Does shooting in the rain affect accuracy or velociry. Lite rain doesn't seem to affect accuracy of a PB but what does it do to a pellet? Anybody ever do a test.
Shooting in the rain
- Thread starter Scalf
- Start date
I shoot 25 yards from my garage and have shot many times in the rain and have never noticed where the rain affected accuracy. However, it always wrecks my targets.
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I haven't shot any of my airguns in the rain, but I can't really see that there would be interference...maybe in a Monsoon? Lol.
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It sure does if you can't see what you're shooting at! Seriously, most of the time when it rains, it also blows which has a lot more effect than the rain drops themselves.
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Edit: Sorry about the avitar pic . I don't seem able to get rid of it.
Yes it can.
When you hit a rain drop in heavy rain you will see a burst of mist down range where the hit occured. Of course whether you see it depends on the quality of your follow-through.
On the 25 m International target it can result in a 7 or worse. It has happened to me and to others in my presence at important competition shoots.
The following report I made after deliberately shooting in a downpour:
Note that the second response referred to an experiment my wife and I carried out while driving in rain . She recorded hits of rain on a dot on the windscreen at speed which I then calculated as hits per unit time on a pellet ... just a bit of fiun.
But yes, pellets do hit rain drops and the pellets can be deflected fom their intended trajectory. ... Regards Harry. << Previous Topic | Next Topic >>Return to Index Rain hits with airgun pellets ..... Only read for entertainment if you have the time....November 19 2006 at 4:13 PM
Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
YFThe recent post below re- snow flake pellet deflection reminded me of this:
Two years ago I reported this here: Rain hits with pellets ... Field test results .......
Quote:
"Pellets shot through rain.. affected / not affected .. ... well ......
December 17 2004 at 1:36 AM Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
from IP address 203.54.137.36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'While at the farm this trip there was some seriously heavy rain which stopped outside work ..... but I can shoot from inside the end of the big shed out into the rain. So, mindful of the few discussions we have had here and also of reporting objectively here is what transpired.
'At 71 yards I shot a magazine full of eight shots into serious rain driven by some wind. Now as you know, when shooting a PCP or pumper, if you are serious about follow through, you can track the pellet to the target - read plough disc. Not so easy in drenching rain but the follow through was important to this exercise.
'I basically lost sight of five of the eight shots in the heavy rain. . OK what of the other three?
'Well, I did see evidence of the other three pellets , best described as puffs of vapour but only for very brief fractions of their travel and not at the same points in their travel. One vaporized rain just after it got out the door of the shed; one at about the halfway mark and one at about the three quarter travel point ( it was a big one ). I was noting the shot fall for each on the painted plough disc.
'The five that did not cause vapour made a wide group of some two inches width and a bit over half an inch in height ( They were all aimed at the same POA with no attempt to read the gusting wind ).
'The three that made vapour were all lower than the other five. One was about half an inch lower, one about 3/4 inch, the other was a good inch+ lower than the lowest of the five that did a non -vapour trip.
'My conclusions were that over 71 yards, MV say 938 fps five of the JSB Exacts did a clean flight and three hit rain drops during their travel. The three that hit rain arrived lower by an average of say 3/4 inch below the group formed by the other five. That is where it stands until I can do it again in a more prepared and extensive test. But three of eight pellets left some vapour trails. ............ Regards, Yrrah."... End quote.
I estimated the rain at 1/2" in 20 minutes ( we have a rain gauge a few yards left of my range and 25 yards from the shooting bench which is in the end of the shed . Steve NC did some maths and responded with this:
Quote:
"Harry: here're some thoughts about pellets and raindrops...
December 18 2004 at 7:21 PM Steve in NC (Login pneuguy)
from IP address 68.221.3.111
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...and the soggy, foggy, diabolo dew...
'As a followup to your post of early yesterday (link below for those who may have missed it)...
http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=79537&messageid=1103265403"
...here's what I get when I dabbled with the numbers.
'To get a handle on the likelihood of a pellet/drop collision over a 71 yard trajectory, I figured the first thing needed is a guesstimate for what fraction of the air traversed by the pellet will be filled with water.
