It's pouring down here and I need to go empty some cartridges.

The book wisdom seems always to suggest that even a blade of grass can deflect a bullet. Which makes me wonder....what's the coventional wisdom on the potential effect of striking a raindrop?

Hey Pete, I guess I'm a bit prejudiced about using "Made in U.S.A." equipment whenever possible and I see you are a Tikka fan. So, I can see where you have a legitimate concern.

With my good old S&S(Stainless & Synthetic) Made in U.S.A firearms, Made in U.S.A. Leupolds and Made in U.S.A bullets, I just shoot "between" the raindrops.

The reality is raindrops will slightly affect the flight of a bullet, but if you can see the target through the rain, it won't effect the bullet enough to cause a miss on a Deer size critter. Of course, it is always another good excuse to "try" on your buddies.

Be sure to tape your barrel so a few errant raindrops don't create a Bore Obstruction or rust the rag barrel off the Tikka!!!

[ 12-22-2002, 22:26: Message edited by: Hot Core ]

I read about this in some shooting mag the guy did a bit of testing and found out that rain drops do effect group size. So I shot some groups in the rain to try it sure enough my groups did increase in size. Not enough to miss large game at normal ranges but really small target and stuff at long range could be missed because of it.

As p.d.s. says above, this was written up in Precision Shooting magazine a few years back. The guy did show an increase in group size, but keep in mind that he was dealing with a benchrest rifle & associated gear. For the average hunter, you'd never notice a difference.

Gentlemen, I have shot F class matches in the rain and I am here to tell you it effects accuracy big time at long range, and it wasn't the rain's effect on me, we were firing from a covered firing line. That has been my experience.

Shoot Safe, Shoot Straight....RiverRat

Just as a blade of grass only affects the bullet's flight if the bullet hits it, the same is true of rain drops. The chance of actually hitting as rain drop depends on how heavy the rain is and how distant to your target. Obviously, the further the target, the more the exposure to the potential obstacle (the rain drop), and the more the potential obstacles (heavier the rain) the more likely the bullet is to encounter one.

It is extremely unlikely that in any rain in which you would be hunting game, and at the distances such game would be taken in a rain, that the bullet would actually encounter a rain drop. Therefore, the "rain bucking" ability of a hunting bullet is fairly irrelavent.

As several posters have pointed out, shooting targets at long range in fairly heavy rain can result in less accuracy.

I've got a friend who was shooting his .17 Rem in the rain. He kept shooting, but could not find any holes on the target. Eventually he moved in to 50 yards and the bullets still weren't hitting the target. So either the rain drops were vaporizing those little bullets or they were being deflected more than a couple of feet in 50 yards. I suspect that it was a result of bullet vaporization.

[ 12-23-2002, 21:59: Message edited by: B_Koes ]

I must take Hot Core to task for suggesting that

"With my good old S&S(Stainless & Synthetic) Made in U.S.A firearms, Made in U.S.A. Leupolds and Made in U.S.A bullets, I just shoot "between" the raindrops."

Is that all? I'm actually shooting the raindrops

and

"or rust the rag barrel off the Tikka!!! " "

You've seen a rusty Tikka? I'm speechless.

B_Koes.
I have experienced the same as your buddy with my 22-250 with some 40grs. "hot" loads. I was'nt missing them all, but 1 in each 5 shot string was missing.
It was raining heavily, so I belive the bullet hitted a raindrop, and exploded

Hey Pete, I've seen lots of positive posts about the quality of Tikka rifles. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever seen a negative one. Darn shame we can't say the same for ALL the manufacturers.

It dawned on me after I posted that your question is posted on the "Varmint Board" and not Big Game. So my response about still being on a Deer size critter doesn't apply.

Due to me not Varminting(say that 3 times real fast) in rain, I'm not sure how far the impact of a 22cal bullet would be effected by the rain. I'd rely on the experience of the other posters with the effect on Varmint bullets.

I've fired a good many FMJs in the rain in both 22 and 30cal. There again though, the target was larger than a typical Varmint so my observations don't apply to your question.

Didn't mean to confuse the issue, I've had Deer on the brain for a couple of weeks now.

What are you planning on hunting in the rain?

I like to hunt rabbits in the rain with my 300 win mag with hollow points. The 300 kills them, skins them,guts them and the hollow point collects the rain water and washes them all in one shot. Really
Merry Chrismas
Kannon