Gunshot decibal comparison

[hunter46spring]

.... But I can't help but wonder which caliber is going to go bang the loudest in a self defense situation......

In a selfdefense or combat situation people often encounter what is called auditory exclusion, basically they say you dont really hear the shot.

 

[arlow]

Subjective loudness is not a function of frequency but of amplitude. Objective loudness is a function of sound pressure. You're example rifle crack has a large amplitude and very high pressure compared to the shotgun regardless of the frequency.

Not saying that the frequency makes it lounder (more amplified) but we tolerate higher frequencies less than lower frequencies. Reguardless of the volume of the rifle vs the shotgun the sound from a rifle is higher pitched. It is higher in freqency than the sound of a shotgun. Thus it seems more painfull in relation to the shotgun.

According the the chart posted at the link above a 12 guage slug barrel registers at 161.5 db's and a muzzle breaked .375 centerfire rifle registers at 170 db's. 161.5 divided by 170 equals .95. Nary a 5% difference in "amplitude". Well I have hunted with my 12 guage slug guns plenty and never had any problems after shooting at deer. The two times I shot at deer with my .300 mag with the muzzle break I almost fell out of the tree stand. It was not a 5% difference in percieved discomfort by any means!!!

Frequency makes a difference in percieved discomfort IMHO.

In a selfdefense or combat situation people often encounter what is called auditory exclusion, basically they say you dont really hear the shot.

That happens often in hunting too. The sound and recoil that might bother you at the range are non existant when shooting an animal. Except for that damned 300 mag.....

 

[EddieCoyle]

I'll be doing some carpentry work for a club member who builds suppressors.I'll try to be at the club on one of the days that he's testing noise level. I'll bring a variety of guns in several calibers and bbl.length and test them with his equipment. I'll report back. I don't doubt that EC's 460 is the loudest gun he's ever heard.

I'd love to get a noise meter near the .460 Mag.

I load some with close to 50 grains of H110 (that's over max kids - don't try it at home) that people 20 feet away can feel - and I mean a concussion you feel in your chest. Both of my .460s have compensators, plus there's the giant fireball that comes out of the cylinder gap (and all the noise associated with that). I've blown out fluorescent light bulbs 10 feet downrange at an indoor range with a hot-loaded X-frame, and pine needles and stuff always comes off the roof of the outdoor range building when I shoot it.

At one of the Shirley Pumpkin shoots, I settled in at the rifle range between two guys shooting heavy ball ammo out of Mosins. When I touched off the .460, both guys stopped shooting and said, "What the hell was that!?"