Gunshot volume (dB/SPL) at different distances?

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • squirrels

    Who cooks for you?
    Jan 25, 2008
    4,021
    Does anyone have any information about how loud gunshots are at different ranges?

    At point-blank, it sounds like a common rifle caliber could generate about 150 dB. But what about at 100 yards? 200 yards?? How much does the SPL reduce over distance?
     

    aaron.foulk

    Active Member
    Feb 16, 2013
    259
    Does anyone have any information about how loud gunshots are at different ranges?

    At point-blank, it sounds like a common rifle caliber could generate about 150 dB. But what about at 100 yards? 200 yards?? How much does the SPL reduce over distance?

    Far too complicated a question to answer directly accurately. 6 dB drop with a doubling of distance is a fair place to start for an extremely rough answer. 150 at 1m, 144 at 2m , 138 at 4 m and so on if your initial 150 dB estimate is correct. Source directivity can screw you up as will shock waves off the supersonic projectile.

    Read and absorb this and you'll at least realize that many variables exist.
    http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Engineering_Acoustics/Outdoor_Sound_Propagation

    Hope you don't need this info to deal with a noise complaint.
     

    Kingjamez

    Gun Builder
    Oct 22, 2009
    2,042
    Fairfax, VA
    This can be treated fairly well as a free space path loss problem. So as above, the only rule of thumb is going to be as stated above : 6db every time the distance doubles should be fairly accurate given a clear path between you and the firearm. Now simply assigning a fixed dB level to a gun blast is not accurate. Different angles (in 3 dimensions) will have different SPL's based on the aperture of barrel. I don't even want to think of how the bullet would effect the pattern.

    -Jim
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Latest posts

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,915
    Messages
    7,258,467
    Members
    33,348
    Latest member
    Eric_Hehl

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom