How Loud is the Sonic Crack from a Suppressed 22WMR Rifle?

weblance · January 24, 2015, 04:50 PM

My state is allowing suppressed hunting this year. The law goes into effect sometime this spring 2015. I have a SilencerCo SS Sparrow. It is rated for 22 WMR. I see Ruger now has a threaded American Rimfire rifle in 22 WMR. I wonder if its worth it to buy this rifle, and suppress it for groundhog hunting this summer. Im sure the suppressor will reduce the muzzle blast, but will I be disappointed in the sonic crack the ammo is going to produce?

4thPoint · January 24, 2015, 05:22 PM

It's certainly not going to make it the "Pffft" of movie and television fame. It will confuse where the direction of the shot came from, usually by making it seem like it came from either side rather than up-range.

Here's a vid of someone shooting both suppressed and non-suppressed to show the difference...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ocExbDGuac

weblance · January 24, 2015, 05:42 PM

Im wondering if it will make the rifle able to be shot without hearing protection. Is the sonic crack louder with higher velocity ammo, as opposed to lower velocity ammo, assuming all ammo breaks the sound barrier?

Hillbilly Jim · January 24, 2015, 05:52 PM

I frequently shoot supersonic ammo through a suppressed gun, never use hearing protection.
How loud will the sonic crack be in the 22mag suppressed,-the same as an unsuppressed 22mag.

skizzums · January 24, 2015, 06:04 PM

you will absolutely not need hearing protection. it's pretty much just like a loud hand clap, sharper and crisper. maybe like dropping a tile onto a concrete floor(best I can describe at the moment), but happening far away from you. it's not loud at all, but not silent either if that's what your hoping for

if I was going to personally put the money into a suppressed system, I would need the option for sub-sonic though, like 9mm, 300BLK or .22

B.L.E. · January 24, 2015, 07:03 PM

Let's put it this way, your neighbors are still going to be able to tell you shot a rifle. It's the sonic crack of the bullet that gives rifles their distinctive sound, a sound that can easily be distinguished from the boom of fireworks or blanks. That distinctive whip crack sound will still be there unless you shoot subsonic bullets.

weblance · January 24, 2015, 07:13 PM

Im not looking for silent, or a change in tone so people dont realize Im shooting a rifle. I will be hunting on farms in the country. I would like to be able to shoot without hearing protection, and wondered how much of the dangerous SPL is muzzle blast, and how much is Sonic Crack.

skizzums · January 24, 2015, 07:23 PM

if your goal is to not need hearing protection, your all clear. not even close to being that loud.

B.L.E. · January 25, 2015, 08:24 AM

I once did an experiment in which one of us hid in a deep ditch while another shot over the ditch just to see how loud the supersonic shock wave of a bullet was. We used a .222 Remington.
The shock wave of the bullet was actually surprisingly loud, much louder than the muzzle blast that reached our ears a split second later.

From that point on, I really understood what a load of BS the "Hollywood silencer" was.

However, if you are the shooter, the shock wave never sweeps past you and so all you hear is the shock wave echoing off of objects downrange.

To anyone downrange, it pretty much sounds like a regular rifle.

Mobuck · January 25, 2015, 08:33 AM

Are asking about the sound from the shooter's position or the target's?
My guesstimate would be the sound at the target position would be somewhere between a loud "thumb snap" and a mild "hand clap". Enough to possibly spook the game but they won't know where it came from. If the bullet hits the ground close to the critter, that's likely to scare them more than the passage of a miss.

B.L.E. · January 25, 2015, 09:19 AM

When we did the downrange experiment, the shockwave was a lot louder than a "hand clap", more like a firecracker close by when centerfire .22 caliber rifles were used. It surprised us just how loud it was.

We also tried it with .22 long rifle high velocity rounds. In that experiment, we never heard the muzzle blast and the bullets going overhead sounded a lot like someone shooting a .22 next to us. A long barreled .22 rimfire for all practical purposes is a silenced gun. By the time the bullet has gone about 14 inches down the bore, it has reached its max velocity and from that point on the barrel is simply guiding the bullet to the target, the residual pressure getting lower and lower to the point that a 24 inch barrel rifle has very little actual muzzle blast. Subsonic .22 ammo out of my 24 inch rifle is quieter than many air rifles. The sound of a .22 rifle is mostly the sound of the bullet flying through the air.

