Suppressors Bullet cracks at distance

I know this thread is a few months old but I just saw it. I have a slightly different take on what the sound meter is picking up. If the bullets that are sub sonic there should be no bullet crack. However, they are shooting at a target. Is it possible that the sound meter is actually picking up the sound of the bullet as it is going through the paper target? Maybe they need to do the test again but not have the bullet hitting anything.
 
If you’re down range you can easily hear the difference of the bullet’s sonic signature as it passes over head followed by a latter and lower note of the muzzle blast.

You can easily seperate the two, so much so you can estimate the muzzle’s range. If you are far enough orvthe bullet is unstable and well well bellow the barrier, it seems more like flutter.

Edited to add: just saw the video darn those guys need better tripod theirs are just sad..
 
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Have been dowwn range of suppressed supers, they crack goinng past till goung sub.
Hard to get a direction on, crack and gone then low report.
Have been down range of subs, they wizz like ? W-zzzzt past your head, you can still
Hear them but not much report dicernable as to direction if in open.

Have had sub wzzzt past so close as to feel air pushed across my face/ear.
Considrable scairt me, for real.

In my mind moved my head to get missed, probably not the case but felt that way.

Have been down range on unsupressed supers, as well much easier to spot shooters location
If far enough away.
 
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I know this thread is a few months old but I just saw it. I have a slightly different take on what the sound meter is picking up. If the bullets that are sub sonic there should be no bullet crack. However, they are shooting at a target. Is it possible that the sound meter is actually picking up the sound of the bullet as it is going through the paper target? Maybe they need to do the test again but not have the bullet hitting anything.
Could be the mini crack of when the bullet is trans sonic. Check this out to see what I mean.
 
Wow, having a hard time believing this based on just the difference in how I have witnessed animals behave in the field when hunting.

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The bullet depending on the caliber can be rather load as it passes over even when you can’t hear the muzzle blast as well.

This isn’t the best video but you can hear 4 distinct events.



1. The impact on the plate
2. The sonic signature
3. The muzzle blast of the braked 338 (it is a bit lower of a note)
4. The crashing of the stand

You may have to turn the volume up an play it a few times, but the sonic crack is loader than the muzzle blast. When it is windy in the wrong direction and your a bit further sometime the muzzle blast is hard to hear, but the crack overhead is still loud.
 
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go to an F-class match and pull targets...at 1000yds it sounds like a cap gun at 600 only slightly louder...im talking 6s and 65s not big bore but i dont imagine theres a big difference.

Yes, like a 22 out of a rifle, regardless of distance as long as they are supersonic. But that loud enough to spook an animal even if their was NO muzzle noise
 
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Understanding that the plural of anecdote is not data, but based on my experience hunting antelope here on the rolling high plains of Wyoming, this stuns me. Studying animal behaviors is something I do intensely while hunting. Unlike a good many Wyoming hunters who drive around , see something then jump out and shoot at it, I try to make educated predictions then get out on foot for the day. I have shot antelope from 160 yards to 600. I started un-suppressed then moved to hunting w/ ultra 9. I have hunted with other hunters who are running suppressed and other times with those who are running no can.

During all this, I have noticed the profound changes in animal behavior from opening day to a few days in, after they have been shot at by other hunters. When I say rolling high plains I mean areas where there are valleys and ridge-lines. My observations have shown a profound difference in the behavior of herds when hunting suppressed verses touching off "thor's hammer". This includes the herds being shot at as well as the herds in the surrounding valleys.

Certainly my first observation was that the bullet crack, the smack of the impacting bullet and the animal falling, got the herds attention while suppressed. They would spook but not with the same vigor as when my brother opened up his un-suppressed 7mm. He would not only clear out the herd he shot at but the surrounding rolling valleys. Hunting with my buddy who also runs an ultra 9 it is not unusual for us to drop one, walk right over a ridge and set up on an unsuspecting herd grazing peacefully.

Conversely after dropping two animals on opening day in the same valley we watched as another hunter some 600 yards away cleared out the two surrounding valleys while a couple of missed un-suppressed shots. Another time we were set up on a herd well into the first month of opening season. The wind was in our favor and we were lining up to take our shots when about a half a mile away we herd BOOM,BOOM, BOOM. We were not the only ones to hear it. The herd bolted...... The sounds were so faint I was shocked the animals reacted to it at all. Suffice it to say had that person been suppressed, we would have had our shots .

