Range practice in the rain

[Brnsvllyjohn]

I need to get out and shoot a few rounds before my rifle opener this Saturday. I was walking out the door when it started raining hard. According to the weather service it should be over by around 10 so I think I will wait a couple of hours. I don't mind a little practice in the cooler wet weather since a lot of the areas I will be hunting may also be cold and wet during my hunt. Last year it rained in the morning on the day I shot my buck. Just going to shoot my 7 mag and my 7-08 5 to 10 rounds each just because I think I should. Not going to burn up boxes of expensive copper ammo since right now I am not allowed to buy ammo in California.

 

[Brnsvllyjohn]

After trying to shoot in the wind on Monday I wasn't happy with my results. I returned to the range this morning and did much better. I did adjust both scopes a tiny bit and then let the guns cool for a long time and short a couple of cold barrel shots again. Both are dead on at 200 yards and 200 yards is about all I practice at now.
I guess I learned a few things about shooting in a strong crosswind. The wind changed the point of impact more than I expected. It is hard for me to judge the wind and even harder when it wasn't consistent. Oh well I needed to practice some but shooting $100 in ammo in two days is more than I expected to shoot. I got my groups back to 1 MOA today so I was happy with that. Yesterday it was about 2 MOA.

You meet some interesting shooters at public ranges especially those that are just open and do not have a range master. Just a couple of examples from some recent visits to the range.
A group was shooting at targets at 25 yards with pistols. The target would not stay up so they found some huge rocks to hold it up. Target was only 12" tall and the rocks were about 8" tall. Can you say ricochet? While I was there I never saw them hit anywhere near the target or the rocks.
Of course all of the signs around the range say to only shoot real targets and not trash or junk like old TV sets or water bottles and beer cans. You can be fined for not removing your targets but Fish and Wildlife officials are rarely around. People just pull up to the range and start shooting at anything out there. Maybe your target and maybe a piece of trash that someone else left. I have not had anyone shoot at my targets but I have been there when the guy next to me started seeing holes in his target that he did not put there. The ones doing it just said "How are we supposed to know whose target is whose?" If you didn't bring it it isn't your target.

 

[spectr17]

Doping wind is a learned skillset and like you said with the process of ammo now, it's hard on the wallet. I've shot my ammo for my .300 and entered the data on a little pull out metal strip on my scope.

The hardest part for me moving from the midwest to the west was learning steep angle shooting and cross cyn wind shooting.

I try and shoot alone, too many wahoos like you said who shoot at rocks, no range safety at all