'To do that, I assumed...
1. A rain intensity of 1.2" per hour = 3cm/hr.
2. A raindrop size of 3mm.
'That gives a drop volume of 0.014cc, and, to get that 3cm/hr intensity, we therefore need 1 drop hitting every square centimeter of ground once every 17 seconds. Note: if fewer than 4 drops per minute per cm^2 doesn't sound like a very heavy rain, consider that's 54 drops per second (almost a gallon per hour) per square foot. You would DEFINITELY get wet!
'Then, a 3mm, 14mg drop will have a ballistic coefficient of ~0.0009, which implies a terminal velocity of ~26 fps. Combine that speed of fall with the 1 drop every 17 seconds we just cooked up, mix well, and you get an average drop density of one 0.014cc drop in every 13500cc of air.
'Now for the pellet. In traversing 71 yards = 213' = 6492cm, the pellet sweeps out a volume of air that may, or may not, contain part of a raindrop. If it does, then a collision will happen. If it doesn't, then the pellet makes it to the target dry and undeflected. To figure out the probability of a pellet/drop hit, I think we need to estimate the volume swept out by the pellet, and then compare it to the 13500cc reserved, on average, for every raindrop.
'We already know the trajectory volume is 6492cm long. But how wide is it?
'I make the maximum diameter of the region swept by the pellet equal to the diameter of the pellet plus the diameter of the drops = 5.5mm + 3mm = 8.5m, for a total volume of air visited by the pellet in its flight to the target of: 6492cm x pi/4 x (0.3 + 0.55)^2 = 3684cm^3
'So - what's the probability of a wet .22 pellet over 71 yards in a 1.2"/hour downpour? 3684 / 13500 = 0.273 = 2.2 out of 8.
'Make the rain a little heavier (1.6"/hr) and the odds become, would you believe, 3 out of 8?
Cheers,
Steve
'PS: Yes, I do know that this isn't, strictly speaking, the proper way to convert frequencies to probabilities, since it doesn't allow for multiple pellet/drop strikes. But for these low odds, I think it's close enuff.".. End quote.
And a year later I issued a challenge following my return from an around Australia walkabout ( Safari or whatever ):
Quote:
......." On another matter, brought back to mind by your treatise on raindrops, I did a little experiment while we were traveling in the North West Kimberly region and we had some somewhat rare rain. No, I did not have a rifle if you remember, but I did come somewhat to a supporting conclusion of something we did a year or so back ......... What do you think might have been done up there in The Kimberlies with Wendy's lab assistance while I drove the Kombi? .......
... Kind regards, Harry.. End quote.
With this meagre amount of cue, Steve NC responded thus:
Quote:
"..Harry, I hope you aren't thinking that I missed the challenge you offer below...
September 2 2005 at 8:23 PM
Steve in NC (Login pneuguy)
from IP address 70.144.169.130
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=79537&messageid=1125666609
'I did have a busy day today that delayed my taking up the gauntlet - well - mitten - but here goes.
'I spy with my little (mental) eye...
'1. Bits of absorbent paper decorated with dots - likely .22" diameter dots - being prepared.
2. The dauntless (if dampened ) Wendy presenting the bits through the passenger side window of the Kombi into the (moist) slipstream.
3. Precisely (well, given the involvement of the meticulous YrraHarrY and lovely assistant they WOULD be precise, wouldn't they?) timed intervals being allowed to elapse.
4. The bits being retrieved and the number of wet spots lying on the dots tallyed.
5. Conversions being made between the relative velocities and times of flight of Kombi vs Excalibre and paper bit vs Exact.
6. Probabilities being computed.
7. And the best part: no nasty social insects nibbling the ankles of the Great Scientist's lovely assistant.
'How'd I do? Is the ol' crystal ball in need of a buff?
Steve......" End quote.
And to wrap this up: My response and the finer print details:
Quote:
"Steve in NC ........... WHAT CAN I SAY! ....... when smarts were handed out, Steve got
September 2 2005 at 9:59 PM Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
from IP address 60.228.49.245
'Response to Harry, I hope you aren't thinking that I missed the challenge you offer below...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'his quota and built on it ........ .....
