Do You Shoot Matches In The Rain?

[PistolPete]

I'm not being a panzie or anything but I'm just curious who shoots in the rain. The reason I ask is I was debating on shooting a local match and now it is going to rain all day and just be nasty. The reason I was debating the match is first because it is far from my house at just under 2 hours. Then, I haven't shot at this club before and was told they cancelled a match last year and didn't tell anyone. Plus, noone I shoot with will be going and to top it all off it is going to rain all day. I figured I would skip this match and just shoot next weekends match. I can spend Sunday loading ammo instead.

So what do you usually do when it rains?

Pete

[John Baier]

IPSC is a all weather sport. We have never cancelled a match due to rain. We did come close 2 years ago, but that was because 4 out of the seven bays were under water.

[AzShooter]

When I was younger I shot every match I could get to. Now, if it's raining I will stay home. It's a 75 mile drive each way and I just reload for the next match. Of course it doesn't rain out here that much, in the Phoenix area.

[lweiny]

My husband and I have been shooting in the rain lately. And it can be downright miserable. But, many times, it rains off and on so it is not so bad. Lately, we would not get to shoot much if we stayed home.

I had to get a really good rain jacket for these matches. My original jacket did not fit over all my equipment. Staying dry is the key. We also bought a big golf umbrella which has special wind flaps to keep it from turning upside down in a big wind. This came in handy for the score keeper so he did not have to use the plastic bad method of keeping the score sheets dry. At one of our club matches, we are able to bring the stages closer to the overhang so that at least those not shooting and doing RO duties can stand out of the rain.

When we are shooting in the rain, we are reminded often of "Difficult Conditions". Major matches will not cancel due to rain so it is good to have some practice of shooting in all sort of conditions. If you find you have a hard time shooting a stage due to the rain, being cold, and wet you will find that other people have the same problem.

I have to remind myself - at least it is not snowing. :-)

Lorrie

P.S. I would MUCH rather shoot in the sun.

[Flexmoney]

So what do you usually do when it rains?

Pete

Load and Make Ready.

[blackdragon]

I shot a match in Los Alamos NM, When the poppers would fall, They would disappear! Under the water! My buddy Sean fell, Man! That brings back memories!

Ivan

[MikeFoley]

Yes.

[TDean]

Unfortunately more often than not!

It's beautiful here, but not conducive to tape sticking on targets....if you know what mean.

What really bums me out is when I travel to a major and get more rain!

I love this sport too much to not shoot in any weather though. I actually have a spot for an umbrella in my range bag, and a larger umbrella under the back seat of the truck for the really wet days.

Ya, most guns are hard-chromed here in the NW.

[Keith]

So what do you usually do when it rains?

Pete

Load and Make Ready.

And then complain about it for the next three hours.

I have come to the conclusion that I don't mind shooting in the rain. It's the pasting part that sucks.

[Middle Man]

Shot in the freezing, cold rain in January...shot in the tropical rainforest, heat rain back in July...shot in near monsoon conditions (between the really heavy bits)...that's weather in Alabama. Shooting isn't always the problem, it the pasting that is the true wet weather challenge.

Sure glad my gun's Black T'd inside and out just like a nuclear submarine.

[bberkley]

If we didn't shoot in the rain in Oregon, we wouldn't shoot very much.

I won't go to certain clubs if its raining buckets, but I will always shoot my home club because we have 3-sided covered buildings with concrete floors, and gravelled bays.

Golf umbrellas, gore-tex, all good investments for inclement weather shooting.

[Guy Neill]

After many years of shooting, I don't know that I would go to a local match knowing I would shoot in the rain. A major match, sure.

I've also had many occurrences where the weather where I started was raining, but the match, some two hours away was dry.

Best would be to try to contact someone at that club to ensure the match will happen before driving to it.

At teh same time, if you've never shot in the rain, it can be a learning experience.

Guy

[shred]

Around here rain, particularly heavy rain, will get a match cancelled... the ranges aren't built for it and turn into pits of 4x4-sticking mud in short order. Good thing rain is fairly rare.

[George]

Major match, I just push on and do whatever it takes.

Club match, I might not go in the first place if it was raining, but if I was already there and it started raining, I would stay and finish.

