Correct speeds for pellets shooting for accuracy

[Miles_M]

Close on the stable pellet. Wind will always change the direction, the better I get at reading the wind the better my scores. What I'm going after is the sudden 5 or 6 instead of a 8 or 9. Usually caused by a spiral or unusual jumps from intended target. This is where I believe the wind hits the skirt and makes the head spin off axis. The resulting low and high pressure created on the pellet and the resulting spiral or unpredicted movement. These weird direction changes never happen at the gun (although wind speed does have the greatest effect on accuracy at the gun) they always happen down range in the last 20-25 yards. My goal is to explore pellet speeds in conjunction to accuracy and a severe reduction in spirals and unexplained direction changes.

First, the cross wind does not hit the tail or any other part of the pellet. The wind is only one small part of the airflow seen by the pellet, most of it due to the pellet forward speed, which is generally much higher than any wind speed. If the cross wind speed changes, all that the pellet will see will be a small change in the airflow direction and a minute change in airflow speed. The result will be a very small yaw angle which the pellet, if stable but not over stable, will correct for.

It is not necessary for there to be a cross wind for pellet spiralling to occur. I have recently been able to reproduce spiralling behaviour in trajectory modelling which can be down to the basic pellet characteristics coupled with the changes in the relative spin and forward speed down range, particularly at longer ranges. No cross wind was involved. A severe, sharp-edged gust could induce spiralling, but it is not always necessary, depending on the pellet design and other factors.