Shooting 22lr in the rain

[Bob Willman]

Not as crazy as it may sound. Theoretically, lower air pressure, warm temperature and high humidity should all contribute to reduced air density--does this help 22lr bullets?

I decided to try and find out--rifle is CZ 457 topped by a Leaupold HD5. The Leaupold delivers in spades where all my other scopes would have issues of some sort or other--no fogging, crisp picture and resolution despite fog and water splatter. Bonus--even at top magnification of 35x there was no notable parallax distortion, that generally doesn't happen with natural sunlight out. My stash of "the good stuff" ran out so the only thing I have left to reach out a bit is Ely HV. Today I was shooting at 243 yards, I shot a few 10 shot groups which were around 5". However, one of the groups hand a tantalizing "subgroup" of 5 shots around 1"--could very well be the other shots were shooter error.

How much interference would you get from striking rain drops while in flight?

NRA Benefactor

 

[stagpanther]

How much interference would you get from striking rain drops while in flight?

Great question and a source of vigorous debate--some say no effect at all--others say yes it does. I've never noticed any notable difference beyond making it just generally harder to see through optics and the target resolution.

 

[stagpanther]

My precious just arrived.

 

[stagpanther]

Had to go out and get reacquainted and see if the magic was still there; you see me and Mrs Jones--we got a thing going on.

Conditions were almost the same as the last time I was out with the tenex, quartering headwind 5 to 9 mph. I shot at 218 yds I didn't think it would make much difference since the last outing was at 220 yds so I expected the R-100 to impact around the same setting I had for the tenex. Unfortunately I wasted an entire group of 5 shots which sailed clean over the target about a foot and half higher than the tenex, pretty surprised by that as I thought they had similar velocities. I only shot one group knowing I would be tempted to waste an entire box in changing conditions as storm clouds built in. Without the flyer in the upper right this woulda been a sweet little group.

 

[stagpanther]

Today was round 2 of tenex vs R-100. Round 1, a couple of days ago, R-100 came out on top of tenex in all groups shot at 255 yds, not by a huge margin but by at least a 1/4 MOA. Today I showed up and it was crossing lightly 4 to 7 mph--but for once the grounds were clear of equipment and the opportunity presented itself to push the distance out further. Why not?

Set up at 345 yds--at that distance my 5HD ran out of dial up elevation so I had to rely on the reticle hold-over--great fun. Problem with lobbing the shots was I had to clear the trees on either side of the road and go over a hill to get the target while trying to guess the wind effects along the way. I only got 1 group in of each before the fog socked in so thick I had trouble making the target out. Today the tenex edged out the R-100 for the first time, though to be fair it was clear when I shot it and the evening fog rolled in quick when I started shooting the R-100. As usual I had one shot the really skewed the results for each group, dropping the outlier for each group the groups are about dead even at about 1.6 MOA.

It's really a riot how much fun this is.

 

[tangolima]

Excellent shooting, Mr Panther. I estimated TOF well over 1s, even close to 2s. Easily equivalent to hitting 8" plate 50% of time over 1000yd with center-fire rounds.

You the man!

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[stagpanther]

Excellent shooting, Mr Panther. I estimated TOF well over 1s, even close to 2s. Easily equivalent to hitting 8" plate 50% of time over 1000yd with center-fire rounds.

You the man!

Thanks, but I'm pretty sure with the right batch of ammo and better conditions I (or anyone) could do better. I'm going to make a post about it on the handloading section soon--look for it.

 

[tangolima]

Handloading? I thought you bought that ammo at premium price.

I too went to range continuing my own .22LR training. It was a hot afternoon so I dial elevation down by 0.5moa. Hit well at 150yd. The can was hopping and jumping on the dirt berm. However when I went to collect it, I was surprised to see only one hole on it. But it was well dented with shallow dimples. The bullets simply didn't penetrate the paper thin aluminum. It hasn't happened before. The can was always perforated like a sift. I thought it was odd.

-TL

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[stagpanther]

Handloading? I thought you bought that ammo at premium price.

I too went to range continuing my own .22LR training. It was a hot afternoon so I dial elevation down by 0.5moa. Hit well at 150yd. The can was hopping and jumping on the dirt berm. However when I went to collect it, I was surprised to see only one hole on it. But it was well dented with shallow dimples. The bullets simply didn't penetrate the paper thin aluminum. It hasn't happened before. The can was always perforated like a sift. I thought it was odd.

