What factors influence wind corrections in ballistic calculations?

• A. Wind speed and direction at target, flight time, and bullet drift.
• B. Target color and shape.
• C. Time of day only.
• D. Humidity only.

Answer: (A)

Wind corrections hinge on how wind interacts with a moving bullet during its flight. The sideways push the wind gives the bullet depends on the wind’s speed and the direction relative to the shot, and the longer the bullet is in the air, the more time the wind has to drift it off course. That drift is what you compensate for, often called wind drift, and it grows with faster wind, longer flight time, and the ballistic properties of the bullet. So knowing the wind speed and direction at the target area and estimating how long the bullet will be in flight lets you gauge how much lateral correction to apply.

Target color or shape doesn’t affect wind; time of day doesn’t determine wind correction directly; humidity can affect air density and drag, but the primary wind correction factors are the wind’s speed and direction and the flight time, which governs how much drift occurs.