Technically, I'm sure that rain hitting a bullet in flight does effect bullet flight. And presumably each bullet fired in the rain would hit rain drops in different ways. However, I have tested this myself over the years and found no noticeable effect on impact. I normally shoot at 400yds and had groups on paper before the rain started and continued to shoot as the rain picked up. I was surprised to see that there were no changes when firing in the rain.
I assume that if you were shooting in a complete deluge that the change in impact would be apparent, but I just wouldn't be shooting target or game animals in such conditions.
shot a PRS match a few weeks ago is nasty downpours
had no impact on my wind or elevation out to 995 with a 105hybrid at 2950fps
In the Army we shot a lot in the rain as long as it wasn't a torrential downpour and there was no lighting in the area. A M-14 or M-16, like a carbon fiber fishing pole makes a wonderful lightening rod. Anyway shot out to 600 yards in rain heavy enough to cause you to have to blow out the aperture of the rear sight between each shot with no apparent affect on accuracy. As it once was explained to me by a grumpy old Master Sergeant the shock wave in front of the supersonic bullet pushed the rain out of the way as it sped downrange.I just read through all this ... where gurus in Physics argued the same question about the effect of rain on a fired bullet ... I'll spare you the reading, as wow - they fought like anything over the formulas and whether or not mass or momemtum was the most critical component! Assume rain as in good droplets, like those that would sting your face if out on the boat in a good rain storm zooming for home at 40mph ... rain, not a shower, no mist or 'baby' shower here ...
The Effect a Raindrop Has On a Bullet
I had asked a question on the effect Recoil has on a bullet's trajectory and got wonderful help from this site. Thank you! Now I have another question... I used to think rain had no effect on a bullet until I realized I wasn't actually hitting any raindrops, when I started hitting them, I...www.physicsforums.com
Setup
Rifle: Howa 1500 in 30-06 cartridge
Load: Hornady 150gr FMJ, 2600fps, Varget 46.6gr, CCI 200 primer, Winchester case
Range: 300-yards, Water dropper devise placed 260-yards from target
Shots:
Shots 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9; hit water drops (verified by video), making an 8" group.
Shots 1, 2, 7, and 10; did not hit drops, making a 1.5" group.
Conclusion
The group shot that hit water drops was over 5 times the size of the group that didn't.
Can you share the video? That would be interesting to see.I just read through all this ... where gurus in Physics argued the same question about the effect of rain on a fired bullet ... I'll spare you the reading, as wow - they fought like anything over the formulas and whether or not mass or momemtum was the most critical component! Assume rain as in good droplets, like those that would sting your face if out on the boat in a good rain storm zooming for home at 40mph ... rain, not a shower, no mist or 'baby' shower here ...
The Effect a Raindrop Has On a Bullet
I had asked a question on the effect Recoil has on a bullet's trajectory and got wonderful help from this site. Thank you! Now I have another question... I used to think rain had no effect on a bullet until I realized I wasn't actually hitting any raindrops, when I started hitting them, I...www.physicsforums.com
Setup
Rifle: Howa 1500 in 30-06 cartridge
Load: Hornady 150gr FMJ, 2600fps, Varget 46.6gr, CCI 200 primer, Winchester case
Range: 300-yards, Water dropper devise placed 260-yards from target
Shots:
Shots 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9; hit water drops (verified by video), making an 8" group.
Shots 1, 2, 7, and 10; did not hit drops, making a 1.5" group.
Conclusion
The group shot that hit water drops was over 5 times the size of the group that didn't.
Odds are that shooting bullets at 400yds in the rain would result in MANY hits on drops, glancing or otherwise. I'll add that it wasn't just once that I tested this out but on numerous occasions when it started to rain while I was already shooting at the bench. All of my groups were at 400yds.Odds are if you didn't get a deviation then you didn't hit a rain drop. You have to think, there is a lot of open space in a rain storm so the odds of you not hitting a rain drop are significantly higher than the odds of you actually hitting one.
That article posted earlier in this thread made it pretty apparent that if you actually hit a drop then the bullet is not going where you aimed.