Again my observations are anecdotes and not data but my hunting buddy who is a Sgt LEO and accomplished hunter as well as my brother who is an Environmental engineer, would both agree with the observations.
 
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Understanding that the plural of anecdote is not data, but based on my experience hunting antelope here on the rolling high plains of Wyoming, this stuns me. Studying animal behaviors is something I do intensely while hunting. Unlike a good many Wyoming hunters who drive around , see something then jump out and shoot at it, I try to make educated predictions then get out on foot for the day. I have shot antelope from 160 yards to 600. I started un-suppressed then moved to hunting w/ ultra 9. I have hunted with other hunters who are running suppressed and other times with those who are running no can.

During all this, I have noticed the profound changes in animal behavior from opening day to a few days in, after they have been shot at by other hunters. When I say rolling high plains I mean areas where there are valleys and ridge-lines. My observations have shown a profound difference in the behavior of herds when hunting suppressed verses touching off "thor's hammer". This includes the herds being shot at as well as the herds in the surrounding valleys.

Certainly my first observation was that the bullet crack, the smack of the impacting bullet and the animal falling, got the herds attention while suppressed. They would spook but not with the same vigor as when my brother opened up his un-suppressed 7mm. He would not only clear out the herd he shot at but the surrounding rolling valleys. Hunting with my buddy who also runs an ultra 9 it is not unusual for us to drop one, walk right over a ridge and set up on an unsuspecting herd grazing peacefully.

Conversely after dropping two animals on opening day in the same valley we watched as another hunter some 600 yards away cleared out the two surrounding valleys while a couple of missed un-suppressed shots. Another time we were set up on a herd well into the first month of opening season. The wind was in our favor and we were lining up to take our shots when about a half a mile away we herd BOOM,BOOM, BOOM. We were not the only ones to hear it. The herd bolted...... The sounds were so faint I was shocked the animals reacted to it at all. Suffice it to say had that person been suppressed, we would have had our shots .

Again my observations are anecdotes and not data but my hunting buddy who is a Sgt LEO and accomplished hunter as well as my brother who is an Environmental engineer, would both agree with the observations.
ya- I don't think anyone would disagree.

I get the same hunting suppressed, subsonic on varmints. But soon, they become very tuned in to even that...

My point was that anything is enough to spook alert animal.. of course, the louder and more associated with humans, the worse.
 
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I'll jump on this thread with an experience of my own...

Couple weeks ago, I shot a whitetail deer. TBAC Ultra 7 on a 6.5 Creed.

My buddies, sitting about 3/4 mile away, met me back at camp and asked why I shot without my suppressor. I told them no - I was shooting suppressed. They gave me a look like "you're full of it". To them, at that distance and direction, it sounded like any regular ol gunshot, no can.

I'll second what @Max said about animal behavior with suppressed shots. They are much less likely to take off and haul ass. Whitetails included. And if you've hunted them, you know those damn deer will haul ass if another deer farts too loudly.

All this to say that I believe its true - at some distance and direction, a suppressed rifle shot can sound like a rifle with no can.
 
Well all interesting for sure and proof that anecdote and data are two different things. Wish I could afford a mil spec sound meter to do some more hard data collection. Certainly environment in terms of echoing etc would play a role, so tests done in flat open areas, mountainous treed areas and rolling plains would give different results.

As I have mentioned before, I have ordered an ultra 5 to compromise between sound reduction and a light shorter package. Since my goal is always one shot with a max of 3 on a bad day, I feel this is a worthy compromise between sound reduction and size weight.

Another anecdote. My past 8 kills have been spot on out to 600 yards, 1 shot and down. So this winter I was out near some herds in the snow and missed a shot I felt I should not have missed (over confidence) . So with the ultra 9 I proceeded to touch off a couple rounds at a small rock in the dirt. No problem- zero good. Though the herd I had shot at earlier had moved to private land and out of bounds they did not go further. Pretty sure they were laughing at me......
 
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