflag photo courtesy BenchRestTraining.com (Stuart and Annie Elliot).
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- Use Wind Flags — Don’t Throw Away Accuracy
- Windflags — Reasons to Use Them, Even If You Don’t Compete
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Tags: Aussie Flag, ballistics, Wind Calling, Wind Flag, Windage, Windflag
In the USA, the Aussie windflags are distributed by Shadetree Engineering.
Even the most rudimentary, home made set of sticks and surveyors’ tape ribbons is a huge advantage. Invariably, shooters who view a whole range full of wind flags, for the first time notice how much more complicated wind patterns are than they would have imagined, and that what they feel at the bench, may be quite different than conditions down range.
Jason, or whoever posted this article, you need to click on the vendor link you provided and check out how many of the sites are now defunct. One of them even links you to a merchant marine site. It seems that many American makers of wind flags, such as Carbon River, my personal favorite, are defunct. I recently broke one of my CR propellers and can’t find a replacement, nor can I reach the original maker.
You also left out two of the most commonly used: Rick Graham’s flags and Smiley Hensley’s.
Rick Graham’s flags are great and so are Smiley Hensley’s. I’ve got 5 of Rick’s and 5 of Smiley’s. Rick’s online address: brflags.com.
Smiley’s address is 1670 N. Eastside Hwy., Elkton, VA 22827. Phone: 540-298-8368. Tony Boyer has been using Smiley’s flags since the beginning of time. Most of the flags you see pictured in Mr. Boyer’s new book are Smiley’s. Either one will serve you well. Both brands are economically priced.
In center was team Finland flags , right side was team Germanys aussie +some hememade flags and left side blue flags was team Norway and next of Norway was team USA .