Len Waldron – an outdoor and adventure writer – is now using his Suunto to help calibrate and shoot targets from over a mile away.
Len says altitude, temperature, barometric pressure and wind all play a role. Here is his description:
Basically, in a shooter/spotter team the primary consideration is calculating the distance to the target (elevation) and the strength and direction of the wind (windage). Elevation is "up or down", windage is "left or right".
However, to be precise over long distances, shooters have to account for atmospheric changes such as temperature, barometric pressure and altitude. This is where I use the Suunto wristop computer. I collect the atmospheric info and plug the data into a program that is part of my iPod. The spotter estimates the range and wind, and that data (along with the atmospheric data) goes into a "shooting solution" that outputs a scope adjustment based upon pre-collected ballistics data (how the bullet flies based upon its mass and powder charge). The shooter adjusts the scope, takes the shot, and the spotter watches the target and suggests adjustments if necessary.
Might be more than you needed to know about precision shooting, but the accuracy is amazing. Len was out at Arco Pass, Idaho recently with some Chey Tac rifles hitting target over a mile away in sub-zero temperatures. Len says while his other devices failed, his Suunto Core had no problems and gave perfectly accurate readings for altitude, barometric pressure and temperature. Check out more of Len’s stuff here: http://www.waldronpond.com/.