[Sunuva]

That one good thing about shooting a plastic Gun

No rust,

Edited April 22, 2006 by Sunuva

[Loves2Shoot]

ROFL!!!

Last weekend it was raining, sleet, winds strong enough to break target stands 7 of 13 finished the match (Easter weekend and all) this summer it will get 100+ degrees with winds so hot that it feels like you are in an oven, but it's all good with proper clothing.

So Ok we did have to make up provisional rules last weekend, like if the popper falls over from the gale force winds just shoot a round at it, but this game is about having fun and shooting guns so sometimes any shooting is better than no shooting.

I shoot every chance I get But I did just get back from the range building on some new shelters maybe I'm getting old.

[Tangram]

Patio heater.... Cold damp rain .... Luxury even when the steels are blowing down and the targets are dressed in plastic bags.

Helps.

[dajarrel]

I believe it was 2004 that was the year of the rains in the southeast. Area 4, TN state match, and Mississippi Classic all shot in the rain. Once your feet are wet, you hardly even notice the rain....

This is our squad at the Mississippi Classic, posing between downpours.

dj

[Azone41]

04 at area 4 the second day it was pouring and we shot 4 stages. The water was two foot deep in one bay I reloaded my mags into my pocket because one guy lost one in the water. Local matches we just sit in the clubhouse and drink coffee. We have a night shoot every year and it rained so hard two years ago we had to cancel because all the electric cords were under water. Shoot in the rain? not if I can help it

[PistolPete]

I guess it all depends on which match it is if I would shoot in the rain. There is a match every weekend around here and one club in particular puts on the best and most challenging match. I wouldn't miss that one no matter what. However, since I've never been to the club that's shooting tomorrow and have heard some negative things about it I will prob. just skip it and shoot next weekend. I can't see driving a total of 4 hours to get soaking wet not even knowing if the match will happen for sure or not.

[bayoupirate]

Hi Dennis,

I was going to post the same Pic. That's me in the front row in the green poncho.

I actually won my class at that match!

We shot every stage with rain falling except one, and as soon as we took the plastic off of the targets it was like a signal for it to start raining again.

Shot the rainy A4 too.

Generally we only cancel for lightning.

and NO! contrary to popular belief, I don't have webbed feet and we do actually have roads here. I don't have to take a boat to get everwhere, but I could get just about everywhere by boat as all of the roads follow the bayous.

[PistolPete]

What's funny is that I just got an email stating that the match is cancelled for tomorrow because the weather is going to be too severe. That take a load off my back... LOL

Pete

[BSeevers]

I don't choose to shoot in the rain anymore but if I am there I do not leave. About 10-12 years ago the OH Sectional had rain. I mean RAIN. We were reshooting stages 3 or 4 times a person because of activators and movers jamming up. It was that sideways hard rain and didn't let up. We tried waiting for a while but it was late on a Sunday. My squad had 10 or so people to start and some of the other shooters just would disappear or plain say F--- This, I am out of here. I looked at the 2 or 3 guys left and said "I am staying how about you?" They did and we finished. By the way the Saturday squads had sunny skys and 75 degrees. That was a good time and kind of a proud moment for us survivors.

[kimel]

Stop being a pansy! Get the proper gear and go shoot. I have seen shooters draw from under rain ponchos or from concealment under rain jackets. We have a couple of those 10x10 pop-up shelters. For static stages we can shoot from under those. For stages with movement we start under them so the actual time spent out in the rain is minimized.

About the only thing that cancels matches around here is a red level fire alert (lots of dry fields of wheat/barley around the range) and snow

drifts too deep to bust through.

Chemical hand warmers, propane heaters, proper clothing (don't forget a hat!), etc. can all make what would otherwise be a miserable endevour into a fun match.

Having a supply of targets that have been sprayed with MinWax (see FrontSite article from a couple years ago) makes a huge difference too.

[Kory]

I'll shoot steel matches in the rain, but IPSC is way more of a pain in the rear. Bagged target suck to score and tape, it's a hell of a lot harder to get a decent sight picture through a plastic bag (where's the A-zone?) and pasters don't stick very well.

That said, it will likely be raining lightly at tomorrow morning's IPSC match, and I will be going.

Shot a steel match a while ago and it started raining, we retreated under the cover and decided to shoot Pendulum from under the cover. Heck, what's an extra 25' or so?