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The flags I use at my local range are these simple triangular shaped ones. I'll either use a piece of sail cloth on the back to better judge wind velocity or a daisy wheel up front if the wind is honkin' pretty good. If the daisy wheel comes off, the weights on the shaft keep the flag balanced on the pin:





At other ranges and depending on the winds forecast for the day, I'll either use the triangles (with or w/o daisy wheel), these really nice double vane flags (with or w/o daisy wheel) or these airfoil flags that don't use a daisy wheel:









Set up over the triangles at this years NBRSA South Dakota State Score tournament:



Shooting over the doubles at 200 at the NBRSA Score Nationals this year at Webster City, Iowa:

Shouldn't it be "ambient wind speed"?

For people that buy into the 'calm wind' Urban Legend, here's something you should look at.

On the first pole is a Dittman 'Windicator'. This is a balanced beam that moves in response to the wind. It doesn't rotate so it's only perfectly accurate at 3:00 and 9:00 wind directions. But even in angled winds, it still responds....so it's all relative. The day I took these pics of my double vanes, it was what most would consider to be a 'dead calm'. If you look at the Windicator, you'll see there's an ever so slight 'push' from the 3:00. But now look at the flags. Only flags 3 and 5 show what the Windicator shows and what I felt. Flags 2&6 show half the value. And 1&4 are completely out of synch with the other four flags.

None of these flags were wrong. Rather, they were showing exactly what was moving around out in very 'dead calm' conditions and over a very short span of distance.

Hope this helps. -Al

That is exactly true. Hard as it is Al I must agree with you.

MD, I agree completely. After many years of being some what neglected my rimfires are going to see more use @ 100 yards. It’s cheap and can’t do anything but help.

For those that don't want to mess with making your own flags, MTM Case-Gard offers a very inexpensive flag and pole setup that's worth looking at. The poles are only 33" tall so depending on the range, you might need to make an extension. I saw one of these yesterday...they're everything that anyone short of a serious competitive shooter would need.

https://mtmcase-gard.com/products/wind-reader-shooting-range-flag

Here's a slow motion video that shows just what's going on in what would appear to be light (< 10-12 mph) conditions. Watching it a few times will show much more than I could describe....mainly how the air moves and progresses across the range. Pay particular attention to the flag nearest the bench as this is indicative of what we'd feel at the bench. I'll guarantee you that if you pressed the trigger in several of those situations even when the wind 'feels' the same at the bench, that bullet is going to park itself North of 1/2" @ 100 yds. from other shots.

Good stuff Al. Thanks for posting reality.

i like the flags that you guys put out , i know of a 1,000 yard bench shooter who only puts out 1 flag at about 25 yards he claims that is the most important flag for him. before you think he is wrong he wins plenty and with a 6BR , he never gets a Dairy Queen either.

I have several buddies that are very competitive 1,000 yd. shooters and rifle builders. Speed is everything in that discipline...they find a condition they like and rip 'em down range as fast as possible before whatever is out there changes too radically. Very, very impressive when it all falls into place. Of course, 'the train wrecks' are spectacular too.

But that's a whole different kettle of fish that what most hunters and shooters looking for a consistent, good performing load need. Which is to simply have some means to avoid shooting when winds across the range are from different directions.

Fortunately, a couple simple flags give us that info. Shooters don't have to be some sort of wind shooting guru to see the benefits, either. Like anything in shooting (and life), covering the basics gets us 90% of the way there.

Good shootin' -Al

Al, I use at present 4 Keeney wind flags. I put those and 4 Grahams up for sale when I quit competition. The Grahams sold fast so I kept the Keeney. They work well for my purpose.
Your video reminds me that I have a video somewhere of my 75 and 90 yard flags both going 180 out from each other at the same time, also have one where the tails lift straight up without moving the vanes or prop. The wind does weird stuff at times.

Thanks. Mule Deer (John Barsness) has tried to educate hunters and shooters for years about using basic wind indicators to help them. John is well respected in the firearms world and I'm sure his efforts have borne more fruit than anyone's in this area.

Wind moves golf balls, arrows, airplanes and satellites. But for some reason, a big percentage of people think that because a bullet is small and fast (relatively) that they are somehow immune to the physical laws of the universe.

Good shootin' -Al

This season, I got a set of 8 Graham flags (4 big vane/4 small vane) and tested over them. So far, I like what I'm seeing.

When Jerry Hensler was developing this 'trot line' flag set up a few years ago, I ran a length of 1/4" coated cable from the firing line to the 100 yard target frames and clipped sail tails on it at 10 foot intervals. It was a decent day for conditions so I sat back, topped off my coffee and watched.

A few lengths of flagging tape placed here and there on the range beats the heck out of no indicators at all.

When I had my place in Dayton, I had 100 yards indoors. I could shoot some really impressive groups. Then go outdoors, with flags. Could never repeat what I did indoors. Sometimes close, but never as good.
Ask anyone who is a pilot if the wind can sudden change....especially when you are in the flair about a foot off the ground..
Charlie

You bet. It need not be complicated to work! -Al

Here is a very basic question. Say I put my wind flags out while shooting at 100 or 200 yards. Then what I do, meaning how do I use the information from the flags to assess the loads I am working up?

The same way I always do, the flags just help minimize the wind effects. If you shoot the same wind condition each shot, the group is valid. 2” is 2” but without the flags that 2” could actually be caused by variance in wind speed and direction at the time the shot breaks.

36” 3/8” dowel sharpened on one end. Punch a hole in the tape, crimp in a 1/4” metal grommet, use a screw to attach tape to the dowel. You now have a 2 buck wind flag that rotates. Got some around here someplace.

Last week a buddy and I were out at the range shooting some 800 and 1,000 targets.
I was shooting my prone rifle ( irons, and sling) in 6mmBR, and he was shooting a braked up 300 mag, a Ruger RPR with a bipod and a brake that looks like it belongs on a Sherman tank.
Wind was not too bad, about 2MOA but gusting, and we both posted some pretty good 10 shot scores.
Two days ago we went out again and on the 800 meter target he had to dial in a full 8 MOA of left windage to get onto the target.
Yesterday, we had close to 5MOA of straight head wind.
It is never the same and very rarely constant at our range.
You can see 2MOA at 200 meters on the flag, and at 500 , 2MOA, and be 2MOA in the opposite direction at 300 meters!
Learning how to decipher a wind call is a never ending story for me ! LOL
Cat

Ok, I am a little dense. Does the grommet drop over the sharpened dowel? What is the screw for

What are the best distances to place wind flags. In front of the bench, target, mid point?

Pointy end helps insertion to the ground. Screw holds the tail on the flat end. If you don’t tighten completely the tail can rotate around the screw.

Usually I set a flag @ 25, 50, 75 then 95. If lazy just 50 and 95 when working @ 100
200 it’s 50, 100, 150 and 190. But also use a bench top flag and BT wind meter @25 ft.