Book on Reading Wind Flags 100-200 yards Please

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Fotheringill

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I am not doing this the "easy way". I have searched the net and Amazon and cannot seem to find a book on the subject.

Are there any recommendations other than "take up another sport". All replies are welcome.
 
Fotheringill said:
I am not doing this the "easy way". I have searched the net and Amazon and cannot seem to find a book on the subject.

Are there any recommendations other than "take up another sport". All replies are welcome.
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The books by Mike Ratigan and Tony Boyer are probably your best bet. I have both and the two compliment each other. They both will cover much more than just flag reading. In order, I would get Mike's book first and then follow up with Tony's. Good luck
 
I don't know that there is such an animal. If there is, I've never seen it. But, don't despair. You can do this. Boyer's and Ratigan's books will help, but the best way to learn, in fact probably the only way is to sit down behind a rifle and flags and practice. It seems to me that many folks want to know exactly where to hold when flags are doing some such this or that other thing. This is never going to happen. Every range is different and every day is different, even times of day are different.
What you need to study is where the bullet impacts in relation to what your flags are doing at a particular time and place. I believe the only way to do this is to shoot every practice session with flags and don't just pick the calm consistent days, but rather make an effort to practice on seriously bad days. There are tips and hints available in the above mentioned books, but practice with flags trumps everything and I don't believe there are any short cuts. My personal experience is, flags will not tell you when to shoot, but they will surely tell you when you shouldn't. If I am wrong I will happily accept correction and will apply the advice given.


Rick
 
Is the Tony Boyer book "The Book of Rifle Accuracy"?

The only Ratigan book ("Extreme Rifle Accuracy")
has a price of $800+ on Amazon. I am not poor but am a cheap SOB.

Kyle- Thank you for your prompt post.
 
Fotheringill said:
Is the Tony Boyer book "The Book of Rifle Accuracy"?

The only Ratigan book ("Extreme Rifle Accuracy")
has a price of $800+ on Amazon. I am not poor but am a cheap SOB.

Kyle- Thank you for your prompt post.
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Mike's book is good but even he will tell you it's not worth $800. Fortunately, Sinclair/Brownell's has it in stock for a lot less...

https://www.sinclairintl.com/books-...rifle-accuracy-by-mike-ratigan-prod35822.aspx

I got my copy of Tony's book through Bullet Central.

https://bulletcentral.com/product/the-book-of-rifle-accuracy-by-tony-boyer/

They currently show to be out of stock but you might call and find out if they expect any more copies. Good luck!
 
Greyfox said:
I don't know that there is such an animal. If there is, I've never seen it. But, don't despair. You can do this. Boyer's and Ratigan's books will help, but the best way to learn, in fact probably the only way is to sit down behind a rifle and flags and practice. It seems to me that many folks want to know exactly where to hold when flags are doing some such this or that other thing. This is never going to happen. Every range is different and every day is different, even times of day are different.
What you need to study is where the bullet impacts in relation to what your flags are doing at a particular time and place. I believe the only way to do this is to shoot every practice session with flags and don't just pick the calm consistent days, but rather make an effort to practice on seriously bad days. There are tips and hints available in the above mentioned books, but practice with flags trumps everything and I don't believe there are any short cuts. My personal experience is, flags will not tell you when to shoot, but they will surely tell you when you shouldn't. If I am wrong I will happily accept correction and will apply the advice given.


Rick
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Good advice and...you're not wrong!!
This game takes work! If you expect an easy answer to win with, you either need to adjust your thinking or find a new game.

I don't doubt the op's willingness to put in the needed work but there are two things that hold very true in this game. One is, you can't buy wins but you can "cheap" your way out of them. The other is basically like so many things in life...he who wants it most, gets it.
 
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It's a little dated equipment wise, but Glenn Newick's book "The Ultimate in Rifle Accuracy" has a very good section on wind reading. He also tells some good Benchrest related stories. Good read!
 
Thank you all.

BTW- I know it takes a lot of work and practice and am willing to put in the time, now that the Ratigan book is within financial reach.
 
Walt Berger taught Eunice to shoot Benchrest and he used a camera to show flag position when the shots were fired. She learned real quickly and went on to win the prestigious Super Shoot. Eunice Berger was a great person and when we lost her, we were diminished.

Walt set the camera behind her while she was shooting (where flags could be seen). They would review the film and Walt would offer advice. He said that this method really shortened the learning curve. Good shooting...James
 
Books on reading wind flags

Fotheringill said:
Thank you all.

BTW- I know it takes a lot of work and practice and am willing to put in the time, now that the Ratigan book is within financial reach.
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Just a suggestion. When you start doing research(Books) on reading wind flags, pay close attention to the authors comments on their methods of tuning a Rifle.



Glenn
 
I have read several articles on both wind and mirage, mirage being the more difficult skill to learn. When I first started my first goal was to come second to last and it took me two years to get there. Nothing about competitive shooting is easy nor can you learn from a book. It simply as stated takes several hours out at the range teaching yourself those hard earned skills. That was my approach and that hard earned skill eventually allowed me to place me in 174 top three finishes and a National Championship in CBA competition alone. Competitively shooting is by no means easy and what works for one often times will not work for another we all see, think and react differently. There was a time when I spent all of my free time out at the range including vacation time and I practiced at least once weekly 12 months out of the year. Preferably in harsh conditions there is nothing to be learned when the conditions are calm but it is a good time to do experimental load development which for me has never ceased.
 
Al Nyhus said:
An extremely accurate rifle (Benchrest with a capital 'B') is the first tool you need to learn how to read the wind.

Good shootin'. :) -Al
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Al makes an extremely good point. It is impossible to learn what the flags are telling you when you have a rifle that's only capable of hitting the aim point once in a while. It is also true that this rifle must be in perfect tune to behave the way it should. Once you have both of these in place it's incredible how much easier it is to read the wind. There will always be mistakes when you miss a switch or have a change in the light as a cloud move across the sun or comes back out. But when a rifle is accurate and in perfect tune it will do what is expected and one will realize that reading wind isn't nearly as difficult as you once thought. In my experience the winners are those who make the fewest mistakes.

Rick
 
After hours of smart practice in wind reading and tuning and many rounds fired in various wind conditions and soon you will be an overnight success. Know your flags, the tails, your rifle.
 
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