Sharkbite · January 25, 2015, 12:12 PM

I shoot alot of suppressed 223. If im going to be indoors i like to put on ears. The crack echoing off walls in quick secession can be a bit much. Outdoors i dont tend to bother with ears. The crack is not bad at all

James K · January 25, 2015, 08:54 PM

The shooter usually doesn't hear much of the sonic crack; it is heard down range as the bullet passes, just like the sonic boom of a jet plane is heard on the ground as it flies over. The shooter only hears a low level, drawn out craaaaack, diminishing as the bullet gets farther away. (Anyone who ever "worked the pits" at a high power rifle match knows exactly what the sonic crack sounds like!)

If the bullet is moving at sub-sonic speeds, there will be no sonic crack at all; the only sounds will be whatever gas escapes from the can (including the precursor wave) and the sound of the gun itself operating (hammer fall, firing pin, bolt slap in a semi, etc.)

Jim

B.L.E. · January 25, 2015, 09:24 PM

The sonic boom of a bullet also does not attenuate with distance as rapidly as the sound of a point source explosion does.
A point source explosion makes a sound wave that resembles a sphere that expands at the speed of sound. Since a sphere's surface area quadruples when the diameter doubles, the sound energy rapidly goes down the farther away you get from it. Twice as far away is only 1/4 as loud.
A shock wave resembles a cone that expands at the speed of sound. Get twice as far away and it's half as loud instead of 1/4 as loud.
That's why a supersonic jet that is so far away that you can't hear the engines can deliver a sonic boom that rattles windows.

You see the same principle with boat wakes. The V shaped wake of a motorboat can travel long distances with little attenuation but the circular wave caused by a large object falling into the water quickly attenuates as the wave spreads out.

January 24, 2015, 04:50 PM	#1
weblance Senior Member Join Date: October 3, 2012 Posts: 1,229	How Loud is the Sonic Crack from a Suppressed 22WMR Rifle? My state is allowing suppressed hunting this year. The law goes into effect sometime this spring 2015. I have a SilencerCo SS Sparrow. It is rated for 22 WMR. I see Ruger now has a threaded American Rimfire rifle in 22 WMR. I wonder if its worth it to buy this rifle, and suppress it for groundhog hunting this summer. Im sure the suppressor will reduce the muzzle blast, but will I be disappointed in the sonic crack the ammo is going to produce?

January 24, 2015, 06:04 PM	#5
skizzums Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2013 Location: Douglasville, Ga Posts: 4,615	you will absolutely not need hearing protection. it's pretty much just like a loud hand clap, sharper and crisper. maybe like dropping a tile onto a concrete floor(best I can describe at the moment), but happening far away from you. it's not loud at all, but not silent either if that's what your hoping for if I was going to personally put the money into a suppressed system, I would need the option for sub-sonic though, like 9mm, 300BLK or .22 __________________ My head is bloody, but unbowed

January 24, 2015, 07:03 PM	#6
B.L.E. Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX Posts: 2,603	Let's put it this way, your neighbors are still going to be able to tell you shot a rifle. It's the sonic crack of the bullet that gives rifles their distinctive sound, a sound that can easily be distinguished from the boom of fireworks or blanks. That distinctive whip crack sound will still be there unless you shoot subsonic bullets. __________________ Hanlon's Razor "Do not invoke conspiracy as explanation when ignorance and incompetence will suffice, as conspiracy implies intelligence and organization."

January 24, 2015, 07:23 PM	#8
skizzums Senior Member Join Date: July 1, 2013 Location: Douglasville, Ga Posts: 4,615	if your goal is to not need hearing protection, your all clear. not even close to being that loud. __________________ My head is bloody, but unbowed

January 25, 2015, 08:24 AM	#9
B.L.E. Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX Posts: 2,603	I once did an experiment in which one of us hid in a deep ditch while another shot over the ditch just to see how loud the supersonic shock wave of a bullet was. We used a .222 Remington. The shock wave of the bullet was actually surprisingly loud, much louder than the muzzle blast that reached our ears a split second later. From that point on, I really understood what a load of BS the "Hollywood silencer" was. However, if you are the shooter, the shock wave never sweeps past you and so all you hear is the shock wave echoing off of objects downrange. To anyone downrange, it pretty much sounds like a regular rifle. __________________ Hanlon's Razor "Do not invoke conspiracy as explanation when ignorance and incompetence will suffice, as conspiracy implies intelligence and organization."

January 24, 2015, 05:22 PM	#2
4thPoint Junior member Join Date: August 28, 2012 Posts: 240	It's certainly not going to make it the "Pffft" of movie and television fame. It will confuse where the direction of the shot came from, usually by making it seem like it came from either side rather than up-range. Here's a vid of someone shooting both suppressed and non-suppressed to show the difference... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ocExbDGuac

January 24, 2015, 05:42 PM	#3
weblance Senior Member Join Date: October 3, 2012 Posts: 1,229	Im wondering if it will make the rifle able to be shot without hearing protection. Is the sonic crack louder with higher velocity ammo, as opposed to lower velocity ammo, assuming all ammo breaks the sound barrier?

