Shooting in the rain

I don't believe it hurts anything. I have seen some of the best groups ever fired in 1000 yard BR in the rain. If it would hurt it surely would show up there. Matt
 
dk hunt 14 said:
I don't believe it hurts anything. I have seen some of the best groups ever fired in 1000 yard BR in the rain. If it would hurt it surely would show up there. Matt
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I HAVE HAD THE SAME OUTCOME AS MATT........ bullet never hits a drop.....cause of the air wake in front of it.....
 
I had a math whiz do some calculating some years ago and he determined that in a light rain a bullet would have little chance of hitting a rain drop. Certainly, the harder the rain, the greater the chance.

You will know when your bullet hits a raindrop. It makes a clean, ragged hole not necessarily where you wanted said hole to be.

If it's raining, ALWAYS put a drizzle deflector such that the roof doesn't drip in your line of fire. You probably won't do this until you see the results but don't say I didn't tell you so.
 
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Heavy rain / 6PPC

I shot the NBRSA Nat’s at Kelbly’s around 2003/2004 in a heavy rain, on that relay of 60 shooter’s shooting at 200 yds there were more groups over 2 inches then under and very few of the groups where under 1 inch. Heavy Rain and 6PPC don’t mix well for group shooting.
Chet
 
Wilbur said:
I had a math whiz do some calculating some years ago and he determined that in a light rain a bullet would have little chance if hitting a rain drop. Certainly, the harder the rain, the greater the chance.

You will know when your bullet hits a raindrop. It makes a clean, ragged hole not necessarily where you wanted said hole to be.

If it's raining, ALWAYS put a drizzle deflector such that the roof doesn't drip in your line of fire. You probably won't do this until you see the results but don't say I didn't tell you so.
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Right! I had this happen to me a few years back in a $1000 money shoot. Rain was coming down in buckets, flags were motionless, gun was driving nails at 300 yards...until...

I was in the running to win the money when I had a shot drop several(?) rings low and just a tad right or left..I can't recall which. To this day, I say it was water coming from the front edge of the roof that did it. Of course, it could have been a number of things, but never had it happen like that before or since. Oh well....I make very sure to be cognizant of it now.
 
About the only thing you can do is make sure you don't shot through a stream running off the roof. Beyond that there's nothing you can do but shoot and hope.
 
I have never seen this happen. But we shoot a lot bigger bullets and faster twists. If it rains too hard we can't shoot because we can't see at 1000 yards. I believe when it rains lightly the better groups come because we can see a lot clearer and usually no mirage. And usually the winds settle and hold. At longrange they both can hurt you some. Matt
 
coyotechet said:
I shot the NBRSA Nat’s at Kelbly’s around 2003/2004 in a heavy rain, on that relay of 60 shooter’s shooting at 200 yds there were more groups over 2 inches then under and very few of the groups where under 1 inch. Heavy Rain and 6PPC don’t mix well for group shooting.
Chet
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I see it every time it rains bad. I guess the rain affects the mach wave more at 3400fps than 2950
 
brickeyee said:
A raindrop is not going to get past the Mach wave attached to the front of a supersonic bullet.
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A common misconception. Air, water, whatever, flows through the Mach wave, which is just a transition in fluid properties, including pressure and density.
 
Two observations: I was scoring for a Marine sniper who went to a 1K match with his .308 issue rig for the practice, before there was an F class. He hit the spotter in the x ring about 5-6 times, went clean until the 20th shot, and it was a high 9. It started to rain halfway thru the relay, and my theory is that a drop landed in the muzzle, because he said that it felt like all the other good shots. BTW< he loaned me his USMC issue spotter scope, and I could see the holes in the spotter!
Other time a guy was shooting at a local ringer target at 100 yds in a downpour, and I could see a cloud of mist erupt on one shot about 60 yds out, and it still hit the ringer(but this was an AR firing at a 8" disc at 100 yds).
 
As I wrote earlier, the probability of your bullet striking a rain drop is fairly slim. That statement is not of my own thoughts, but rather the result of some fairly exhaustive mathematics. If you shoot enough in the rain you're gonna hit a rain drop and the result is not likeable.

I'll say this and quit writing (yeah, really Wilbur), the probability of your bullet hitting a rain drop is fairly slim even in a moderate rain, but there is nothing physical involved - just the bullet being in the same place as a rain drop at the same time.
 
I've seen bullets hit rain drops. The impact vaporizes the rain drop. The impact on the target is usually no where near your group.

Some people call em "Rain Shots".



Glenn
 
We have a shooter out here on the West Coast that is famous for hitting the very first drop of rain to fall! Just ask him if a "rain shot" is real.
 
I have always had some difficulty believing hitting a rain drop was likely to happen, but a few years back at the Pennsylvania state championship at York I became a believer. It was raining buckets and really coming down hard, one of the wettest shoots I ever attended in 30+ years. Several very good shooters had some terrible shots, 2 and 3 rings unexpectedly. I know of no other plausible explanation but "Rain Shots".
Dick
 
Thanks people.

Why I asked the question was that at a local club comp (.22RF, 100m) a few of the local 'hot shots' had unexplained flyers when a heavy shower came by. I commented that maybe a raindrop or two was impacted (.22 target ammo is sub-sonic btw, my Eley Tenex batch is 1062 fps).

I waited until the shower passed and managed to do ok. (1971 Anschutz M54).

As for the supersonic pressure wave, if anything deforms it, would not the resultant shock be passed back to the projectile and thus affect it?

Just curious so thought that I might ask the gurus.

* doghunter *
 
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