I do both--buy ammunition and handload Cutting Edge CURX solids--but I eventually gave up on that as it is my feeling you need labratory-grade measuring control and really a totally custom chambered barrel to have any chance of beating standard manufactured ammunition.
When you're shooting at a can--that's a very small target profile at distance whereas when I shoot my targets are on a fairly visible target box roughly two feet square. Even with a top-tier 35x magnification scope it is very hard for me to spot the fall of the shots of 22lr, but I can generally do it at distances up to the 345 yards I shot yesterday. What you're doing is harder than what I do from the point of view of targeting.

As for the can dimpling instead of penetrating--my guess is that you simply got ricochets instead of piercing--or even the bullets simply fragmented on impact. Metal hitting metal can do strange and unpredictable things. Roughly 35 years ago i was in the desert outside of Las Vegas shooting a 357 magnum revolver plinking a washing machine at about 40 yards--until one of the bullets came whizzing straight back at me passing right by my ear. Needless to say I don't do that kind of stupid stuff anymore. Unfortunately I also invent new stupid stuff to do as I age.

 

[tangolima]

Oh actually mine is not hard at all. The can was put on a dirt berm. It is very visible even on my 4x scope if I didn't choose a yellow can. If I miss, it will hit the berm somewhere and kick up the dust. Unless I'm day dreaming, it is no problem to tell where it hits. The moa hash reticle will tell me how to correct. Wet soil after rain is impossible. No dust. Sometimes, if the sun light is just right, I can see the bullet sailing down range in an arc and hit the can. It is pretty cool, especially with cross wind, the arc bends.

4x magnification gives me wide FOV. I can tell which way the wind blows the grass near the target in my right eye. My left eye is open, and constantly scanning the flag mid range, the level bubble, or even the turkey hen that could be getting too close to the line of fire. Our range is in a wild life reserve. Hurting the bird will bring me deep trouble. While I'm doing this, I try to feel the wind at the firing line with my face. It is actually more important than the wind down range. Based on all the "sensor readings" I make minor adjustments to the POA; favor left, right, up or down.

I don't know. I could have missed a whole bunch today. The can jumped by the dust the bullet kicked up right next to it. Oh well, at least I was mighty close.

-TL

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[stagpanther]

Oh actually mine is not hard at all. The can was put on a dirt berm. It is very visible even on my 4x scope if I didn't choose a yellow can. If I miss, it will hit the berm somewhere and kick up the dust. Unless I'm day dreaming, it is no problem to tell where it hits. The moa hash reticle will tell me how to correct. Wet soil after rain is impossible. No dust. Sometimes, if the sun light is just right, I can see the bullet sailing down range in an arc and hit the can. It is pretty cool, especially with cross wind, the arc bends.

4x magnification gives me wide FOV. I can tell which way the wind blows the grass near the target in my right eye. My left eye is open, and constantly scanning the flag mid range, the level bubble, or even the turkey hen that could be getting too close to the line of fire. Our range is in a wild life reserve. Hurting the bird will bring me deep trouble. While I'm doing this, I try to feel the wind at the firing line with my face. It is actually more important than the wind down range. Based on all the "sensor readings" I make minor adjustments to the POA; favor left, right, up or down.

I don't know. I could have missed a whole bunch today. The can jumped by the dust the bullet kicked up right next to it. Oh well, at least I was mighty close.

You're deliberately limiting yourself by your choice of hardware and ammo if your goal is 22lr small groups at long ranges. No way around that IMO--at least given present state of technology in the industry. I think you're right at the limit of what could be reasonably be expected for any shooter given your choices of hardware and ammo.

 

[stagpanther]

The R-100 has somewhere between 50 and 100 fps advantage over the tenex--but at ranges 200 yds or more that difference is dramatic in where the bullets impact in elevation--it's quite hard switching between the two without a tall target. My guess is that the R-100 has pushed the velocity right up against the top of the transonic transition barrier, optimizing the reduction of disturbance right at the bullet exit at the muzzle. Also, my barrel on the jaguar is 26" long--so it probably has started slowing the bullet down after optimal pressure/velocity has been achieved in the bore.