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Would you shoot in the rain at 600yds?

JGorski

JGorski

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 25, 2011
2,992
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62
Central Wis.
Looks like one weather station in my area is forecasting thunderstorms for sunday, the other says it wont be till later on sunday afternoon. I know some of you do shoot in the rain but how hard does it have to be raining till you hang it up and wait for a nicer day? And how much does a light to med shower affect a bullets flight out to 600yds?
 
From all accounts of my own and others that I have heard talk about shooting in the rain, it won't effect it a all. Just take into account the humidity and you will be fine. I personally only shoot in the rain if my rifle and myself are not getting wet or if it was in a comp an didn't have a choice. I just hate seeing my gear get wet if it is avoidable.
 
rain, snow, never really let weather dictate range time.
 
Ok, serious answer...

I have shot in the Rain and snow and have never seen a negative impact on the ballistic performance. But I dont really like my gear getting wet...

If its a covered shooting position, I would be there all day lol
 
JMTCW...but you might as well shoot in the rain/snow/etc, since if it came down to it, you never know what the conditions might be when the shot matters. Might as well build up that "vitamin c" (confidence) to shoot regardless of the environmental conditions... (ironically, I tend to shoot better in crappy weather; I think it has to do with intentionally tuning out distractions and discomfort and focusing on the shot at hand)..."Embrace the suck". :)

Again, JMTCW...YMMV...
 
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I'd say shoot and let the weather be whatever it is. As one poster put it, you never know what the weather might be like if/when you have to make a shot that matters (hunting, or otherwise). A LOT of people either never get the chance to practice in inclement weather or choose not to. I personally shoot when I want to, and if it's bad weather, so be it. In my circle of friends, however, I'm quite alone in my way of thinking! LOL!
 
I know if it even sprinkling there wont be many people out there, I could win by default, haha. Yeah, the shooting area will be covered if they decide to hold the shoot anyways, Ive got a pelican case so my shit wont get wet, only thing is the sand banks where they set the sighter plates up wont move when you fire a shot into them so it would be my suggestion that we use the targets themselves as sighters and have the guys in the pits tell everybody where they're hitting. I should be right in there if I move my scope up 7.25moa, course you still dont know till you shoot. Unlike you guys I did read in a Guns& Ammo I think it was that rain does have an affect on the bullet, cant recall what they were shooting but accuracy was affected out to 100yds.
 
JGorski said:
Unlike you guys I did read in a Guns& Ammo I think it was that rain does have an affect on the bullet, cant recall what they were shooting but accuracy was affected out to 100yds.
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It only effects it if you get water in the bore. Other than that it doesn't.


Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2.
 
you should be more worried about the variable wind conditions than anything else.

rain drops don't seem to do much to bullets when guys are dropping 3-5 points in a 450 point palma match in the rain with irons.

buy some rain gear and shoot the gun. You may learn something about yourself or your shooting that you didn't in the nice weather!

Brian
 
I shoot in the rain 7 months out of the year otherwise I wouldn't get to shoot. There's this stuff called GoreTex and it keeps you dry. And not it doesn't affect a bullet moving at 2800+ fps.
 
it's irritating to get too much rain on my glass. and i don't like to get my pack wet because it takes so long to dry out. but i wouldn't let rain stop me from shooting. just try to keep your ammo dry and you'll be fine. water in the chamber is bad juju

i find i shoot much better in the rain.
 
I wouldn't put much stock in something read in Guns and Ammo. ;) Rain won't effect the bullet. Just the shooter. Have shot in the rain many, many times.
 
Rain snow whatever its better than work, BUT i will say if there is lightning for safety reasons i dont shoot.
 
Living in the North West, it comes down to shooting in the rain from time to time or not shooting at all. I have never noticed any change in my DOPE out to 1300 yards in the rain. Saying "the rain will effect bullet drop" is incorrect, saing humidity will effect it is 100% true, humidity and rain go hand in hand but you can have high humidity and no rain, just account for humidity #s.
 
clayne_b said:
But I dont really like my gear getting wet...

If its a covered shooting position, I would be there all day lol
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Cough Cough Safe Queen Cough.... Really, our stuff is meant to be field used! Its like having a Labrador retriever and not letting him or her swim. Its ok to get it dirty and wet.
 
Alaskaman11 said:
Cough Cough Safe Queen Cough.... Really, our stuff is meant to be field used! Its like having a Labrador retriever and not letting him or her swim. Its ok to get it dirty and wet.
Click to expand...

I need to have my gun coated or somthing, last time I shot in the ran it was soaked, and when I took it out of the stock I had a little surface rust on the action.... NO GOOD.... ( Factory Rem 700 )
 
I try to shoot and practice in every field position I can think of. Sure its ideal to practice when the weather is nice, but you are better off to shoot in the rain, snow, heat.... My temps where I live can swing from 100 in the summer to -20 in the winter. You should see what it will do to your dope... Get out and shoot in the rain. Clean up your gear when you get home and you will be fine.
 
My shit is all ceracoted and Im pretty sure that Manners stock wont melt.
I9ynWDw.jpg
 
At the SH Cup, on Monday the guys were laughing because they read the BS about shooting in the rain and guess what, it was raining and they were hitting 2MOA or smaller targets to 1100 yards...

We only stopped because we could no longer see the targets, after that it just wasn't worth being cold and wet... but the bullets went exactly where they were supposed too... at distance.
 
1988 think it was...I won my last 'leg' at Camp Robinson, Ark. and fired a 198-12X from 600 yds. shooting my M14. Don't think it hurt much...and it was pouring!!
 
As others posted, rain and snow has never affected my bullet impact. It only affects the shooter and gear like optics, laser range finders, etc.

Personally, I like training in bad weather. As a competitor, I secretly hope there is bad weather in competitions because most people don't train in it and I feel it gives me an advantage because I do.

Bad weather training shows you whether your gear will work or not and how you also perform with your clothing. Gear that works great when it's 70 and sunny may have big problems when soaking wet in the cold. Tight tolerances, hot ammo, target tweaked triggers, etc. I have seen all have malfunctions when weather turns bad.
 
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I shoot no matter the weather. I figure there are folks risking their lives no matter the weather without a choice so I can have the right to mess around at the range, I'm not gonna act like Goldilocks about it.

I'm in the minority though, seems like it's always "too cold" (low 50's!) or "too hot" (105+ ok, maybe a bit of a point there), but the upside is I usually have the whole range all to myself.
 
The only time rain gives me any real problem is when I shoot the .22 at the 200 mtr line.

Hardmix
 
In my 35 plus years of high power shooting I only saw one match called do to rain. That was at the Wilson matches when they had a flash flood running through the pits.

As others said, rain affects the shooters not the bullet.

Rifle shooters aren't pussy's. We shoot wind, rain, snow and shine. I shot at Ft Richardson when we had a late spring snow. Heavy wet, blowing snow that stuck to the targets. The whole target frame was white, couldn't see the bull. Couldn't use a frame hold either as the area surrounding the target frame was also snow covered. You just shot hoping you'd hit your target frame to shake the snow off, then shot like mad keeping the snow off the bull.

I don't call my CMP GSM Matches for rain either.

GEDC2506.JPG
 
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