General Suppressor Question

[alamo5000]

My question is not about any specific suppressor but rather is related to an existing thread about shooting near the neighbors, but I didn't want to hijack the other thread.

Does anyone have any kind of actual data on how suppressors meter at farther distances?

If you don't know yourself possibly there are other resources that I'm not aware of.

Basically I'm wondering how suppressors meter to the side and back from the shooter at say 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.

I've been thinking about this subject for a long time but I've never seen any actual data on the subject.

If you know of anything out there please let me know. I'm not looking for data from down range. I think Todd Huey and Silencer Shop measured that before.

Basically I'm wondering about actual data on how suppressors are useful to the neighbors as well as the shooter.

 

[Bluedog82]

I don’t have hard data, but I know that from a distance of less than a half mile my wife couldn’t hear suppressed gunshots at all from in our house. She said it’s much more pleasant to hear when shooting suppressed directly behind the house too. Anecdotal but there ya go. How far away are your neighbors?

 

[hlee]

How does the sound decrease with distance? sound pressure distance wave drop decrease increase fall off damping sound source noise pressure intensity Level acoustic inverse distance law 1/r for sound pressure Inverse square law 1/r2 for acoustic inte

How does the sound decrease with distance? sound pressure distance wave drop decrease increase fall off damping sound source drop fall increase noise pressure intensity level acoustic inverse distance law 1/r for sound pressure Inverse square law 1/r2 for acoustic intensity dB decibel...

www.sengpielaudio.com

6Db per doubling of distance, at least according to the link above. That doesn't sound like much, but remember that a change of 10Db is a 10x change in the magnitude of the sound pressure. The human ear registers that as roughly a 2 to 4 fold change in volume.

 

[KZP]

At my local range there are multiple bays you can walk down while others still shoot. I've been about 75~ yards away from supersonic bullets passing by and it's still painful to my ears. From the shooter I was about 250-300 yards away. Their suppressed muzzle didn't bother me, it was the bullet sonic crack that was pronounced.

 

[TheOfficeT-Rex]

Ah, years of trolling youtube come in handy. It's not very sophisticated metering equipment, but it gets the point across. Supersonic bullet flight is the issue - It's still 'loud,' and sound reflects off surfaces. More distance from the gun-target line is the only real way to mitigate.

 

[2muchcowbell]

We have a couple of guys who run suppressors at our local 600/1000-yard "F-class" shoots.

When I'm downrange of those guys pulling targets, I hear the bullet come but can't hear the gunshot. It's simultaneously pretty cool and a little unsettling lol.

 

[Forward543]

Distance from actual bullet will matter. The blast is controlled by the suppressor, but the supersonic bullet makes the noise.

 

[alamo5000]

Thanks for the responses so far. I am aware that the bullet in flight is the most noisy thing (when shooting suppressed).

What my goal with this post is to try an assign a number (rough estimate) of how suppressors (in general) make you a better neighbor.

From my shooting position to my right the closest house is over 100 yards away. To the left of the shooting position the closest one is at least 300 yards. Behind me I would say around 100 yards (at least). I am not shooting in the direction of anyone. I have a 300 yard lane where at the end of it (where the farthest target sits) is at the foot of a hill that rises 30 or 40 feet above the target so I am shooting into the ground if I miss. It's a natural berm. Even then, beyond the target it's still clear for a very long way (several miles).

What I am hopefully going to get to is what are the DB meter readings 100 yards out to the side and 100 yards behind the shooter.

None of my neighbors are complaining at all. In fact at least 2 or 3 people in the area want to come shoot with me. That said they are not complaining BECAUSE I shoot suppressed. The suppressor hence allows me the space to shoot more without being an asshole.

Again I am hoping to find data on exactly 'how loud' in DB a suppressed AR would be from the perspective of say the people across the street or down the road a little bit.

 

[larryh128]

My question is not about any specific suppressor but rather is related to an existing thread about shooting near the neighbors, but I didn't want to hijack the other thread.

Does anyone have any kind of actual data on how suppressors meter at farther distances?

If you don't know yourself possibly there are other resources that I'm not aware of.

Basically I'm wondering how suppressors meter to the side and back from the shooter at say 100 yards, 200 yards, etc.

I've been thinking about this subject for a long time but I've never seen any actual data on the subject.

If you know of anything out there please let me know. I'm not looking for data from down range. I think Todd Huey and Silencer Shop measured that before.

Basically I'm wondering about actual data on how suppressors are useful to the neighbors as well as the shooter.

I shot a few rounds thru my 7 SAUM at 100 yds and moved back to 300 yds where a guy was waiting. He said he barely heard it. Thought I was shooting a 22. And they weren't squib loads.