do you shoot in the rain?

[Stomper]

Was shooting at the range in Clackamas once in a heavy downpour. You could see the path of the bullets because of their collisions with raindrops on the way to the target.

This one time, I was shooting my M60 in a monsoon-like downpour and the rain was SOOOO HEAVY that it actually kept deflecting the bullets so that they randomly circled back around behind us and over our shoulders to where we were aiming!





OK, not really!

 

[Member 53328]

when I first moved to Oregon, bought a Gortex jacket - an Outback oilskin is so much Macho
Portland Yuppies wear Gortex - REAL MEN wear oilskin
when one walks into a NW bar in a stinky oilskin, a Dorfman hat hanging on it's string behind your head, a beard hanging half way down to your waist, you just drip HUDOSN BAY REAL MAN
you stare at the people at the bar and clear both bar stools on either side

View attachment 1142434

Sounds like the style that the hipsters in downtown Portland are sporting now. My dad wears the oil skin and the last one he sold he told me he had a ton of kids/young men coming to look at to wear for "style." But his was so worn and smelt so "wonderful" each of them would pass. Haha. Great jackets for PNW weather though.

 

[OldBroad44]

Actually, wars or pieces of wars have often been cancelled or rescheduled because of weather. In the days of sailing ships naval engagements might depend on winds, tides, or storms. And they certainly required visibility, which you don't have much of in the rain. The weather and weather reports for choosing the date for D-Day were critical because the Allies needed a low tide to expose submerged beach defenses, a clear night with a full moon to provide light for the landings, and relatively calm seas to facilitate the landings and help landing craft to avoid smashing into each other. After bombers were invented but before gps, pilots needed to see their targets. On August 9, 1945, the American bomber "Bock's Car' carrying the second atomic bomb set off for Kokuru. But Kokuru was covered in clouds. So the bomb was instead dropped on secondary target Nagasaki.

Weather was even more critical in earlier days. So much so that in many regions there was a season for war, and in winter everyone went home. The Spartans defeated Athens in part by continuing the war into winter when surrounded and cut-off Athens expected the Spartans to go home, as was the norm for those times and regions.

 

[rjmt]

Sounds like the style that the hipsters in downtown Portland are sporting now. My dad wears the oil skin and the last one he sold he told me he had a ton of kids/young men coming to look at to wear for "style." But his was so worn and smelt so "wonderful" each of them would pass. Haha. Great jackets for PNW weather though.

ARRRRGGG
are you calling me a hipster? well my daughter in Portland does also
Haven't been to a bar in Portland for years, but she tells me my look fits in with Pearl District Hipsters today
a saaaaddd state when our traditional NW look has been stolen by Hipsters

 

[gmerkt]

These days, it's my preference not to shoot in the rain. It's not an activity for me that can't wait for a better day. At my age, I don't even like to have wet socks.

Decades ago, there was one time I couldn't resist the itch to pull a trigger. I had with me a Ruger Security Six, it was a stainless steel six inch bbl. .357. My ammunition I'd loaded with IMR 4227 powder, which is a fast burning stick powder, very small kernels. It wasn't very long after I'd started shooting that the revolver action locked up. Previously, I'd noticed that 4227 in .357 revolver rounds would leave some semi-burned kernels of powder in the bore. Well in the rain these got washed down into the works and that's what locked the gun up. I was done with it for that day.

I liked the Security Six. It was more strongly built than a comparable Smith & Wesson and was reasonably priced. The one I had was a later production gun, supposedly with a few minor improvements that gave it "lifetime capability" to shoot .357 cartridges exclusively.

 

[partsed]

when I first moved to Oregon, bought a Gortex jacket - an Outback oilskin is so much Macho
Portland Yuppies wear Gortex - REAL MEN wear oilskin
when one walks into a NW bar in a stinky oilskin, a Dorfman hat hanging on it's string behind your head, a beard hanging half way down to your waist, you just drip HUDOSN BAY REAL MAN
you stare at the people at the bar and clear both bar stools on either side

View attachment 1142434

 

[No_Regerts]

If you don't do things in the rain, then you don't do things up here.

 

[The Heretic]

I have come to hate the rain - at least the rain here (rain in St. Thomas was warm, as was the water we swam in).

I hate it because it is cold and being wet it makes it even colder. When riding on a motorcycle or bicycle, it even hurts. When I was on an MLB in a storm, I was miserable - both wet and seasick.

So, no - if I can help it, I do not shoot in the rain - I try to stay inside when it rains, like it was today.

