Having hell of a time with mirage!!!

[pitdog85]

So I think I've finally worked out that in heavy mirage which here in the tropics is every day outside of sunset and sunup that my shots are going low.

I have seen it mentioned plenty of times in the net and by experienced people such as john mcquay from 8541 Tatical that mirage generally makes you hit higher and that he aims lower on the target in heavy mirage??

This is the opposite to what I'm finding. Anyone else found the same? Shooting at 700m I'm around 0.2-0.3mil low in sunny mirage vs clearer conditions at sunset. I have no choice but to shoot and learn to shoot in heavy mirage as like I said here in the tropics it's hot and boiling everyday.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

It depends on the conditions you zero'd in. If you zero in no mirage, then your shots will generally rise in heavy mirage.

However, there are other conditions where refraction could cause different results. There are conditions where the mirage just cancels out the sun push and there is no mirage effect. The direction of the wind can have an effect by changing the angle of the mirage to the shooter. It could be be any combination of several conditions.

It is really impossible to say for sure without being there or having more info..

 

[Sheldon N]

I've seen mirage conditions cause people to miss low in some scenarios.

 

[pitdog85]

Skookum I zero'd in the same conditions the previous week at 100m. Maybe it's the bright sun coming off the paddock. I'm shooting across a flat freshly cut cane paddock. You can clearly see the mirage without a scope where I shoot

 

[Deleted member 113831]

Skookum I zero'd in the same conditions the previous week at 100m. Maybe it's the bright sun coming off the paddock. I'm shooting across a flat freshly cut cane paddock. You can clearly see the mirage without a scope where I shoot

Was the wind either in your face or behind you? What speed?

 

[pmclaine]

Can you shoot off a platform and elevate out of the worst of it?

Either way - good training!

 

[pitdog85]

Was the wind either in your face or behind you? What speed?

wind was coming from 2-4 oclock average of 2.5mph gusts to 5.4mph. Temp 28 C (82.4F winter time here) baro 1012 hpa, hum 68%

Current load was 139 scenars out of a 6.5x47L, 2700FPS ave, SD 4.8, ES 11 for 6 shots, my other load is at 2726fps with similar figures. When I have shot this target at 700m late in the arvo when mirage is not completely gone but much better I have put 7 shots into a vertical of 2 inches right along the centre using data from ballistic AE with those figures put in (around 5.7mil from memory) I shoot with my magneto on rifle is zero'd with magneto it doesn't change group size in my rifle. One of the reasons I shoot with magneto is I was going crazy missing shots low etc using the data from app in heavy mirage so I want to make sure I know velocity of every shot so that I know its the Sun/mirage pushing these shots way down.

Can you shoot off a platform and elevate out of the worst of it?

Either way - good training!

Hey man nar I lay on the grass next to the cane field the only way to get above it would be to shoot out the back of a ute no way to get any bench or platform out here?

 

[Deleted member 113831]

I just clued in to the fact that you are in the tropics.

Here is a theory, take it for what it is worth. The sun here in North America, I have observed to be worth about a 0.3mil push on it's own. That can be cancelled out fairly easily by a medium mirage. A heavy mirage here will generally cause rounds to go high.

But....the sun is hitting us in North America at a different angle. My guess is that in the tropics, with the sun at a more direct angle, the sun push itself is probably worth quite a bit more. It may be worth as much as a 0.5mil or more.

Things like this are notoriously hard to diagnose without being there. Good shooting!

 

[pitdog85]

I just clued in to the fact that you are in the tropics.

Here is a theory, take it for what it is worth. The sun here in North America, I have observed to be worth about a 0.3mil push on it's own. That can be cancelled out fairly easily by a medium mirage. A heavy mirage here will generally cause rounds to go high.

But....the sun is hitting us in North America at a different angle. My guess is that in the tropics, with the sun at a more direct angle, the sun push itself is probably worth quite a bit more. It may be worth as much as a 0.5mil or more.

Things like this are notoriously hard to diagnose without being there. Good shooting!

Thanks mate for your efforts you are a very helpful member of this forum. Yup I'm deep in the tropics of Australia where it is only hot and hotter.

All I can do is believe the target despite what other people are experiencing different to me, my target over several trips is telling me when shooting in the hours from 2-5pm with heavy mirage that my impact will be much lower than the calculator calls for. I'm tracking and recording all of this will be interesting to test on a day with rain and no sun to see how it plays out. Next time I'm gunna put it out to 1000 yard and see what happens.

 

[Bigwheels]

Here is a pic of one of my experiences with mirage. Checking zero @ 100yds prone on a gravel surface. Wind R-L @ 2-3mph. 1st 2 shots just low & L under clouds. Next 3 in the string were just after the sun peeked out & was shining directly on the gravel. Mirage instantly became heavy from what was very light mirage.

 

[pmclaine]

Hey man nar I lay on the grass next to the cane field the only way to get above it would be to shoot out the back of a ute no way to get any bench or platform out here?

Just a thought. seems like your dedication to training your way through it is better than engineering your way through it in the long run anyway......unless you always have a mobile platform to call on.

Where "in the tropics" are you any way?

Cane fields, Im thinking exotic places -- Hawaii, French Polynesia, you own your own island in the Keys? How about I come down and swing a banana leaf over you when you are in the prone? I could use a break from January snow.