Wind Probe Large or small?

adamsgt

adamsgt

Jerry Adams
Been debating about getting a wind probe and am wondering about which size to buy. I could use the small one at rimfire matches as well as CF matches. I would guess that size does matter when you consider what distance to place the probe. My first thought is that 50-75 yds would be in the optimal range. In this case the small probe should work OK. I believe that the wind closest to the muzzle affects the path of the bullet more than the wind 25 yds from the target. As the price for either is the same what are the cogent arguments for buying either? You all are cordially invited to beat up on me as much as you want to in order to help me make a decision. If this subject has already been beaten to death on another thread, than I tender my apologies.
 
Butch Lambert said:
Jerry, I have both. You are welcome to borrow them to help you make a decision. I like to use them with my Aussie flags.
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Thanks for the offer Butch, I may take you up on that. But first, do you use them at the same time? Perhaps the small one closer and the larger one further out? As it is now I seem to get information overflow just try to interpret four flags let alone add on one or two probes. At a recent discussion over lunch with some long range shooters the opinion was to pick one flag and use that for your information. Now these are guys who are still shooting Palma with match sights. Then again, nothing is absolutely right all the time so then we wander into the desert of constant confusion. I apologize for the detour, I just came off a web site where I was parrying with left wing loons over the election. Their diatribes are like acid trying to eat into your brain. Nasty people. Anyway, back to the good stuff, guns and ammo. I did go back to a few of the threads on the probes and the consensus seemed to be that the probes were best at telling you when not to shoot rather then when to shoot. Has that been you experience?

Well, Poetry is not that far from Fort Worth so maybe I can drive out to borrow your probes. Also, I could bring that rest top so you could adjust it to fit the Sinclair base. Best of all, I could get to see your shop setup. How does that sound? So far I've been able to visit the shops of Larry Baggett, Richard King, and Gene Beggs. They've all been fascinating. Too bad I haven't retained a lot of what I saw.
 
adamsgt said:
Been debating about getting a wind probe and am wondering about which size to buy. I could use the small one at rimfire matches as well as CF matches. I would guess that size does matter when you consider what distance to place the probe. My first thought is that 50-75 yds would be in the optimal range. In this case the small probe should work OK. I believe that the wind closest to the muzzle affects the path of the bullet more than the wind 25 yds from the target. As the price for either is the same what are the cogent arguments for buying either? You all are cordially invited to beat up on me as much as you want to in order to help me make a decision. If this subject has already been beaten to death on another thread, than I tender my apologies.
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Jerry. I like the large wind probes myself. I shoot SR score and I have 3 large ones. I also have 6BRT flags that I bought from Butch. My friend Bob Brooks who I shoot with up here in Maine makes large & small probes that are a copy of the Gene Beggs type,. He advertises and sells them on this site and his name on this site is Hunter Bob. There are times when I shoot over his flags and probes if we go shoot out of state together and I've shot over a combination of small and large probes. When we are shooting on different benches at 100 yards we both use the same set-up, 4 flags, 2 large probes. At 200 & 300 both he and I use 6 flags and 3 probes. If we share a bench at those yardages he uses a small probe first and then 2 large ones. When I am not shooting on the same bench at those distances I use 3 large probes. I prefer 3 larger ones to the 1 small and 2 large. It's more uniform to my eyes to look at 3 of the same sized objects in a row than to look at 2 different sized objects.
 
Jim Pag said:
Jerry. I like the large wind probes myself. I shoot SR score and I have 3 large ones. I also have 6BRT flags that I bought from Butch. My friend Bob Brooks who I shoot with up here in Maine makes large & small probes that are a copy of the Gene Beggs type,. He advertises and sells them on this site and his name on this site is Hunter Bob. There are times when I shoot over his flags and probes if we go shoot out of state together and I've shot over a combination of small and large probes. When we are shooting on different benches at 100 yards we both use the same set-up, 4 flags, 2 large probes. At 200 & 300 both he and I use 6 flags and 3 probes. If we share a bench at those yardages he uses a small probe first and then 2 large ones. When I am not shooting on the same bench at those distances I use 3 large probes. I prefer 3 larger ones to the 1 small and 2 large. It's more uniform to my eyes to look at 3 of the same sized objects in a row than to look at 2 different sized objects.
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Thanks for the info Jim. When You set up two probes at 100yds about what distance from the line do you use for each probe. I know this can vary depending on the terrain of the range, but if the range were perfectly flat what would be your best setup? I was considering the Bob Brooks probes as listed on this site. As far as windflags I have 5 Carbon River flags. I know that he is no longer in business. The feature I liked the most about the flags was the two opposing magnets that held the flag away from the connector on the stand. The vanes are getting a little beat up and will need replacing soon. Not sure if anybody will sell just vanes. Maybe I can find the material and do them myself.
 
