Shooting high in the rain

[Frederick303]

Heavy barrel No 1 rifles shoot really high, light barrels not quite as high, and No 3 virtually none at all.

It all depended on the cartridges getting wet, which will lead to more action bend.

The general rule of thumb back when 303 MK VII SAA was the norm was:

Heavy barrel SMLE: up to 10 to 12 minutes, depending on forend regulation method

regular SMLE: 4 to 5 minutes

No4 , 4 minutes with either central or front end barrel bearing.

No 3 rifle: virtually nothing.

Source :

Essentials of Marksmanship, Maj. Reynolds, 1964, page 93

I have seen something very similar in one of A.J Parkers write ups , circa 1958/9, where the main focus of his article was the heavy barrel SMLE did not solve all the issues with the SMLE and introduced some of its own.

[30Three]

In my opinion, this has to be shooter error and not related to the rifle absorbing humidity. Because if the rifle could absorb enough moisture to alter it by 6MOA, it would still shoot high when the rain stopped. It could not possibly dry out fast enough to bring the point of impact back to the pre rain level. Changes in lighting due to the weather are more likely the cause; these can easily cause problems for the shooter.

[30Three]

Interesting comments Frederick.
Does the fact that the wet case applies more load on the bolt (by slipping rearward); cause more flexing in the barrel?

[Peter Laidler]

Don't forget during this discussion, that an OILED case is not the same as a WET case. Someone mentioned it previously but anyone who served in the tropics, where the monsoons seemed to last from the end of August until the following June will know all about shooting in the rain. We never zeroed because it was a waste of time. But shooting never stopped.

[5thBatt]

My 1907 BSA MkIII which has its original forend & nosecap shoots very well but on one occasion at a ANZAC day shoot it started to rain but not very hard but i found my MkIII started to drift the shots but not vertically but horizontally & off to the right, going off target completely after about 7 shots, you could see it literally walk off shot by shot! This was discovered doing the pratice round & the rifle returned to zero after sitting back in the rack for 10min or so, still shot it that day but had to compensate by shooting the first 3 shots aiming at the bulleye then slowly move my sights of to the left for each shot after that, didn't do too badly that day considering

[rum_runner]

Interesting. Never heard of this phenomenon. What I do know, is that "rain" never helped the various Whitetails and coyotes I encountered in 40+ years of hunting here in N. Alabama!
Often using an 8mm or .303.

[crusty]

Interesting comments guys.

This was a 4 position shoot, five rounds each, & the rain came down on the second seated position.
It didn't rain long enough for the wood to get wet, 5 or six minutes. By the time we walked to check the targets, the rain stopped & the sun came out.
on the third, kneeling, all the shooters returned to centre.
I was shooting my Fazakerly No4 mkII with centre bearing, usually shoots very well, but the usual range I shoot at has a covered mound.

I think the wet ammo is probably the answer, my immediate neighbour had five fired cases which had a small dent near the shoulder, like you get if you have too much lube when sizing. The other fifteen all OK.

He used my ammo, as he had forgot his own, so I know the cases were perfect before use. He was about to get in the car when he got an earful from his um, wife, got distracted and left the box of ammo on the floor at home

[Mk VII]

Lee-Enfields are well-known for shooting about five-six minutes high when they get wet. It was one of the reasons some people were glad to move on to other actions when they began to be allowed in the 1970s.

Some people tried to keep their ammo dry, some just accepted the rise and got everything thoroughly wet and hoped that nothing wouldn't crack in the action (7.62 conversions only). The NRA Coaching Course notes I have here mention it.

[browningautorifle]

Lee-Enfields are well-known for shooting about five-six minutes high when they get wet.

That bunk makes good sense. That's why AS SOON as the rain stopped they all shot correctly, the rifles immediately dried out...

[CINDERS]

So gathering the info in relation to the high shots in the rain is it plausible that there would be a film of water between the bedding the reason I say this as all of my shooters stocks twice yearly get a good drenching (fully stripped fore ends) then a good dosing of BLO/Min Turp 50/50 mix also finished with bees wax so if the stocks are well maintained I fail to see how the water would penetrate in a few minutes on a well oiled stock.

Peter in Malaya was it a constant struggle with warping fore ends as I gather the humidity did its worst to the woods as well as the monsoonal rains. TIA