No More Kentucky Windage In The Field!!
- Thread starter lukew
- Start date
JimP
Administrator
The real problem is that you have no idea of what the wind is doing down range even with a 100 yard shot. Where you are sitting it might be a 5 mph wind from the east and by the time that the bullet gets to the target it is a 20 mph wind from the west.
If I remember right one of the snipers that took out a combatant at over a mile mentioned that he was dealing with 3 or 4 different wind directions when he took the shot and he still used Kentucky windage adjustments.
If I remember right one of the snipers that took out a combatant at over a mile mentioned that he was dealing with 3 or 4 different wind directions when he took the shot and he still used Kentucky windage adjustments.
mallardsx2
Veteran member
- Jul 8, 2015
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D_Dubya
Active Member
I bought the 5700 elite last year. Loads of fun for shooting long range; they work well but are definitely subject to the limitations JimP mentioned above....they tell you what the wind is doing (and all other environmentals, temp, barometric pressure, altitude, etc.) where you are standing and not a damn thing about the wind in the middle of the canyon or 20 feet in the air where your bullet will be halfway to a 1200 yard target over flat ground. That said, The applied ballistics program and blue tooth to the smart phone app make it much easier to get on target quickly and bang steel with the Kestrel and it is another tool in the shooters bag that helps simplify a complex problem. There are guys with the right equipment and practice enough can make long shots with extremely high odds, it’s more about knowing your limits and sticking to to them. Knowing your limits comes only from practice/experience (true for any weapon at any distance).
I have no illusions about being a sniper. I bought a Browning X-Bolt Long Range because I got a great price and I like knowing my firearm is better than I am.
To be honest, aside from antelope, it's crazy to me to think about taking 500-800 yard shots while hunting. So much can go wrong at that range. Across some of the canyons and gullies I find elk, I can't even imagine having to hike a half hour just to BEGIN tracking a wounded animal. Yeah, you'd love they go down instantly, but that's just not how it always works out. I feel completely solid out to 200 yards, and "reasonably confident if the conditions are right" out to 300. I won't shoot an animal farther than that.
Those aren't things I believe other people should follow. Those are MY limits, knowing my skills and abilities. It's just fun to talk it out and see where others are.
To be honest, aside from antelope, it's crazy to me to think about taking 500-800 yard shots while hunting. So much can go wrong at that range. Across some of the canyons and gullies I find elk, I can't even imagine having to hike a half hour just to BEGIN tracking a wounded animal. Yeah, you'd love they go down instantly, but that's just not how it always works out. I feel completely solid out to 200 yards, and "reasonably confident if the conditions are right" out to 300. I won't shoot an animal farther than that.
Those aren't things I believe other people should follow. Those are MY limits, knowing my skills and abilities. It's just fun to talk it out and see where others are.
dan maule
Veteran member
I agree. I know what I am capable of, I do not have access to a 1000 yard range. I do routinely practice out to 450 yards. I feel comfortable at that distance, I shoot rifles that are capable of much more than that but I do not believe that I am capable of much more than that.
Bonecollector
Veteran member
I have a 700 yard range on my farm but I have no intentions of shooting an animal at that distance. However I must say it is a lot of fun playing with the long range tools and set ups. I’m actually working on some fun things to add to the range in order to have some fun with my son and nephews this summer. I’ll post some pictures once I get to a stage where I can take something worth viewing.
1,000 yard shots are fun...at lifeless steel. Brandon mentioned personal effective range in the review for that reason. Personally I know 500 is as far as I trust my performance meeting the ballistics etc. of the weapons I have chosen. Some guys can take long shots, but they are really rare. I know many who jumped on the bandwagon who have jumped off even quicker once the realities here came into play.
Shooting long at steel has made me a much better shot at the close ones though.
Shooting long at steel has made me a much better shot at the close ones though.
HuskyMusky
Veteran member
I forget where I saw or read it, but wind in your current location influences bullet deflection much more than down range...
not that it doesn't matter.... but it makes sense to me in the way that say you're shooting 500yds....a 20mph wind here....these numbers aren't accurate but say it pushes you bullet an inch at the muzzle in 500yds...that's 2 feet....where as a wind at 450yds....only has another 50 yards to deflect that bullet. or the wind at your location has 500yds to affect the bullet whereas down range that wind only has 50yds...
good shootin y'all!
not that it doesn't matter.... but it makes sense to me in the way that say you're shooting 500yds....a 20mph wind here....these numbers aren't accurate but say it pushes you bullet an inch at the muzzle in 500yds...that's 2 feet....where as a wind at 450yds....only has another 50 yards to deflect that bullet. or the wind at your location has 500yds to affect the bullet whereas down range that wind only has 50yds...
good shootin y'all!