adamsgt said:
Thanks for the info Jim. When You set up two probes at 100yds about what distance from the line do you use for each probe. I know this can vary depending on the terrain of the range, but if the range were perfectly flat what would be your best setup? I was considering the Bob Brooks probes as listed on this site. As far as windflags I have 5 Carbon River flags. I know that he is no longer in business. The feature I liked the most about the flags was the two opposing magnets that held the flag away from the connector on the stand. The vanes are getting a little beat up and will need replacing soon. Not sure if anybody will sell just vanes. Maybe I can find the material and do them myself.
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At 100 it depends on the range. At some ranges up here there are openings in the tree line so the wind blows thru the open spot. Most of the time we put flag, probe, 2 flags, probe and flag. Maybe 25-30 for 1st probe, 65-70 for the 2nd, roughly. If you want probes from Brooksie u better get ahold of him soon because he is ceasing his probe making business soon for good. I like my BRT flags, because the colors are opposite from everybody else's flags, what I don't like about them at 300 yards they are too small for me. Brooksie made a set of flags for himself and they are big and man can I see them out to 300 with no problem. He doesn't like propellers and I'm use to having them, but he's making me a set like his and as long as I watch the tails I guess that propellers are not that important. I can see when the wind is quartering his flags because of the 2 different colors on the back of his weight up front.
 
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adamsgt said:
Thanks for the offer Butch, I may take you up on that. But first, do you use them at the same time? Perhaps the small one closer and the larger one further out? As it is now I seem to get information overflow just try to interpret four flags let alone add on one or two probes. At a recent discussion over lunch with some long range shooters the opinion was to pick one flag and use that for your information. Now these are guys who are still shooting Palma with match sights. Then again, nothing is absolutely right all the time so then we wander into the desert of constant confusion. I apologize for the detour, I just came off a web site where I was parrying with left wing loons over the election. Their diatribes are like acid trying to eat into your brain. Nasty people. Anyway, back to the good stuff, guns and ammo. I did go back to a few of the threads on the probes and the consensus seemed to be that the probes were best at telling you when not to shoot rather then when to shoot. Has that been you experience?

Well, Poetry is not that far from Fort Worth so maybe I can drive out to borrow your probes. Also, I could bring that rest top so you could adjust it to fit the Sinclair base. Best of all, I could get to see your shop setup. How does that sound? So far I've been able to visit the shops of Larry Baggett, Richard King, and Gene Beggs. They've all been fascinating. Too bad I haven't retained a lot of what I saw.
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Sounds good. I use up to 5 BRT flags and off set 3 Probes between the first 4 of my BRT flags.
 
Smaller probes respond more quickly. When a hit or a miss boils down to whether you recognized the switch fast enough, the quicker response can make a difference. On the other hand, if you can't see the probe ..... => Use the smallest probes YOU can SEE.

Keith
 
The large probe is, as you would expect, taller than the small one. On some ranges the large ones extend above the plane from the bench to the bottom of the target, which would not be legal. I wind up putting the small probe down-range on these venues. I find the small probes more useful for this reason. I have one of each.

I suppose I could stop using the "music stand" to support the probe, and improvise a short base ...

Also, get a set of plastic tent stakes to secure probes (especially large ones) on ugly days.

Harold
 
mks said:
Smaller probes respond more quickly. When a hit or a miss boils down to whether you recognized the switch fast enough, the quicker response can make a difference. On the other hand, if you can't see the probe ..... => Use the smallest probes YOU can SEE.

Keith
Click to expand...

Smaller ones do not react quicker. You can adjust the counter weight on a big probe to react exactly the same as a small one.
 
If you off set the probe(s) from your line of flags, small probes tuck closer to the line of flags without hiding the flags. With my eyesight, I can't see the small probe much beyond 80 yards, so I go with a small probe close and large probes further away. I typically off set the probes from my four flags which are set directly in line with the target. For 100 yards, the small probe is usually between my first two flags and the 2nd probe (large) is between the 3rd and 4th flags. I have adjusted my large and small probes to react the same. The mass is not all that different to affect the reaction speed, at least with mine, which are a copy of Gene B's design.
 
Well, I called Bob Brooks this morning and sent him a check for one of each. He said he was going ice fishing later. Remember when I used to do that when I was stationed in North Dakota. Some of the guys on my B-52 crew and I would go to Maple lake in Minnesota and rent a four hole shack out on the ice. Had a small kerosene heater to keep comfortable. Seemed like we always caught the most fish when we had to drive back to the base in a blizzard. Loved those days
 
Dick Wright said:
The large one always seemed much more responsive to me.
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With the Gene Begg's designed probes, either the small or large, you can adjust either one as far as responsiveness goes. Anyone else's design I have no clue if they can be adjusted.
 
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