First Real Effort

[High Desert Hunter]

So, I have had this wonderful Shiloh Sharps now for almost a month. Reloading has been a lot of trial and error, pulled bullets, fat bullets, and general ineptness on my part. I invested in a Shiloh compression die, have figured out how to use it, picked up a reasonably priced Lyman 55 with aluminum hopper and 24" drop tube. Got a ton of advice from the good folks here and a couple of other forums I frequent, received a gift I cannot repay, and have increased my knowledge exponentially. Today was the first opportunity I have had (circumstances at home haven't been exactly the best in the health department) to go out and put some rounds down range that weren't assembled by a complete idiot. Within 4 shots, I had my range down at 300 yards on the sight, what I couldn't get, was the wind, I dialed in 2 full points, I am guessing I should have added 2 more, wind was a steady 10mph cross with gusts to 20, probably a steady 15 when I wrapped it up for the day and shot a couple of sixguns. The new lube I made seems to have done the job quite well, cleanup was easy. Won't have a chance to shoot again until weekend after next, better half will be having a surgical procedure, so I will be making sure she is well taken care of. Really wishing I had requested they remove the barrel sights, thinking I need to move in a bit closer to get dialed in, then ease my way back. Really glad this thing weighs what it does, very comfortable to shoot a box of shells through. Brought along my Ruger #1 and my Marlin, 300 was OK for the Ruger, to close to play with the long range sight on the Marlin, have to be at 425 yards before the ghost ring I use for hunting doesn't interfere. All in all, a fun 45 2.1 kind of day. I huge note of thanks for all of the advice, mentorship, and kindness I have received here.

Dave

[Lumpy Grits]

Learn'n to 'read' wind and mirage is the hardest part of this game.
Start keeping a detailed log book of weather conditions/sight settings/loads used etc, when you go to the range.
Gary

[High Desert Hunter]

Gary,
I most certainly took notes, being a chronic experimenter with the 5 and 6 guns, notes are the only way to repeat success, both at the reloading bench, and in the field. I appreciate the advice though!

Dave

[desert deuce]

Mirage is easy, think of it like watching a belly dancer, start at the bottom and work your way up

Pick a line of mirage that starts at the bottom of the target and exits the top. The distance between the two points is about the correction.

If all you see is the black or center of the target undulating rather than flowing from one side or the other that is a boil and little or no windage correction may be needed. It may or may not require an elevation correction.

If the flowing lines are going across the face of the target that is called a flat line. It tells you the direction of the wind but only hints at intensity.

With a flat line go to the flags, they will approximate intensity where they are located, not always in the bullets flight path. This is where art and science frequently conflict and experience emerges. If you don't have a windage wheel you will be handicapped.

It is at this point that trigger time and range experience starts to pay off. It is a constant learning experience.

[Lumpy Grits]

The notes also help us who have to deal with CRS-
G.

[High Desert Hunter]

Thinking about actually going to the range instead of the desert, I am currently shooting in a spot where I can shoot from 0-1600 yards (all my rangefinder will reach out there). I like being able to spot my own misses by the dust clouds, and I recover between 50 and 75% of my bullets so I can wash them up and remelt them, the range frowns upon mining. I have been shooting prone, but sometime this summer, I am going to invest in a new set of shooting sticks, the ones I have are fine for handgun and scoped rifle, but I don't care for them with the Sharps. We'll see, I know I am going to get a portable gazebo, I definitely need shade, even at 4000 feet, it get hot, hit 90 today, which for a lot of you is comfortable weather, even after 14 years of living here in the Tularosa Basin, I would likely suffer less if I didn't insist on carrying so much insulation.

[Steve crawford]

Lumpy, tell me again what CRS is. I can't remember anything now that I reached 70.

Steve

[bruce m]

when the deuce speaks wind, make a point of listening.
my own take on this is to use mirage to see a change, and flags to say what the change is.
until the mirage proves to be honest.
you can get some idea of deflection by putting numbers into the jbm ballistics programme and make up some little charts if you don't have a wind wheel. use a b.c. of 0.4 until you get a better handle.
20 mph has 2x deflection of 10 mph.
1o'clock wind has 1/2 deflection of 3o'clock.
deflection is not proportional to distance e.g. 1000yd is more than 2x 500.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Lumpy Grits]

Lumpy, tell me again what CRS is. I can't remember anything now that I reached 70.

Steve

It's an early form of CRAFT.
G.

[High Desert Hunter]

Windage Wheel added to list of necessary items. May have my feces consolidated in one location by 2019.

[SSShooter]

M/Sgt Jim Owens USMC, has written extensively on the wind, reading same and its importance to rifle shooting. The OP might want to check out a couple of his works. While primarily oriented towards high power, doping the wind is always the same, regardless of what you are shooting. Here's one. https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Wind-Coa ... B00GABI622 He also has some available on CD (or did).

[beltfed]

Be a bit careful about some of Jim Owens stuff. Some is rather controversial.
How do I know?
beltfed/arnie

[High Desert Hunter]

Much of this isn't new to me when it comes to high power rifle, technology has taken a firm hold of the sport now, you can bluetooth your wind meter to your ballistic ap, or in some cases even to your rangefinder to correct your aiming solution. I like the idea of learning to read the wind when shooting the globe and tang sights. Used to be pretty good at it with barrel mounted sights and a simple ramp up front.

Dave