Shootin' in the Rain...

[Flash]

Have you ever wondered how much a bullet deflects from its trajectory when it strikes something in flight?

Yeah, me too. Only when hunting in the woods, and there is a really GOOD shot, but there are these twigs and leaves and stuff in the way, and you wait for Bambi to step into the clear, but he ducks down and goes another way, and you think you should have taken the shot when it was almost a clear one. But you think it could have ben deflected, but you still hope otherwise

So anyway, yesterday, at the range with Smalls and a couple of other folks, the rain was coming down like we were actually under the Susquehanna. We were kind of hanging back under the roof, and my son was trying to shoot the paper targets as they sloughed off the backstop. I got wondering if rain would affect the flight of a bullet. You know, raindrops DO have mass and although they, in their trajectory, would be more disrupted than a bullet in its, theoretically, there must be some effect.

That was theory.

Now, in actual practice.

Smalls loaded up his 12-gouge with some heavy loads, and fired a couple of them off at a sagging target through the heaviest downpour I have seen in decades. I wish I had videotaped it - it was eye-popping ! You could see the raindrops being splattered by the passage of the shot through the downpour ! A snazzy ball of mist in diameter about the size of a softball, and quick - like 1300 fps. At 25 yards, seen against the dark trees in the background, it was certainly an unusual sight. I though that things like that could only be caught by high-speed camera, but I saw it.

Anybody else ever see stuff like that?

Anyway, back to oour regular question: Would a bullet be deflected by shooting through the rain? If so, how so? How much?

Flash

[imashooter2]

Yes, it would be deflected if it hit a raindrop. How much depends on the particular physics involved. Bullet weight, velocity and vector vs. raindrop weight, velocity and vector, angle of incidence, hell even bullet shape might play in. It would be a stone bitch to calculate.

[AxiTech]

I have a Ruger single six and have fired it at a coal dust backstop a couple of hundred yards away. i have seen the bullet in flight. My wife's sted-dad argued that I was nuts until he lost twenty bucks on a bet. He saw it too. It is cool to see stuff like that. You just have to watch who you tell that stuff to. Some folks will laugh at ya!

[Rosco the Iroc]

This was discussed somewhere else on here, but rain drops alone have very little effect on the round as it flys. Even at longer ranges.

[MuzzleFlash]

I have a Ruger single six and have fired it at a coal dust backstop a couple of hundred yards away. i have seen the bullet in flight. My wife's sted-dad argued that I was nuts until he lost twenty bucks on a bet. He saw it too. It is cool to see stuff like that. You just have to watch who you tell that stuff to. Some folks will laugh at ya!

Bullets travel through the air so fast that they boil the moisture out of the surrounding atmosphere leaving a small conical wake that can be observed as a ghostly trail (think "Matrix.") I've yet to have people laugh when I say that, they typical pause for a moment and go "Huh?"

[imashooter2]

This was discussed somewhere else on here, but rain drops alone have very little effect on the round as it flys. Even at longer ranges.

Which is not the same as having no effect.

[son of the revolution]

Bullets travel through the air so fast that they boil the moisture out of the surrounding atmosphere leaving a small conical wake that can be observed as a ghostly trail (think "Matrix.") I've yet to have people laugh when I say that, they typical pause for a moment and go "Huh?"

You can see the same thing coming off the wingtips of fighter jets as they go supersonic , theres some awsome pics online of the effect, just Google Image ( jet breaks sound barrier ) and the first page is full of pictures . BTW , anyone can usually pick up the vapor trail of a bullet in flight by employing a spotters scope and setting it slightly out of focus . I believe 1/4 out of focus is the general rule of thumb

[SilentRage]

Damn it , now I want to go shoot in the rain , thanks everyone .... lol