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Wind conditions for sniping?

10230 Views 31 Replies 12 Participants Last post by  ~Ranger~
I find wind extremely frustrating, as they completely screw up my shots. Where I live, there's a 10 mph breeze blowing almost every day, and even though I'm shooting .28g bbs @ 350 fps, they are still curving up to 1.5 feet off target at 200 feet. The thing I HATE most about the wind effect if that the wind is extremely inconsistent. If the wind were to blow a constant 10 mph, I would be fine, but nope... What do you guys think are acceptable sniping conditions? 5 mph wind? 10 mph wind? And for those of you with hot shooting rifles w those .4g bbs, does wind affect you significantly less? Also, is 400 fps w/.2's (stock BAR10 spring, hopup) enough to pump out .36g bbs to 200+ feet?

EDIT: Turned out to be that my hopup was causing the bbs to curve. The problem is fixed, although wind still has a pretty big effect!
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The best solution is to find a long warehouse and fine tune the rifle there with no wind interference at all, you need to be sure that the bb doesn't curve by something else.
You can compensate during the game.


Wolf
I only use a .25-.28 for my AEG's, for my actual long gun i use .43's for just that reason, the wind effects it significantly less. if you look at it from a physics point of view, a .43 is roughly 50-60% more mass meaning it takes roughly 50-60% more energy to make it move the same distance as the .28.
As for .36's out past 200, with a good R-hop i imagine you could, but i cannot say for certain as my gas L96 slings .36's over 500 fps.... one of the reasons i am switching to HPA so i can get it under the velocity limits.
When I try to compensate, the wind just changes speed/direction, so that my accuracy is always off. I am shooting at a 1.3' wide target at 200 feet, and I guess that's kinda iffy for a stock BAR10 (with DIY mods), although I can hit it consistently in zero-wind conditions.
When I try to compensate, the wind just changes speed/direction, so that my accuracy is always off. I am shooting at a 1.3' wide target at 200 feet, and I guess that's kinda iffy for a stock BAR10 (with DIY mods), although I can hit it consistently in zero-wind conditions.
Adjusting for windage is an essential skill. We have no right to hit the mark just by putting the sights on it.

I use 0.40s, and the wind can affect them severely. On occasion, I have shot through vortexes and seen the 0.40 seem to turn back on itself as it gets buffeted. That is just an illusion, but a steady wind still affects it noticeably, even if noticeably less than a lighter BB.
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Ahh I just found out my rifle wasn't shooting consistently because the shot was hooking to the right, even w/out wind. Oh well, it's probably gonna be an easy fix!
After some practice, you kind of just get the knack for how to shoot in the wind. I have played in some games where it is snowing extremely hard, major winds. Makes shooting extremely difficult. After some practice, you will be able to gauge how much you should compensate, in some cases by a couple feet or so, maybe more depending on distance and wind speed.
To be able to gauge compensation, you need to have your rifle's setup the same all the time. If I change stuff around and my rifle's characteristics change, I find it completely screws me up.
I usually adjust my hop before target practice and games. Keeps me on point. Also once a scope gets zeroed that's it, I don't adjust that anymore....

Sent from my MB870 using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2
I find wind extremely frustrating, as they completely screw up my shots. Where I live, there's a 10 mph breeze blowing almost every day, and even though I'm shooting .28g bbs @ 350 fps, they are still curving up to 1.5 feet off target at 200 feet. The thing I HATE most about the wind effect if that the wind is extremely inconsistent. If the wind were to blow a constant 10 mph, I would be fine, but nope... What do you guys think are acceptable sniping conditions? 5 mph wind? 10 mph wind? And for those of you with hot shooting rifles w those .4g bbs, does wind affect you significantly less? Also, is 400 fps w/.2's (stock BAR10 spring, hopup) enough to pump out .36g bbs to 200+ feet?
Dude, I have the same problem here. Freaking Onsted Michigan is windiest place I have ever seen,hahaha.. Constant wind! Except the few minutes as its getting dark and now I cant see my bb's flight path,lol.. And it also will switch directions in mear minutes..

