Hello f class shooters,i need some info on reading that terrible thing we call mirage !
can someone put it in simple terms.i can never get it right when it is waving left to right or up from the ground.
i know one thing it sure stuff's up a good score .
please help.
from barry t
Hi Barry
Spencer Dunstal has writtern a superb serries of articles in the NRAA target magerzine over the last 2/3 years on many aspects of target shooting and some of the best have covered reading wind and mirage. He is without peer in this field and i would recomend you search them out.
Regards RobH
On the subject of books, CLICK HERE for one I'd recommend - I have it, and it deals substantially with mirage.
But the best teacher is experience at many ranges and in a wide range of conditions. This is why I believe shooters like Spencer can remain at the top levels in this sport - because whatever advantages the younger shooter has in terms of eyesight and physical fitness is often outweighed by the experience of the veterans. And in particular the F-Classes being less physically demanding and with the assistance of scopes, we should all still be shooting competitively after we're too old for bowls !
As Allan has said, experience is a large factor. Some of this just cannot come out of a book. I have felt that some videos of mirage could be interesting as a discussion tool but most videos I see of mirage dont really look right.
As people travel to other ranges and other areas of the country they become aware of differences. I travel enough to see this but nowhere as far as some who have a wider experience. Its always worth having them talk of their experiences.
Like some ranges the mirage tends to read true, others not. Some mirage may be more believable in say the morning, flags in the afternoon.
No matter what, one needs to assess the reliability of mirage reading fairly quickly before being led too much astray. If you have time it may pay to watch a few shooters performance prior to your shoot to get a feeling of how reliable is the mirage as a wind indicator.
IF you have the right group of people it can pay to form a training group when shooting. Everyone in maybe a group of 4 give an estimate of the wind and when one shoots he tells all others of his setting. Since a rested scoped rifle is a very good wind probe, discussion after each shot can be extremely useful. It helps build up confidence in newcomers AND lets them see that the experts also make mistakes - just that they make smaller mistakes less often.
The other thing this does is impress on beginners how vital it is to keep track of sight settings - or to have a reliable aim off technique. And that none of this is of any use unless a person can equate minutes of arc to the target in use and the mirage image. They cannot ever communicate mirage to others without minutes and newcomers from other disciplines which are shot at very short ranges dont find this instinctive.
Somewhere on the web I have found reasonable material on this. Some Googleing may help. But experience will help a lot more.
In my experience, most shooters place TOO much emphasis on mirage.
Mirage in itself simply creates an optical illusion and thereby displaces the target to one side. Question is " How much displacement " ?
Again my experience indicates that the actual effect mirage has is very small. Depending upon wind strength the actual displacement of target would be no more than 1/2 moa to a max of probably 1.5 moa at extreme distances.
Wind flags are much more reliable when the wind gets to above 4 or 5 moa. Mirage does indicate wind strength variations but again only up to around 4 or 5 moa, after that it is very difficult to read changes in wind strength by looking at mirage, --flags are better.
In light wind--up to 4 or 5 points, mirage can be accurately read to give changes in both wind speed and wind direction.
One thing you can be sure of is that if you can see mirage moving from one side to the other, there is most certainly some wind there even if the flags do not indicate that it is so.
Both wind and mirage reading is an experience thing and does vary from range to range. Best way to learn how to cope with it is to coach someone, preferably a scope shooter as human error is virtually eliminated. Find someone willing and coach each other, it can be a whole lot of fun as well as a learning curve.
Barry
Mirage does indicate wind strength variations but again only up to around 4 or 5 moa, after that it is very difficult to read changes in wind strength by looking at mirage, --flags are better. In light wind--up to 4 or 5 points, mirage can be accurately read to give changes in both wind speed and wind direction. One thing you can be sure of is that if you can see mirage moving from one side to the other, there is most certainly some wind there even if the flags do not indicate that it is so. Both wind and mirage reading is an experience thing and does vary from range to range. Best way to learn how to cope with it is to coach someone, preferably a scope shooter as human error is virtually eliminated. Find someone willing and coach each other, it can be a whole lot of fun as well as a learning curve. Barry
f class shooters,i need some info on reading that terrible 
thing we call mirage !
.
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