 

[The Heretic]

If you don't do things in the rain, then you don't do things up here.

That's the idea; I want to go to the south Pacific in the winter and only be here the rest of the time. Occasional rain I can deal with, but months of rain is just too much for me. I would probably be there now if it wasn't for the Covid travel restrictions.

 

[OldBroad44]

I have to admit that I've never practiced in the rain. Prefer not to get gun wet. Practicing is recreation not war. I don't even practice for war. Just for personal defense, hunting, or plinking.

I have hunted deer in intermittent rain, but with a handgun that could be kept tucked under my Gortex jacket until deer appeared.

 

[Crazyeye24]

Not since I moved to Idaho!!!

 

[Longwalkhome]

I ain't made of sugar so water doesn't make me melt but I have pride in myself for knowing when to come in out of the rain.

 

[rjmt]

I have come to hate the rain - at least the rain here (rain in St. Thomas was warm, as was the water we swam in).

I hate it because it is cold and being wet it makes it even colder. When riding on a motorcycle or bicycle, it even hurts. When I was on an MLB in a storm, I was miserable - both wet and seasick.

So, no - if I can help it, I do not shoot in the rain - I try to stay inside when it rains, like it was today.

it was 55 in the rain today up here - beautiful weather for shooting a 1911
I wore my oilskin over just a tee-shirt
warm wind from the south kissing my face
broad brim on my Dorfman kept the rain out of my eyes
but at 10 yrds, even rain and wind do not affect aim with a 9mm

 

[rjmt]

I have to admit that I've never practiced in the rain. Prefer not to get gun wet. Practicing is recreation not war. I don't even practice for war. Just for personal defense, hunting, or plinking.

I have hunted deer in intermittent rain, but with a handgun that could be kept tucked under my Gortex jacket until deer appeared.

and practicing for personal defense? not going to have to protect yourself in our rain?

just politely asking

 

[OldBroad44]

These days, it's my preference not to shoot in the rain. It's not an activity for me that can't wait for a better day. At my age, I don't even like to have wet socks.

Decades ago, there was one time I couldn't resist the itch to pull a trigger. I had with me a Ruger Security Six, it was a stainless steel six inch bbl. .357. My ammunition I'd loaded with IMR 4227 powder, which is a fast burning stick powder, very small kernels. It wasn't very long after I'd started shooting that the revolver action locked up. Previously, I'd noticed that 4227 in .357 revolver rounds would leave some semi-burned kernels of powder in the bore. Well in the rain these got washed down into the works and that's what locked the gun up. I was done with it for that day.

I liked the Security Six. It was more strongly built than a comparable Smith & Wesson and was reasonably priced. The one I had was a later production gun, supposedly with a few minor improvements that gave it "lifetime capability" to shoot .357 cartridges exclusively.

I liked the Security Six too. I had two of them, a 6" for woods, camping, hunting, and home defense and a snubby for concealed carry. I was very happy with them up until SW came out with the much heavier and muzzle-heavy L frame 686. The first time I picked up a 686 it was love at first feel. After I had a 686 the Securities became safe queens and ultimately got sold.

 

[Certaindeaf]

I wear an over-sized novelty sombrero and because of that have developed a severe case of rickets.

 

[rjmt]

I liked the Security Six too. I had two of them, a 6" for woods, camping, hunting, and home defense and a snubby for concealed carry. I was very happy with them up until SW came out with the much heavier and muzzle-heavy L frame 686. The first time I picked up a 686 it was love at first feel. After I had a 686 the Securities became safe queens and ultimately got sold.

I also have an old Security Six still in the safe
fire it every now and then, but not as often as my 5" bbl 686
back in the '70s, it was my every day carry pistol
but like you, once I handled a 686, I retired the Ruger
now my son grew up on the Security Six, then moved up to a GP100, he says he just doesn't like the way a Smith feels in his hands
to each their own

 

[rjmt]

not only have I fired my 1911 in the rain, I put it in my chest freezer at "0" deg for 24 hrs, loaded with winchester 9mm NATO ammo
lubed with EWL
pulled it out, and fired 10 rnds of 9mm, no issue

 

[Frank RW]

i don't mind the rain. the guns, not so much. spend more time cleanin' them up afterward than shooting. :/

 

[nammac]

Yup, sure do. Ensuring a complete cleaning, drying and oiling once we return home. As has been mentioned, you can follow the path of the bullet as it collides with the raindrops…

And it means there's fewer folks out there making noise, another benefit…