'Now if I was to say, "Great minds think alike", I could be jailed for lack of humility. Steve that was brilliant! ...... Try as I might to mark you down, I have to give you an HD for that effort. ................ 9.9/10. The tiny subtraction was for a glitch in experimental design otherwise perfect. ....... To reduce one or two variables in certain target movement patterns, the 0.22 dot was done with a felt pen ( fleuro pink ) on the windscreen. Superimposed splashes were recorded by my able assistant. Beyond that you summed the experiment concisely and described the steps perfectly......... So impressed am I that I called Wendy to read the thread!!!
'Now without boring any readers, who might drop by here, with all the maths etc., the result of a series of trials gave an average strike rate, extrapolated for a 900 fps 0.22 pellet over 100 yards in the unmeasured rain density, as ... 2 hits!! A bit of fun ... data went out with the trash at the next rest stop....... Thanks for playing....... as always, kind regards, Harry...." End quote.
So there you have it in respect of rain hits probability and results..... ....LOL ...... Kind regards, Yrrah.
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Yes it can.
When you hit a rain drop in heavy rain you will see a burst of mist down range where the hit occured. Of course whether you see it depends on the quality of your follow-through.
On the 25 m International target it can result in a 7 or worse. It has happened to me and to others in my presence at important competition shoots.
The following report I made after deliberately shooting in a downpour:
Note that the second response referred to an experiment my wife and I carried out while driving in rain . She recorded hits of rain on a dot on the windscreen at speed which I then calculated as hits per unit time on a pellet ... just a bit of fiun.
But yes, pellets do hit rain drops and the pellets can be deflected fom their intended trajectory. ... Regards Harry. << Previous Topic | Next Topic >>Return to Index Rain hits with airgun pellets ..... Only read for entertainment if you have the time....November 19 2006 at 4:13 PM
Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
YFThe recent post below re- snow flake pellet deflection reminded me of this:
Two years ago I reported this here: Rain hits with pellets ... Field test results .......
Quote:
"Pellets shot through rain.. affected / not affected .. ... well ......
December 17 2004 at 1:36 AM Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
from IP address 203.54.137.36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'While at the farm this trip there was some seriously heavy rain which stopped outside work ..... but I can shoot from inside the end of the big shed out into the rain. So, mindful of the few discussions we have had here and also of reporting objectively here is what transpired.
'At 71 yards I shot a magazine full of eight shots into serious rain driven by some wind. Now as you know, when shooting a PCP or pumper, if you are serious about follow through, you can track the pellet to the target - read plough disc. Not so easy in drenching rain but the follow through was important to this exercise.
'I basically lost sight of five of the eight shots in the heavy rain. . OK what of the other three?
'Well, I did see evidence of the other three pellets , best described as puffs of vapour but only for very brief fractions of their travel and not at the same points in their travel. One vaporized rain just after it got out the door of the shed; one at about the halfway mark and one at about the three quarter travel point ( it was a big one ). I was noting the shot fall for each on the painted plough disc.
'The five that did not cause vapour made a wide group of some two inches width and a bit over half an inch in height ( They were all aimed at the same POA with no attempt to read the gusting wind ).
'The three that made vapour were all lower than the other five. One was about half an inch lower, one about 3/4 inch, the other was a good inch+ lower than the lowest of the five that did a non -vapour trip.
'My conclusions were that over 71 yards, MV say 938 fps five of the JSB Exacts did a clean flight and three hit rain drops during their travel. The three that hit rain arrived lower by an average of say 3/4 inch below the group formed by the other five. That is where it stands until I can do it again in a more prepared and extensive test. But three of eight pellets left some vapour trails. ............ Regards, Yrrah."... End quote.
I estimated the rain at 1/2" in 20 minutes ( we have a rain gauge a few yards left of my range and 25 yards from the shooting bench which is in the end of the shed . Steve NC did some maths and responded with this:
Quote:
"Harry: here're some thoughts about pellets and raindrops...
