wind and pattern drift

[doepee]

When I went out an patterned the my gun awhile back I adjusted the williams firesights and they were dead on at 40. Well I went out and shot again today and I had about a 15 to 20 mile per hour cross wind and my pattern had drifted about 4 to 6 inches to the left, the way the wind was blowing.. was that enough wind to move the pattern at 40 yards??

[Snoody Bastid]

Were you shooting lead or HTL? What size shot?

[doepee]

I was shooting 3.5 inch heavy 7s

[allaboutshooting]

When I went out an patterned the my gun awhile back I adjusted the williams firesights and they were dead on at 40. Well I went out and shot again today and I had about a 15 to 20 mile per hour cross wind and my pattern had drifted about 4 to 6 inches to the left, the way the wind was blowing.. was that enough wind to move the pattern at 40 yards??

Absolutely. It won't disrupt the pattern density but it will sure move it. We have to deal with that a lot in still target shooting. We shoot at 40 yards and many times must aim off the target to hit it when we have strong cross winds like you describe.

Thanks,
Clark

[Old Gobbler]

 A wind like that will cause your entire pattern to shift plus cut way down on the effective range - different shot sizes and materials will be differently effected by a crosswind

  Go out to a pond on a windy day and let a shell rip at a can and see how far your shot charge drifts as it hits the water

 

[TnTurk]

A wind like that will cause your entire pattern to shift plus cut way down on the effective range - different shot sizes and materials will be differently effected by a crosswind

  Go out to a pond on a windy day and let a shell rip at a can and see how far your shot charge drifts as it hits the water
Never thought of that. Should give you a very good visual of shot string and pattern effects in the wind.
 

[1iagobblergetter]

I had the same problem with the same shell and wind  moving pattern about the same distance. I just stopped and fortunately had enough time to wait for a calmer day.