Shooting in the rain

[bamban]

We've shot matches in the rain provided there were no lightning in the area. The only issues are getting rain drops in your rear sight, water droplets on your shooting glasses, and drying your gear afterwards. The McMillan stock is/was godsend.

 

[VinceMule]

I have killed coyotes when it was raining hard and also shot deer in the rain. From what happened to me that I mentioned above, I would question:

The severity of the rain

Plastic tip bullets

Ojive design of the bullet, Dia. of the Meplat on the bullet would surely have an effect on the wave in front of the bullet. Calhoun Double Hollow points would often Whistle on the way to the varmint.

 

[xsn10s]

I have killed coyotes when it was raining hard and also shot deer in the rain. From what happened to me that I mentioned above, I would question:

The severity of the rain

Plastic tip bullets

Ojive design of the bullet, Dia. of the Meplat on the bullet would surely have an effect on the wave in front of the bullet. Calhoun Double Hollow points would often Whistle on the way to the varmint.

I've shot polymer tipped bullets in the rain with no issues. I'd say that either your twist or barrel condition caused you to have marginal stability to begin with.

 

[Pointman]

The only time I've ever seen projectiles "disappear" was when my wife tried her new Rem 700 in .17 Remington. The day was foggy, and the ammunition was factory-made. She told me she couldn't see impacts on the paper at 100 yards. During the cease-fire, she and the range officer went down, and when they came back, the RO said he observed a bunch of impacts that looked like small tears. I tried the same rifle on a varmint hunt and missed a 50-yard shot at a ground squirrel. Evidently, the round hit some grass. I didn't see mi range. Still, when it did hit the target, it was more devastating than my 25-06.

 

[VinceMule]

I've shot polymer tipped bullets in the rain with no issues. I'd say that either your twist or barrel condition caused you to have marginal stability to begin with.

9T twist with 154's...not a problem.
The barrel is a smooth SS barrel, it was raining so hard that it was hard to see the 3" square at 200.

The words, "shot in the rain" ....how heavy was the rain? We thought at the time that there was a micro burst.

 

[2buffalo]

Another myth buster. Thank you sir for all the great shooting videos that you share with us.

My favorite threads are when myths are busted. There are still many myths that need to be busted on here.

 

[xsn10s]

9T twist with 154's...not a problem.
The barrel is a smooth SS barrel, it was raining so hard that it was hard to see the 3" square at 200.

The words, "shot in the rain" ....how heavy was the rain? We thought at the time that there was a micro burst.

Heavy rains in Georgia. You can see the rain in James' video too. Whatever the case you rifle isn't stabilizing it's bullets. You even said it keyholed.

154g Interbonds and 154g SST don't just disappear for no reason, a HEAVY downpour is the only explanation. Out of 10 shots, only 7 hit the paper at 200. Some were keyholing at 100 which made me move the target out further as a HEAVY rain test. I got drenched putting up the target. I have hunted in light rain, with never a problem. I still have bullets from the same lot numbers, and the test was shot 10 years ago. I have never had a problem with the bullets/ barrel since.

Question: is there a difference between a Match HP in the rain vs a poly-tip bullet of sorts? So, how heavy does the rain have to be before the shock wave in front of the bullet is overcome by the water density of the air/heavy raindrop?

I had bullets keyhole at 100 then disappear by 200, and it was raining HARD! The gun was a custom Rem 700 in 7 Magm 9" twist. We were reloading right at the rifle range that has a loading shed right behind the benches, Elberton Ga.

 

[VinceMule]

It stabilized them just fine after the rain let up!

James would not have been able to see the targets with the rain I was shooting in! At 16X, the whole target was a blurr

 

[David_h]

Good to know that you can shoot in the rain. What about snow?

 

[xsn10s]

Good to know that you can shoot in the rain. What about snow?

I've shot in snow that was like shooting through a block of ice. No issues.

 

[Barbourcreek]

My Question is how does rain effect the .22 cal center fires with there lighter weight / construction? I had a 220 swift literately explode when it hit a piece of the string just 4" before the paper target, which was splattered with the fragments of lead and copper, years ago.

Never shot one so I cant answer that question?

 

[memtb]

I have had plastic tip bullets disappear when shot out of a 7 Mag at 200 yards, 150-154g at 3150 fps, not something I read about, something that actually happened.

Factors, how large are the raindrops, the severity of the downpour, distance, and velocity. I have shot in the rain quite a bit, but this was the first time I have seen bullets disappear.

Not that surprising…..considering the fragility of some of the bullets that many of us use! Some are on the very edge of becoming "untogether" from the centrifugal forces of fast twist rates and high velocity…..without hitting anything. memtb

 

[dogz]

Crapola....when it said shooting in the rain I kept waiting for the fella to go outside and shoot..........grins

Wind moves the rain sideways eh, who would of thunk it

Side note, that looks like one heck of a nice range! Wish we had something like that to shoot at up in this country. Is he multi purposing a "Ice Castle"

 

[dogz]

Funny thing is I'm one of those shooting nut jobs who loves to go shoot when the weather is in the toidy. 40 below, I'm out there on the ground. Raining sideways in a heavy wind, I'm out there. 100 degree's (above this time) I'm out there shooting away.

Most of my shooting pards are pretty fair weather. Myself I like to practice when the chips are against me so I'm ready when it's hitting the fan and I'm on the hunt.

Kind of a deviation from Memtb's sig line. I like to shoot in all weather so I'm ready to go in any weather