The "Rain Rifle"

I would like to discuss The Rain Rifle as a concept, akin to the Scout, except in a sense the opposite in that the Scout is an an all-purpose rifle whereas the Rain (& snow) rifle is a specialized beast.

Don't know if anyone has discussed this before, but the origin of this for me is that I enjoy hunting in the rain and wet snow, provided that it's not too cold, a light or moderate rain, and I have appropriate clothing. I like it mainly because it often turns into a harvest (at a higher rate than clear skies), because I find that game moves around a lot during a light rain, and above all, you can stalk silently. Also, few other hunters in the woods on those days.

However, I've been frustrated over the years with *fogged scopes* (not to mention wet and fogged eyeglasses, but that's another story - now that I've had cataract surgery, I finally have good distance vision for the first time in my life, so I can dispense with glasses, making this rain rifle concept more important to me now). Yes, you can put anti-fog coatings on your glass, and many scopes come from the factory with coatings that are anti-fog and/or cause rain to bead up and eliminate better, but the problem is still there, I find, at least with the scopes I'm able to afford (low-mid-range to mid-range price).

Flip up caps are not a solution, as it is simply not fast enough for stalking and taking a quick shot, whether deer or piggies or whatever. The fogged and wet scopes always hamper my vision, sometimes preventing a shot altogether. The other day, I shot a doe at maybe 70 yards during a light rain, and my scope was fogged and wet enough that I couldn't see very well. I killed it, but shot 8-9 inches farther back than I wanted to - I hit the liver but not the lungs. I can't say for sure that the fogged scope is the cause of the bad shot but it might have been. Not the kind of hit I like to get.

Hence the rifle rig specialized for this purpose has been on my mind for a few years now. The idea is to (1) eliminate the scope, meaning iron sights or an ESD / RDS of some kind, where there is no "inner chamber" with a differential interior air temperature that can lead to condensation (fogging), and (2) of course, rain resistant - stainless steel or cerakote / duracoat, and weather-resistant stock.

Which brings me to the rig I recently (finally) put together for this purpose. Behold the rain rifle - in this case a SS/ synthetic Rem Seven with RMR-DI 9 MOA dot on it (no batteries needed - always ready to go). Note that shots in the rain will never be really all that far, so that means that the rifle need not be that accurate (a 3 MOA rifle would be suitable), and the range limitations imposed by a 1X sight (and its crude adjustments) are not an issue with the rain rig; hence the dot sight that serves a couple of purposes. I have not extensively tested the RMR-DI in the rain, but initial cursory results from sprinkling water on the sight and looking through it around the house are promising. Also note that ESDs / RDSs with an internal chamber are probably out; need a holographic style of sight, or good iron sights, for this type of rig.

So, should this be a thing? Am I reinventing the wheel and/or missing something? It's regrettable that there aren't more factory-iron-sighted options out there these days.

I'd also like to note that your rain rig *could* be your scout rig too, if it meets the other requirements of a scout, but it doesn't necessarily have to be. This one is close but not close enough to be an actual scout (no stripper clip cutouts etc). You could make a good case that "all scouts are rain rifles, too" since scouts always have a BUIS (correct?), and therefore, in scope-off configuration, meet the rain rifle criterion. So I suppose all scouts are rain rifles, but not all rain rifles are scouts.

Also note that, unlike a scout, there is no weight requirement of a rain rig, so it could definitely be a lever, pump, or even semi-auto... no problem there. Usually when it's raining, you're not going to walk that far in (though you could). There is also no need for a HSLD buttstomper chambering. Could even be a single shot in .357 mag or max, or similar.

A lever is definitely an option.... something like the 1895 SBL with the irons meets the requirements, with the stainless steel and laminated wood stock.

Hey a precision handgun with irons is a rain "rifle" too isn't it? I want to be ready for elk and moose, so I went .260 rem with this one. .30-30 lever was the closest thing I had to a rain rifle previously (parkerized / laminated), but water would stay underneath the stock more so than a turnbolt, and the caliber was a bit marginal for elk (arguably), so I upgraded to full-on rain rig. Sure would be funny if I like this so much due to the light weight etc that it became my go-to fair weather rifle too. Probably not, because I really like scopes for dusk and dawn, but we'll see. I don't take shots on running game, but regardless, this should be a quick snap shooter. The only big drawback of this one is related to the RMR sight - the dot washes out when *you* are in a dark canopy, and the *game* is in sunlight (very rare). It works fine in the other 3 circumstances (both you and the game in dark, both of you in the light, or you in light and game in dark).

I understand - that's all well and good until the game high-tails it while you're taking the covers off.

"What about a skeletonized free-floating poly stock? Then you could just blow out most of the water w/compressed air or a water- displacing lube like silicone without having to dismount the action as often?"

Now that is an outstanding idea!

Does anyone have specific experience with how well RMRs or other similar holographic-style sights work when wet - or not? Do they ever fog up?

I want to point out two things with respect to sights ... scopes can fog, of course, without any rain at all - just the cold temp outside and the warmer air inside the scope can do it - which is one reason to leave your rifle outside when you sleep before the hunt. But fogging is worse the more humid it gets, and the worst in the rain (as a separate component from the rain itself marring vision). Also, the idea of "eliminating the scope" would have been absurd 75 years ago, for the average person (what is this 'scope' you speak of, future man?). Even 30 years ago, nearly all bolt actions had iron sights too. But this day and age, with everybody scoping nearly everything, myself included, and so few rifles coming new with irons, it's worth mentioning, particularly to the young whipper snapper generation (who actually have good enough eyes to USE them!).

"A Scout setup or LER scope would greatly diminish the risk of hot face/cold glass distortion."

Very good point. One other advantage of the scout I hadn't thought of. But where can you get both high-end and IER? How *much* better do high end scopes battle fogging, as compared to something in the $200-$500 range?