Groups in the rain

[littlepod]

I have read a bunch of articles claiming rain has no effect and then some with rain having an effect. I am curious what others have experienced in terms of shooting rimfire in heavy rain. At 50 yards I haven't noticed really any effect, but 100 yard groups were pretty bad when it was pouring. Once the pouring let off, groups got a whole lot tighter.

Curious what people have experienced. I normally never do groups, but picked up a rimfire tuner and tried to get it dialed in today but the groups just never felt consistent.

 

[Carlos Danger]

If you shot at a target but needed to pass through a water balloon, what do you think the effect on accuracy would be?

 

[Aftermath]

Think of it as:
1) The air is very dense...try shooting in heavy fog and note the difference. At least with fog, the atmosphere is fairly homogeneous. The path of the bullet is altered but not so much accuracy.
2) With rain, the bullet is impacting droplets of water in a rather random manner on the way to its destination. Both the path of the bullet and accuracy are altered.

 

[littlepod]

Thanks, I assumed that would be the case. I know with fog, POI would shift and my kestrel would account for it, but with rain the groups are sporadic. I've shot in fog before and I had good consistent groups. I guess I'll need to find a clear day to do tuner testing.

 

[diverdon]

I've always felt rain effected me as a shooter 10x more than it effected the bullet in flight. Rain drops are not like "shooting thru a water balloon." Not in my experience anyhow.

 

[littlepod]

I've always felt rain effected me as a shooter 10x more than it effected the bullet in flight. Rain drops are not like "shooting thru a water balloon." Not in my experience anyhow.

I was in a covered area, so I was dry, just everything past the muzzle was drenched. If I was shooting in the rain and getting drenched, that'd definitely affect me as a shooter.

 

[Smittiac]

I've had to qualify in the rain a couple times in the Army, first time I shot less than 38/40.... I'd say it has an effect but nothing like shooting through a water balloon.

 

[Anonymoose]

Someone left the groups out in the rain...I don't think that I can take it...'cause it took so long to shoot it...and I'll never have that ammo lot number again...Oh no!

Sorry...

 

[Anonymoose]

I've had to qualify in the rain a couple times in the Army, first time I shot less than 38/40.... I'd say it has an effect but nothing like shooting through a water balloon.

Same here. Qualifying in basic was in a pretty heavy rain. Switched to the large rear site because water kept filling in the small one. Sucked with the BCDs on as well. Shot a 35/40 surprisingly. So many didn't qualify that they gave us a mulligan and we re-qual'd the next day, in a light rain LOL.

 

[Outdoors]

Wind blown rain moves my POI more than the same speed wind with no rain. My groups get bigger too, but have only shot in the rain when it popped up during a match and we all had to fight it and sort of works out OK - we all do worse. Unless they run rounds of shooters and some dont shoot the rain.

 

[Booner1334]

"Guns and Ammo" did an article around a year ago on shooting in the rain and it's effect on the center fired bullet. If I remember correctly, they used a high speed camera and showed the deflection of a bullet being hit by a rain drop at a very few degrees (maybe around 2 degrees or a little less), so it does happen.

 

[Chadtandy]

My son and I shot a match last year in steady rain, not a downpour but more than a drizzle. We both made several hits on the 320 yard stage with my normal dope... As someone else mentioned, I imagine the cold and rain effected me more than the rifle/ammo.

 

[ma smith]

Why is dry air heavier than moist or humid air?

Answer (1 of 12): Let us consider a few assumptions before moving forward. In both humid and dry air cases we assume the temperature and pressure to be equal. The question you are asking is becuase you wondering, the density of water is greater than the density of air by a factor of around 1000....

www.quora.com

 

[Outdoors]

My son and I shot a match last year in steady rain, not a downpour but more than a drizzle. We both made several hits on the 320 yard stage with my normal dope... As someone else mentioned, I imagine the cold and rain effected me more than the rifle/ammo.

That’s the way to do it, get out in the rain, cold, and wind and adjust accordingly.

 

[Gleedus]

I have never tried groups with a rimfire in the rain. But I practice in the rain to make sure me and gear will function correctly.

I notice no difference in hits on a stage due to rain directly. If you get cold and wet or the visibility get bad yes youll drop points.

At 200+ yards in a down pour you will see up to 3 puffs from hitting water drops and still hit. I've never seen four yet. 2 is common.

 

[Lowlight]

Subsonic bullets can have an issue, confusing it with supersonic is the problem

Supersonic bullets are breaking up the rain drops before they really, "hit" the bullet, the supersonic shockwave fixes that problem

Subsonic bullets can be an issue

We have shot in some of the heaviest downpours, still hitting targets every bit as consistently as before the rain. As someone noted above the rain usually bothers us more than it bothers the bullets

We shot a Rained out match in FLA at Core, total downpours we never stopped shooting and I scored one of my better match finishes there.

Centerfire and Rimfire are different animals

Where the rain has a bigger issue is the bullets and chamber, the water does not compress so it can wreck an action pretty good if you are not careful

I kept a rag in my action most of the time

 

[Booner1334]

Why is dry air heavier than moist or humid air?

Answer (1 of 12): Let us consider a few assumptions before moving forward. In both humid and dry air cases we assume the temperature and pressure to be equal. The question you are asking is becuase you wondering, the density of water is greater than the density of air by a factor of around 1000....

www.quora.com

In general, water vapor molecules (hydrogen and oxygen with a molecular weight of 18) weigh less than the molecules of air (nitrogen and oxygen, molecular weight of 60) that they displace. Therefore, dry air is heavier than moist air. Cold air is also more dense (heavier) than warm air. The molecules of warm air are more active than cold air molecules so they take up more space.