January 24, 2015, 05:52 PM	#4
Hillbilly Jim Member Join Date: June 28, 2008 Location: mid missouri Posts: 19	I frequently shoot supersonic ammo through a suppressed gun, never use hearing protection. How loud will the sonic crack be in the 22mag suppressed,-the same as an unsuppressed 22mag.

January 24, 2015, 07:13 PM	#7
weblance Senior Member Join Date: October 3, 2012 Posts: 1,229	Im not looking for silent, or a change in tone so people dont realize Im shooting a rifle. I will be hunting on farms in the country. I would like to be able to shoot without hearing protection, and wondered how much of the dangerous SPL is muzzle blast, and how much is Sonic Crack.

January 25, 2015, 08:33 AM	#10
Mobuck Junior member Join Date: February 2, 2010 Posts: 6,846	Are asking about the sound from the shooter's position or the target's? My guesstimate would be the sound at the target position would be somewhere between a loud "thumb snap" and a mild "hand clap". Enough to possibly spook the game but they won't know where it came from. If the bullet hits the ground close to the critter, that's likely to scare them more than the passage of a miss.

January 25, 2015, 09:19 AM	#11
B.L.E. Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX Posts: 2,603	When we did the downrange experiment, the shockwave was a lot louder than a "hand clap", more like a firecracker close by when centerfire .22 caliber rifles were used. It surprised us just how loud it was. We also tried it with .22 long rifle high velocity rounds. In that experiment, we never heard the muzzle blast and the bullets going overhead sounded a lot like someone shooting a .22 next to us. A long barreled .22 rimfire for all practical purposes is a silenced gun. By the time the bullet has gone about 14 inches down the bore, it has reached its max velocity and from that point on the barrel is simply guiding the bullet to the target, the residual pressure getting lower and lower to the point that a 24 inch barrel rifle has very little actual muzzle blast. Subsonic .22 ammo out of my 24 inch rifle is quieter than many air rifles. The sound of a .22 rifle is mostly the sound of the bullet flying through the air. __________________ Hanlon's Razor "Do not invoke conspiracy as explanation when ignorance and incompetence will suffice, as conspiracy implies intelligence and organization."

January 25, 2015, 12:12 PM	#12
Sharkbite Senior Member Join Date: November 4, 2013 Location: Western slope of Colorado Posts: 3,679	I shoot alot of suppressed 223. If im going to be indoors i like to put on ears. The crack echoing off walls in quick secession can be a bit much. Outdoors i dont tend to bother with ears. The crack is not bad at all

January 25, 2015, 08:54 PM	#13
James K Member In Memoriam Join Date: March 17, 1999 Posts: 24,383	The shooter usually doesn't hear much of the sonic crack; it is heard down range as the bullet passes, just like the sonic boom of a jet plane is heard on the ground as it flies over. The shooter only hears a low level, drawn out craaaaack, diminishing as the bullet gets farther away. (Anyone who ever "worked the pits" at a high power rifle match knows exactly what the sonic crack sounds like!) If the bullet is moving at sub-sonic speeds, there will be no sonic crack at all; the only sounds will be whatever gas escapes from the can (including the precursor wave) and the sound of the gun itself operating (hammer fall, firing pin, bolt slap in a semi, etc.) Jim

January 25, 2015, 09:24 PM	#14
B.L.E. Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2008 Location: Somewhere on the Southern shore of Lake Travis, TX Posts: 2,603	The sonic boom of a bullet also does not attenuate with distance as rapidly as the sound of a point source explosion does. A point source explosion makes a sound wave that resembles a sphere that expands at the speed of sound. Since a sphere's surface area quadruples when the diameter doubles, the sound energy rapidly goes down the farther away you get from it. Twice as far away is only 1/4 as loud. A shock wave resembles a cone that expands at the speed of sound. Get twice as far away and it's half as loud instead of 1/4 as loud. That's why a supersonic jet that is so far away that you can't hear the engines can deliver a sonic boom that rattles windows. You see the same principle with boat wakes. The V shaped wake of a motorboat can travel long distances with little attenuation but the circular wave caused by a large object falling into the water quickly attenuates as the wave spreads out. __________________ Hanlon's Razor "Do not invoke conspiracy as explanation when ignorance and incompetence will suffice, as conspiracy implies intelligence and organization."