Starting Saturday the first hour or so was at the OSM itself where Bill ran through what wind was, how it is formed, key areas to indicate wind and how to read it, a truly fascinating and well delivered subject. We then took a walk along Stickeldown, now this was something very special for me. I have shot from the hill a few times but you truly need to walk the range to understand the topography, the flags and the pitfalls, walking along the mantlet was also interesting, all of a sudden you can see just how significant the firing point you are allocated can be and which flags have greater impact on your wind changes. Until the walk I had never realised that some flags are set forward of others to give more meaningful results.
Back for some good food at the OSM and continue the discussion on shooting, the wind and all thing interesting.
Sunday saw us back at the OSM (Old Sergeants Mess) at 08:00 eating bacon sandwiches with a quick coffee before heading out to Century at 600. Bill had already said the wind would start off slow and stable and he was quite right, I waited until it had picked up a bit to get some sighters in and then practice reading and compensating for the wind. Once you get the basis of an understanding of how the wind works and show itself you can see literally see the changes coming from up wind by the flags, so I started to look for adverse changes to shoot against, some of my calls were spot on, others were best described as grim, on a couple of occasions I saw odd verticals at the 600 but a quick squint up wind at the targets showed that the TR types to my left had also been caught out. I was shooting the AI with 147grain 7,62x51 NATO as I felt it would be more sporting and doubling up with Eagernoskills so he could get some range time in. All in all huge fun.
I did see the Viking take her rifle out of the bag as well!
After lunch it was time to put into practice the previous evenings walk at 1000 yards. Personally I have had some real dramas with Sitckledown in the past, it can be a swine and today was maybe just a bit less of a drama, 147 NATO is far from ideal but sure does teach you to pay attention, I was running with over 13 minutes of wind some of the time and saw it shift by 6 minutes over two shots at one point.
On a downside I understand Christel was considering asking for a refund as she fell out of the V bull with one of her shots at 1000 :lol: :lol:
A brief report for what was a truly stunning day and many thanks to Heather for getting us on the course, thanks to Bill for his wise words and patience and to the OSM for hosting the event. If there is another one and you get the chance just do it!
Part way through the afternoon I spotted one of the course members was not shooting, obviously a newbie to shooting so I walked over and offered him a go at 1000 which he accepted. Having explained the finer points of the Vikings rifle and trigger he took half a dozen shots, for the most staying in the V. I asked if he was a member of the OSM to which he replied he was the Chairman!
So good to see a Chairman on the range and obviously enjoying himself, I have shot at clubs in the past where I only ever saw the Chair at the AGM so well done sir!
