Shooting In The Rain

[elkhunter11]

I was watching Guns and Ammo today, and they were discussing shooting in the rain. They were shooting through dripping water, and watching with a high speed camera ,to see how bullets reacted to striking a rain drop. They showed a bullet striking a water droplet, and then speculated that it would likely be directed two feet off course at 100 yards. However, they didn't actually look at the poi at 100 yards. I have done a lot of shooting in rain, and I have never seen a bullet redirected inches at 100 yards , let alone two feet. Have you ever shot targets in the rain and witnessed bullets being directed significantly off target by raindrops?

[sns2]

Never. And I have shot lots of paper in the rain.

[Dewey Cox]

Sounds like a handy excuse.
It's always good to have new material...

[obsessed1]

I have shot in heavy down pours, light rains, snow, and even hail once. At 100 yds there was no real discernable POI change. At longer ranges (400 yds) there was definitely a POI change but not a crazy amount. I figured it was more point of aim issue as seeing an exact spot was difficult much like shooting through heavy mirage where the target appears to be moving slightly.

[Pathfinder76]

I like shooting in a light drizzle. It seems to produce some of the best groups.

[sns2]

Originally Posted by obsessed1

I have shot in heavy down pours, light rains, snow, and even hail once. At 100 yds there was no real discernable POI change. At longer ranges (400 yds) there was definitely a POI change but not a crazy amount. I figured it was more point of aim issue as seeing an exact spot was difficult much like shooting through heavy mirage where the target appears to be moving slightly.

Agreed.

[58thecat]

Those little island deer dropped like flies being swatted in some miserable rain...never was sighting my rifle in a downpour but hunted in some real miserable crap....how many rain drops did that bullet deflect of in order to fill the freezer?

[Smoky buck]

Grew up on the coast where rain means great blacktail hunting and I cannot remember missing on a rainy day

Definitely call BS rain have that much impact on accuracy

[glen moa]

I shot some great groups at 300 to 500y in snow where you could barely see the bullseye. Snow can be great for showing wind direction and speed.

A 20 mph or more cross wind pushes the bullet a lot.

[6.5 shooter]

The mass of a 180gr. bullet striking a 0.2 gr. rain drop? deflecting the bullet...several FEET.......please......

Kinda like a train hitting a Prius......

[shooter12]

I've never noticed a bullet change its POI in the rain at 300m.
There were a couple of days in the range when I could not see a target past 300-400m because of a heavy rain.
Last year I could not take a shot in the heavy rain on a hunt in BC as lenses on my VX3 were foggy and covered with a rain drops, but that is a bit different story.

S12

[Full Curl Earl]

Must be more to the story, Guns and Ammo TV isnt the Ellen show, its info is usually worthy.
There is some sound science to the theory that POI would move when a projectile contacts anything, if indeed the projectile makes actual contact with the raindrop of does the pressure wave in front of the bullet push the droplet out of its way.
Shooting your best groups in a drizzle? I dont see the science in that one though, but maybe there is something to that.

[obsessed1]

Originally Posted by Full Curl Earl

Must be more to the story, Guns and Ammo TV isnt the Ellen show, its info is usually worthy.
There is some sound science to the theory that POI would move when a projectile contacts anything, if indeed the projectile makes actual contact with the raindrop of does the pressure wave in front of the bullet push the droplet out of its way.
Shooting your best groups in a drizzle? I dont see the science in that one though, but maybe there is something to that.

Science or not I tend to shoot well in drizzle as well.

[Cheyenne 1]

Not sure on the science of it.
Shooting F-class we shoot from 600 to 1000 yards.
Although I prefer not to shoot in the rain we quite often have to.
Have shot on everything form a drizzle, steady rain to a down pour.

I have not seen any differences shooting in the rain even if it started raining in the middle of a string.
Sight picture will change slightly as it does when your shooting in cloudy conditions and the sun comes out.

Biggest concern in shooting in rain is keeping your ammo and chamber dry.
I use a piece of a clear plastic table cloth to cover everything and keep my ammo, chamber and my hands dry.
Wet ammo will make pressure very quickly.

(No need to comment Dick 24/7 cause I don't care what you have to say)

[fps plus]

I wonder if the droplet would be dispersed by the shockwave before it can even hit the bullet. Any physics majors out there?

[dgl1948]

Originally Posted by fps plus

I wonder if the droplet would be dispersed by the shockwave before it can even hit the bullet. Any physics majors out there?

The shockwave had on effect in the pictures they took.

[303carbine]

Originally Posted by sns2

Never. And I have shot lots of paper in the rain.

Sure beats singin' in the rain................