Reading the Wind and Coaching Techniques

This is the second of Jim Owens' books that I have purchased. I really liked the first one  Sight Alignment, Trigger Control & The Big Lie  because it was more than just a rehash of basic rifle marksmanship. A lot of good information in that one... This one is useful as well. The study of wind and the necessary corrections could fill a small encyclopedia. This book touches on the basics and relies on a lot of first hand experience. It is well written and reads easily. It is about 170 pages long, of which about 75 pages are actual text related to the issue of "Reading the Wind". The balance of the book is a series of tables dedicated to wind drift charts. The charts are based on specific calibers and specific bullets which may or may not hold any value for you specifically. The calibers covered are .223; .308; 6.5-284; 6.5-08; and .300 Win Mag. Each of these have a few select bullets and loads with the corresponding drift tables. The usefulness of these tables is completely dependent on whether or not you shoot those particular bullets and loads.....So, at least for me, the usefulness of this book is contained entirely in the first 75 pages or so. The text covers wind problems and ways to sort through it, with an emphasis on deciphering wind and coaching shooters. I suspect that most readers of this book will be interested in learning how to "read" wind. The actual coaching aspects, while interesting, are somewhat less useful to most "shooters".Having said that, I DO recommend this book. There is a lot of experience here. If you read carefully (and probably several times..) I think you will find many nuggets worth mining. I don't think it is necessarily the "answer" for someone trying to learn how to read the wind. I say this because I don't think any one person or method can be so unified or impactful so as to preclude further learning. I personally have found several good books on wind. This particular one is useful. is it the "best".?? Probably not, but I am happy to have discovered it and pleased to have it in my collection.Four stars for a nicely written text that is understandable and useful. While mostly anecdotal, the experience of the author makes it a good read.

I have been shooting long range (Rem 700 LR 300 RUM) for several years and regulary had first round hits on clay pigeons at 550 yds. However, with the wind blowing, not so much. Most times I would just not go shooting. I had no clue where to start to overcome any wind conditions. Thought some magic was needed to send that bullet on target. I saw this book on a shooting forum and I thought "hey, what the heck, buy it." And I am soooo glad I did. M/Sgt Owens provided the knowledge needed to "make the wind your friend" not something to SWAG about. The info was presented in a clear and easy way that you can't help but learn this stuff. After 10 or so pages, I kew this guy was going to improve my wind reading skills more than I could have imagined. Fantastic stuff. The wind charts provided don't really pertain to me, but how to click for the wind.......fantastic. M/Sgt Owens, thank you so much for sharing. And thank you for your service.

Not surprisingly, the wind reading info is common to most guides, but the tables/charts and information on building a data book and using wind chart is presented very well here. The anecdotes of different high power matches keep your attention, strung between the hugely valuable coaching and shooting instruction and advice. While written by a Highpower competitor, for highpower competitors, the information remains pertinent for any shooter, and the stories help keep the pace moving. I'm submitting this review after my 4th time reading, and I'm never disappointed in coming back to this one.Editing could use a refresh, as there are a few grammatical and word-correct errors which break up the flow of the language. But overall, this reads as if you're sitting down for a cup of coffee at the range office and getting a personal primer on how to go out and pick up a few extra X's that day.

I've been a shooter for the better part of the last 25 years and there's nothing like hear the loud speaker in the morning sing to you that sweet melody of "Shooters Lock and load your weapons and place them on the fire position". With a brisk morning air. And the smells of CLP. ENOUGH OF THAT, This book in my opinion has some valuable information and I found it a good read. I've trained several thousand shooters and I'm always out to find the bigger badder better way of shooting. The basic 4 fundamentals and focus on the front sight, doesn't get any simpler than that mixed with situational awareness and these book draws on some of those situations. I'd say that I haven't read the entire book yet, but I have cherry picked it, and so far it looks helpful.

Very basic,all tables in moa,nothing in mils. Modern reticles minimize need to dial if parallax set correctly. Read Brian Litz instead

All of the Owen teachings (contained in his numerous materials) are practical, incremental, logical, and reasoned. His vast coaching experience is conveyed through examples garnered over a lifetime. He is clear, concise, and builds on the basics while gradually developing a holistic approach to this challenging sport. While there are many books on the intricacies of ballistics and shooting, the Owen material cuts through the fog, illusion, and lessons from unfounded science and leaves you centered - hopefully if you do your part you stay centered in the 10X ring.

assumptions on wind significance at different ranges is presumtive at best. it treats shooting as if its in a vacuum. wasted my money

he makes it looks so easy....the wind tables I've tried work right on, so far, under the conditions I had.I made photocopies of the ones I use, and keep them in the range bagexcellent guideline to learn what to look for when learning this craft.

not to bad

Best book on the subject I have come across so far.Helped me a lot with some issues I had.Very useful to have as an ibook

Good book with some nice resources and anecdotes. For TR shooting, I would recommend "The Wind Book For Rifle Shooters" by Miller & Cunningham.

Good book but very poor illustrations , they look like copy of a copy of a copy

This entire series of books are worth reading. This tome is easy to read and there is solid information here about wind shooting and how to call wind for someone else. I pulled several nuggets from this one.