Wind

[Seamaster]

Sorry if this has been asked before but, I've often read that .22 calibre is less affected by wind than .177 and I've also read very technical posts about why this is so.
The fact is that I have a .22 HW100 running at 620fps (11.5fpe) with Falcon Accuracy Plus at 13.4gn, and a .177 HW100 running at 785fps (11.5fpe) with AA Field at 8.44gn. The .177 is considerably less affected by equal wind conditions at 35yds.
Is it the faster speed and smaller cross section?
Also, why do a lot of people believe it's the other way round?
Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Chris

[rabbitwrecker]

I'd like to hear the .22 fan-boys explain that too...

[Jesim1]

Without going into pellet dynamics - and I'd struggle to Your dead on.

There are so many urban myths that people believe are true because they often sound plausible, but factor in new technology, werewolves, and the Surrey Panther, and you get a load of stuff that is wrong but has a hint of truth or sense behind it to give it some sort of false credibility.

I think because .22 pellets are generally heavier people thing they get blown by the wind less, but because they are slower and larger, they have more surface area to be affected and they get exposed to wind for longer. How much of a difference is then down to facts and figures like ballistic coefficients, direction and speed of wind etc. etc.....

There is categorically not a definitive or straight answer to this one, but I'd stick with .177

James

[Rich]

My view is that there is more than one factor to consider. Classic theory says that time to target is the biggest factor, the longer the duration of exposure the greater the drift. On that basis the 177 wins over shorter distances. But 177s generally have a poorer BC so slow down more rapidly, and at longer ranges the velocities of the two calibres might not be far apart. That still means the 177 got there first.

The second factor is stability; that might not be the correct ballistic term, but it seems that light pellets become erratic and group sizes open up. JSB Exact Heavy at 10.3 grains are the most reliable in the wind, out of my Airwolf.

[ballisticboy]

Classic theory says that time to target is the biggest factor,

Not true. The main factor is the difference between the actual time of flight and the time of flight in a vacuum i.e. the time the pellet actually takes minus the time it would take to reach the target with no drag.
.22 pellets are not necessarily less affected by the wind than .177. As a rough first order guide the wind drift is approximately inversely proportional to the BC multiplied by the muzzle velocity. So the bigger the value of BC x Muzzle velocity the lower the wind response. Thus a high drag or light weight .22 pellet could well drift more in the wind than a .177.
It has nothing to do with the side area of either pellet calibre, a cross wind does not blow on the side of a pellet except for a fraction of a second when the pellet has left the barrel.

[Rich]

OK, I wasn't quite right. But I would postulate that as the time of flight in a vacuum is the same for all pellets regardless of the drag factor, it comes down to almost the same thing. Not for the maths, but for the layman's appreciation of what matters.

[ballisticboy]

OK, I wasn't quite right. But I would postulate that as the time of flight in a vacuum is the same for all pellets regardless of the drag factor, it comes down to almost the same thing. Not for the maths, but for the layman's appreciation of what matters.

Time of flight in a vacuum is dependent on the muzzle velocity.

[Rich]

Naturally.

[Sniper007]

Simple answer to your questions fellas .177 using jsb heavies deadly on rabbits at night time even in strong cross winds......

IMOAP

[Trumpetier]

Shooting the "bucket" at the "Hollow" which is approx 75 yards, i definitely found. 22 to be less effected by wind than my. 177 (when the wind was ripping across the field) I was shooting jsb exact jumbos in. 22 which are 15.9 and exacts in 4.52 which are 8.4.

[Nevbag]

a cross wind does not blow on the side of a pellet except for a fraction of a second when the pellet has left the barrel.[/QUOTE]

I don't doubt your credentials Ballisticboy but I do not understand how this can be correct. I would have thought that wind can have an effect on the pellet throughout the whole of it's flight path.

Am I having a Homer Simpson moment here?

Nev.

[joffy]

Shooting the "bucket" at the "Hollow" which is approx 75 yards, i definitely found. 22 to be less effected by wind than my. 177 (when the wind was ripping across the field) I was shooting jsb exact jumbos in. 22 which are 15.9 and exacts in 4.52 which are 8.4.

My 52 .22 was just point and shoot using jsb jumbos .....when the wind dropped the lad managed to hit the bucket several times using the 97 and air arms diablo express in .177.....next time all my efforts will be trying to hit the bucket using my airsporter and the 80 both in .177

[angrybear]

Sorry if this has been asked before but, I've often read that .22 calibre is less affected by wind than .177 and I've also read very technical posts about why this is so.
The fact is that I have a .22 HW100 running at 620fps (11.5fpe) with Falcon Accuracy Plus at 13.4gn, and a .177 HW100 running at 785fps (11.5fpe) with AA Field at 8.44gn. The .177 is considerably less affected by equal wind conditions at 35yds.
Is it the faster speed and smaller cross section?
Also, why do a lot of people believe it's the other way round?
Any thoughts will be appreciated.

Chris

Because the Falcon is a very light weight .22 so it has more surface area to the mass, to catch the wind.
If you were to shoot the .22 AA field against the .177 AA field so they have roughly the same ratio, then the .22 would in theory hold the wind better as the greater mass takes more force to move it.

When doing such tests or expounding such theories you must use like for like pellets.

[longsider]

The ballistics stats in these threads always makes good reading but cause a lot of debate over small points that can change the final outcome . From a simpler angle I personally use .177 for 95% of my hunting simply because I miss less in varying weather conditions than I did using .22 . I am a late convert to .177 and always felt better with the feeling that I had greater power on impact with .22 . I now realise that confidence in greater accuracy outweighs the energy on impact and this has scored in my hunting success . Even if you don't hunt a interesting point on this subject is how many FT/HFT Shooters use .22 ? I stand to be corrected but I would have thought they would only use the pellet that copes best with wind conditions giving them the accuracy they need . atb Ricky

[ballisticboy]

[U]

I don't doubt your credentials Ballisticboy but I do not understand how this can be correct. I would have thought that wind can have an effect on the pellet throughout the whole of it's flight path.

Am I having a Homer Simpson moment here?

Nev.

Because the pellet does not see air coming from two different directions it sees the combined flow from the wind and the forward speed. Assuming it is a stable pellet it will try to turn to face the combined air flow (that is the definition of a stable pellet) and therefore will have no flow on the side. The pellet is still being affected by the wind throughout the whole of its trajectory but it is the pellet drag which is making it drift to the side (hence the dependence on BC) not any force on the side of the pellet. The pellet drifts to the side because it is not actually pointing in the direction in which it is traveling relative to the ground so the drag force is pointing slightly to the side as well as to the back giving the pellet drift.
If your pellet does not turn to face the combined air flow you have more problems than wind to worry about.