SSG Sherri Gallagher — How to Read the Wind Video
The ability to read the wind is what separates good shooters from great shooters. If you want to learn wind-doping from one of the best, watch this video with 2010 National High Power Champion (and U.S. Army 2010 Soldier of the Year) Sherri Gallagher. Part of the USAMU’s Pro Tips Video Series, this video covers the basics of wind reading including: Determining wind direction and speed, Bracketing Wind, Reading Mirage, and Adjusting to cross-winds using both sight/scope adjustments and hold-off methods. Correctly determining wind angle is vital, Sheri explains, because a wind at a 90-degree angle has much more of an effect on bullet lateral movement than a headwind or tailwind. Wind speed, of course, is just as important as wind angle. To calculate wind speed, Sherri recommends “Wind Bracketing”: [This] is where you take the estimate of the highest possible condition and the lowest possible condition and [then] take the average of the two.”
It is also important to understand mirage. Sheri explains that “Mirage is the reflection of light through layers of air, based off the temperature of the ground. These layers … are blown by the wind, and can be monitored through a spotting scope to detect direction and speed. You can see what appears to be waves running across the range — this is mirage.” To best evaluate mirage, you need to set your spotting scope correctly. First get the target in sharp focus, then (on most scopes), Sheri advises that you turn your adjustment knob “a quarter-turn counter-clockwise. That will make the mirage your primary focus.”
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Tags: Elevation, Mirage, Sherri Gallagher, Spotting Scope, USAMU, Value, Wind, Wind Bracketing, Windage, Zone
Is this a video we can purchase ?
Gallagher comments at the end that she will “hold off” 9 inches. You really need to do a follow on video about how she got that number. What factors and what formula. Getting that hold off is the whole point.
At 600 yards, 9 inches is 1.5 m.o.a., its not a big deal to check a ballistics table for a given bullet at whatever velocity (you need to know YOUR parameters) in a 5 mph cross wind. You can even get an app for your smartphone that will give you that information including come-ups. I have used both “Shooter” and “Applied Ballistics”.
Some time back, I would make drop and wind charts for my boss’s hunting trips, in anticipation of his having to take some long shots. We would use bullet data, chronograph numbers, and software to come up with some values, and our own formulas to convert them into other units, giving him inches, clicks and moa, as he requested. This information was summarized in a small table that would be taped to the off side of the butt of his rifle for quick reference. With the help of that information, excellent rifles, properly done load development, and a lot of trigger time, he was able to make a lot of one shot kills. The key to success is preparation and practice.
The best way to learn to shoot in the wind is to SHOOT IN THE WIND and keeping an accurate data book with amounts of observable drift at the target! Shoot with a no wind zero….observe the drift in inches and then under the same conditions what MOA change is needed to come to center! Trigger time and paying attention to DETAIL will yield good results!