December 18 2004 at 7:21 PM Steve in NC (Login pneuguy)
from IP address 68.221.3.111
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...and the soggy, foggy, diabolo dew...
'As a followup to your post of early yesterday (link below for those who may have missed it)...
http://www.network54.com/Forum/thread?forumid=79537&messageid=1103265403"
...here's what I get when I dabbled with the numbers.
'To get a handle on the likelihood of a pellet/drop collision over a 71 yard trajectory, I figured the first thing needed is a guesstimate for what fraction of the air traversed by the pellet will be filled with water.
'To do that, I assumed...
1. A rain intensity of 1.2" per hour = 3cm/hr.
2. A raindrop size of 3mm.
'That gives a drop volume of 0.014cc, and, to get that 3cm/hr intensity, we therefore need 1 drop hitting every square centimeter of ground once every 17 seconds. Note: if fewer than 4 drops per minute per cm^2 doesn't sound like a very heavy rain, consider that's 54 drops per second (almost a gallon per hour) per square foot. You would DEFINITELY get wet!
'Then, a 3mm, 14mg drop will have a ballistic coefficient of ~0.0009, which implies a terminal velocity of ~26 fps. Combine that speed of fall with the 1 drop every 17 seconds we just cooked up, mix well, and you get an average drop density of one 0.014cc drop in every 13500cc of air.
'Now for the pellet. In traversing 71 yards = 213' = 6492cm, the pellet sweeps out a volume of air that may, or may not, contain part of a raindrop. If it does, then a collision will happen. If it doesn't, then the pellet makes it to the target dry and undeflected. To figure out the probability of a pellet/drop hit, I think we need to estimate the volume swept out by the pellet, and then compare it to the 13500cc reserved, on average, for every raindrop.
'We already know the trajectory volume is 6492cm long. But how wide is it?
'I make the maximum diameter of the region swept by the pellet equal to the diameter of the pellet plus the diameter of the drops = 5.5mm + 3mm = 8.5m, for a total volume of air visited by the pellet in its flight to the target of: 6492cm x pi/4 x (0.3 + 0.55)^2 = 3684cm^3
'So - what's the probability of a wet .22 pellet over 71 yards in a 1.2"/hour downpour? 3684 / 13500 = 0.273 = 2.2 out of 8.
'Make the rain a little heavier (1.6"/hr) and the odds become, would you believe, 3 out of 8?
Cheers,
Steve
'PS: Yes, I do know that this isn't, strictly speaking, the proper way to convert frequencies to probabilities, since it doesn't allow for multiple pellet/drop strikes. But for these low odds, I think it's close enuff.".. End quote.
And a year later I issued a challenge following my return from an around Australia walkabout ( Safari or whatever ):
Quote:
......." On another matter, brought back to mind by your treatise on raindrops, I did a little experiment while we were traveling in the North West Kimberly region and we had some somewhat rare rain. No, I did not have a rifle if you remember, but I did come somewhat to a supporting conclusion of something we did a year or so back ......... What do you think might have been done up there in The Kimberlies with Wendy's lab assistance while I drove the Kombi? .......
... Kind regards, Harry.. End quote.
With this meagre amount of cue, Steve NC responded thus:
Quote:
"..Harry, I hope you aren't thinking that I missed the challenge you offer below...
September 2 2005 at 8:23 PM
Steve in NC (Login pneuguy)
from IP address 70.144.169.130
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.network54.com/Forum/message?forumid=79537&messageid=1125666609
'I did have a busy day today that delayed my taking up the gauntlet - well - mitten - but here goes.
'I spy with my little (mental) eye...
'1. Bits of absorbent paper decorated with dots - likely .22" diameter dots - being prepared.
2. The dauntless (if dampened ) Wendy presenting the bits through the passenger side window of the Kombi into the (moist) slipstream.
3. Precisely (well, given the involvement of the meticulous YrraHarrY and lovely assistant they WOULD be precise, wouldn't they?) timed intervals being allowed to elapse.