I use 40's in my rifles and I get pretty nice accuracy. But I normally dont shoot very hot. Currently my rifle is at 421fps "tested with 20's of course" I get about 150ft accuracy range, Its near perfect at 132 ft though. I have some 36's I havent even touched yet, thinking of checking them out one day but obviously not at home. Might have to go to the park where some trees are and setup a target.
I have found that to put bbs (anything from .3g to .4g) out to 300 feet is easy with even 350 fps. Any farther and you need some power.
I wish .3s went strait. I tried them out the other day (all I have been using is .43s) so that I could actually see the bbs fly in the air to properly adjust my hopup but each shot flew left and right... I think my rifle fires too hot :p

- Topa
Well, good thing is that I fixed my hopup issue. I'm gonna be getting a DangerWerx HE hopup arm to lift those .36g bb's sky high, so hopefully that lowers wind resistance by quite a bit. I'm either getting a KA bucking + asgi PE 6.03 TBB or a KA bucking + the DangerWerx. I'm not sure which combo will end up suiting me better, as I have a tight budget. Anyways, I did a shooting test of my stock BAR10 @ 205 feet, if any of you are interested:

WOW! Thats pretty darn nice buddy..:tup:
Thanks! Sorry if I haven't pm'ed you in such a long time, I fixed my sd700 by buying a BAR10, lol. I'm still glad I have my sd700 though, my BAR10 would be paper weight without the sd700's trigger box!
Its all good buddy. I'm glad you got yourself a rifle that you like. I wish it wasnt so dang windy out here, I cant say how far my rifles can shoot or how accurate thay are right now, lol.. I love the video man! I knew the camera was zoomed in, but when you zoomed out I was like Whoa! Thats pretty nice, I have to admit, currently I feel jealous and I hate you,hahahaha..
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TOP TIP FOR SHOOTING IN THE WIND...........

LEARN TO TILT YOUR RIFLE!!!!

I've been questioned no end of times as to how I can make the kills I do in the dire weather conditions we can experience here, last month we played a site that was on top of a hill, the wind was averaging 20mph, gusting to 35mph & it was raining!

Yet I still had complaints about using an over powered rifle etc etc because no one could believe I was making the kills I was in the conditions we were playing in.

Firstly, KNOW HOW YOUR RIFLE SHOOTS IN CALM CONDITIONS and how to make shot corrections.......

This is easy if you only have 1 rifle, and Jeff Cooper famously once wrote 'fear the man who only owns 1 gun' for he will know how to shoot it, and do it well!!...... if you have several rifles then you need to know them all, intimatly,.....

You should know, without thinking about it, where your shot is gong to fall for any given distance, using your most regularly used ammo.

I'm going to presume to assume that most people here are using Kentucky windage as their method of putting a shot on target when the wind is a tad on the strong side.....

Thats all hunky dory until you have to lead so far the target is no-longer in the scopes veiw.....

Now its time to start thinking of the hop unit as not just a method of giving your shiney ball abit of lift....

Tilt your rifle into the wind, how much depends on how strong the wind is, and this can only be learnt by getting out there and practicing.

Anywhere from just past up-right out to about 45 degrees will serve you well, I have gone past 45 degrees on very rare occassions but that was trying to counter a reeeaallly strong gust, and even then I missed, so waited till the gust died and carried on.

There you go..... how to shoot an airsoft rifle in the wind!!

Now go practice :pop:
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My wind issue isnt at games. I am sorta just building up a few rifles and dont know how they shoot yet for the most part. I need a perfect day with no wind so I can make sure the hopup is working right, and the nub is set in the right spot etc.. After I see how these two rifles shoot, I'll be fine. I am just used to a different rifle and not as much wind,lol..
My wind issue isnt at games. I am sorta just building up a few rifles and dont know how they shoot yet for the most part. I need a perfect day with no wind so I can make sure the hopup is working right, and the nub is set in the right spot etc.. After I see how these two rifles shoot, I'll be fine. I am just used to a different rifle and not as much wind,lol..
Yea, I can remember last winter where I live there were 15-20 winds blowing every day, so I couldn't test the rifle outside at all. So, I went down to my basement (~50ft from end to end) and tested the rifle there. A good way to test if it's the wind or the rifle that's causing curving bb's is to fire a shot outside, turn a 180, then fire another shot. If both bbs curve in the same absolute direction (West, East, etc), then you're good to go. If they both curve in the same direction relative to you, then it's the rifle. For example, you fire a shot that curves left, turn a 180, then fire a shot which curves to your right, then you know it's the wind. Of course, this is assuming that the wind doesn't change direction. Also, thanks for the kind words!

@vindicareassassin That is a VERY good idea. Will try it out. Hopups counter-acting the wind, never thought of that before! However, if the hopup is propeling/spinning the BB to the side to counter the wind, there won't be as much upward spin, so you would have to aim a bit higher.
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@vindicareassassin That is a VERY good idea. Will try it out. Hopups counter-acting the wind, never thought of that before! However, if the hopup is propeling/spinning the BB to the side to counter the wind, there won't be as much upward spin, so you would have to aim a bit higher.
Yes you would, but only very slightly compared to if you were using purely kentucky windage
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