Shooting Uphill or Downhill & Wind Drift.

Most of us will be doing the majority of our shooting on the flat and at moderate ranges - but if you are a fit outback 'mountain man' with your sights on bagging a Thar on the high alpine slopes you may well be shooting up at a 45 degree angle - or maybe if you have climbed real high or are shooting from a chopper you'll be shooting down at a similar angle.

- Have you ever missed an "easy" shot like that?

The old NRA 'FACT BOOK' points-out that a 45 degree sloping shot at 300 yards is only 210 yards horizontally - so if your rangefinder has been set for 300 yards - the shot will likely pass over the top of the target.

                Note: This Illustration is not an instruction on How to Shoot Sheep in NZ !

- That 300 yard uphill (or downhill) shot is only affected by the downward pull of gravity for 210 yards. - So the short answer is to aim a couple of inches lower on these steep shots.

I bought my copy of the NRA Firearms Fact Book (3rd edition) maybe 20 years ago at an Australian Gun Show for Au$13.
- More recently I ordered the later replacement - The NRA FIREARMS SOURCEBOOK from USA and it cost me over eighty NZ dollars as they use a shipping agent to mail their stuff who charges like the proverbial 'wounded bull'.

They are both very good books packed with everything you don't need to know - so if you find a used copy - grab it quick. - Here's another useless -oops - interesting piece of information from the Fact Book : - Most of us would feel that the higher the velocity of a rifle round - the less it will be affected by wind drift - and that's mostly correct.

- But when it comes  to .22" Rim-fire ammunition - the standard .22" Long Rifle at 1145ft.per.sec is less deflected by side winds than faster 1335f.p.s ammunition - because of the very rapid increase in wind resistance in that zone around the speed of sound 1125ft/sec (or 340.29 metres/sec at sea level).

 This is explained by the fact that wind deflection is not proportional to time of flight - but rather, it is proportional to the amount of delay in the flight caused by air resistance. (Huwhattt?)

 - So Standard ammunition is the choice for precision rim-fire target shooting.

Marty K
After researching & writing 1,036 blogs I've got something NEW to try .. I've signed-up to Patreon. - In over five years I've not made one cent from this .. NOW you can send me a wee support $ - starting from $1. to get all this stuff from New Zealand - over a year that's nearly the price of one Shooting magazine. - Am I worth it?

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