4. The bits being retrieved and the number of wet spots lying on the dots tallyed.
5. Conversions being made between the relative velocities and times of flight of Kombi vs Excalibre and paper bit vs Exact.
6. Probabilities being computed.
7. And the best part: no nasty social insects nibbling the ankles of the Great Scientist's lovely assistant.
'How'd I do? Is the ol' crystal ball in need of a buff?
Steve......" End quote.
And to wrap this up: My response and the finer print details:
Quote:
"Steve in NC ........... WHAT CAN I SAY! ....... when smarts were handed out, Steve got
September 2 2005 at 9:59 PM Yrrah (Login Yrrah)
from IP address 60.228.49.245
'Response to Harry, I hope you aren't thinking that I missed the challenge you offer below...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'his quota and built on it ........ .....
'Now if I was to say, "Great minds think alike", I could be jailed for lack of humility. Steve that was brilliant! ...... Try as I might to mark you down, I have to give you an HD for that effort. ................ 9.9/10. The tiny subtraction was for a glitch in experimental design otherwise perfect. ....... To reduce one or two variables in certain target movement patterns, the 0.22 dot was done with a felt pen ( fleuro pink ) on the windscreen. Superimposed splashes were recorded by my able assistant. Beyond that you summed the experiment concisely and described the steps perfectly......... So impressed am I that I called Wendy to read the thread!!!
'Now without boring any readers, who might drop by here, with all the maths etc., the result of a series of trials gave an average strike rate, extrapolated for a 900 fps 0.22 pellet over 100 yards in the unmeasured rain density, as ... 2 hits!! A bit of fun ... data went out with the trash at the next rest stop....... Thanks for playing....... as always, kind regards, Harry...." End quote.
So there you have it in respect of rain hits probability and results..... ....LOL ...... Kind regards, Yrrah.
Respond to this message << Previous Topic | Next Topic >>Return to Index Airgun Calculators Num of fills calc Capacity Calc******** Kalibrgun High quality, superb Accuracy, outstanding Value. ********
D I S C L A I M E RJK's Airgun Forums, moderators, and administrators are not responsible for any problems that may occur from reading or using content posted on this forum, as they are the exclusive responsibility of two parties: the person who posted it and the person who acted on said posted information.Use of our forums by people under 18 years old is allowed only with legal guardian(s) present.Upvote 0
A lot of math going on. So 5 out 8 shots in a heavy rain will be on. 3 will be off. So, don't test accuracy in the rain. Don't go for head shots on squirrels at 50 yds in the rain. Got it.
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Well Scalf, you did ask about tests ha ha. Until someone else comes up with another, that's about all you may find.
I could conjecture that the bigger the pellet in relation to the particular rain drop and the lower it's velocity, the less the pellet may deviate from it's track. Just conjecture. But they certainly do sometimes hit rain drops and it will put them off their path. Kind regards, Harry.
I could conjecture that the bigger the pellet in relation to the particular rain drop and the lower it's velocity, the less the pellet may deviate from it's track. Just conjecture. But they certainly do sometimes hit rain drops and it will put them off their path. Kind regards, Harry.
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Thanks for the reply. What you said was a logic conclusion based on facts and assumption based on what should physically happen to a pellet in rain. Great job. I was thinking when i ask that the answer would be no affect on pellet but it appears that is not the case.
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I wondered the same thing till I shot a field target match years ago using my .177 R9. There was little wind but the rain was heavy and steady at the time. Matter of fact, the ft course was changed to put the "shooting boxes" of some of the lanes under the covered sight-in range and the other "shooting boxes" were covered with canopies for the rest of the course. LOL....the rain was heavy enough that it was running down the cover of the canopies and at one particular lane the canopy was positioned so the "runoff" went down my back when sitting on the bucket since I was shooting hunter class.
Well.....to directly answer your question.........I could detect no degrade in accuracy compared to a "dry match" out to 55 yards based on my hits & misses. Matter of fact, I found that a light variable wind affected my accuracy more than that "rain match" due to the need for accurate wind doping.
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