Does snow/rain affect accuracy?

B

bigbob

New member
Common sense tells me it would at least a little.Was just shooting my new stevens 22-250 and the groups seemed to open up once the snow started falling. Maybe it was just me? Or some other factor? Never really shot during a quick change. Usually run fer da truck /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Hey Bob welcome /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif see you post #'s you are new so Welcome
I would concur that the snow or rain has more affect on the shooter that the rifle cartridge
 
Never have been able to pin down if I simply shot worse in the rain and snow or if it were some perturbation of the bullet in flight.
 
The Army did a study that concluded a bullet is deflected by hitting a rain drop. However, even in a heavy rain the chances of hitting a drop are extremely small.

Jack
 
Ok , I always heard that temperature and pressure can effect groups. Say you shoot your test rounds at 75-80 deg. and you take the rifle out hunting the yotes when it is 10-15 deg. ???? I know that Hogdon (sp.) Powder makes the extreme powders just to help deal with the extreme temperature changes. SO what is everyones take on that ??
 
Rain/snow don't affect the flight of the bullet, although barometric pressure will. It's more noticible at long range.

Ambient air temp affects the flight of the bullet, but generally not to a degree that it becomes a concern for most shooting situations. The degree to which air temperature alone degrades/enhances bullet deceleration is very small indeed.

OTOH, the temp of your powder WILL affect the launch velocity of your bullet. Higher powder temps = faster burning rates & higher PSI, thereby increasing MV, thereby changing the trajectory.

A lot of folks, after chronoing loads in cool weather, observe that the MV increases during the hotter months. This is only indirectly related to differences in ambient temp.....it's the ambient temp affecting the temp of your powder that's the real culprit, not the warmer air allowing your bullet to fly faster.

Mike
 
"OTOH, the temp of your powder WILL affect the launch velocity of your bullet. Higher powder temps = faster burning rates & higher PSI, thereby increasing MV, thereby changing the trajectory."

Someone did a lot of research into this which was published in the VHA magazine. They actually measured the temperature of the powder and the barrel. The temperature of the powder did make a difference but a minor one compared to the barrel temperature. Barrel temperature was many times more important than powder temperature. It was a long article and I am not going to type it all out but the entire article should be easy to find if you have questions about their conclusions.

Jack
 
If your concerned about the rain, shoot between the drops. That's what I do, since I'm a fair weather shooter most of the time. Next time shoot from the truck. It's legal here in South Dakota to hunt from your truck if your disabled.
 
I'd love to read that article, Jack. Is there a link available?

Thanks

Mike

edit: I think I found it. I'll read it tonight. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.
 
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Read up on Newtons Laws that will tell you a lot, like an object in motion tends to stay in motion except when acted upon by external forces. Things like Gravity and air resistance are external forces,and so are rain drops. But an objest at rest tends to stay at rest unless acted upon by an external force (like a load of gunpowder detonateing behind it when it is enclosed)
The fact of the matter is when the bullet ( projectile ) leaves the muzzel it is being acted upon by a lot of external forces that take the place of the external force that got it in motion to start out with. Once leaving the muzzel it will begin to drop and slow down. Any thing it hits even a rain drop will have a factor in it's flight. I am not going to get into the effects of altitude and temprature because I do not have the space or time, and I do have a headache.
 
I sight my rifles in at range on coastal WA and it is usualy raining and I can't see any difference in groups out to 300 yrd due to rain.

AWS
 
blinddog, I don't think anyone is neglecting Dr. Newton. The real questions are; is it measurable? And is the difference due to the physical interaction of atmospheric particulates and the bullet or simply the affect on the shooter. As Jack stated earlier, the collision incidence is actually pretty low in these scenarios. And I really hope your powder is NOT detonating, it would lead to a real bad day.
 
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blinddog... And I really hope your powder is NOT detonating, it would lead to a real bad day.



Yup on that one - powder does NOT detonate, it burns (actually deflagerates).

If you can get it to detonate, you got BIG problems.


.
 
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I'd love to read that article, Jack. Is there a link available?

Thanks

Mike

edit: I think I found it. I'll read it tonight. Thanks for pointing me in that direction.



Hey Mike,,,,,,,,,Could I talk you into posting the link you found? I'd like to read it too. Thanks

I've debated this with my hunting partner before. I always figured that if a blade of grass would effect the bullets flight, that it only made sence that a raindrop would do the same. I'm very seldom right, so I plan to gloat if I can get that info. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

In my experience the rain effects my vision almost like heat mirage, so the one in a million chance of hitting a raindrop is probably not a factor anyway???????
 
I can't see how a rain drop or snow flake couldn't accuracy. I agree with Repete. If wind can affect the flight having energy but no mass why wouldn't a rain drop having energy and mass. And shooting at say 100 yards even in moderate rain, let alone heavy rain, I'd say the chances of contacting a rain drop is quite a bit less then one in a million.
 


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