Barrel Length and Noise

slinkylegs

slinkylegs

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Hoping to pick some of the more intelligent and experienced minds here regarding the experienced noise reduction of longer barrels for a 22lr. It is no secret that having a longer barrel reduces the report of the rifle, but to what degree? Is there a noticeable difference between something like a 20" and 24", or a 16.5" and 18"?

Obviously there will be other factors involved, such as type of ammunition, action type, and shooting setting, but if one uses the exact same gun/ammo/setting in various barrel lengths, how much of an actual real world difference is there with longer barrels vs shorter barrels?
 
If you're hoping to not having to wear hearing protection, no barrel length will do that. I've shot 13 and 24" barrels and its all the same - loud
 
Jahnj0584 said:
If you're hoping to not having to wear hearing protection, no barrel length will do that. I've shot 13 and 24" barrels and its all the same - loud
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No, this was not my intention, at least not a primary one. This whole idea originated when I had a conversation with a gentleman at a gun shop a few years ago. He was talking about how his son had a CZ Jaguar (I think), with the 28" barrel. He said if you shot that with standard velocity rounds (like CCI Standard's), it sounded more like a pellet gun than a regular rimfire. Now, I shoot CCI Standard's, and they always crack fairly well (18-20" barrels). Is the extra 8-10" really going to make that huge of a difference? Perhaps he was overselling the story, but I've recalled that conversation a few times since then, and I've always wondered if there have been tests done on reports from 22's in various barrel length's.
 
the rounds are "quieter" for 2 reasons: less gas pressure upon exit and physically further away from you.

It would never be as quiet as a pellet gun unless the rounds were slowed down to subsonic speeds upon exit.
 
With quieter rounds there is a noticeable difference between 16 and say 24". Using CCI quiets in a 16 is definitely quiet but out of a 24 the click of the firing pin is sometimes louder than the report. Just like 22 shorts, it is hollywood quiet. Anything subsonic will be noticeably quieter, supers will always have a crack.
 
I shoot subsonic match ammo in a 28" barreled CPA Steven's 44-1/2 and in a Crossno liner in a 32" barrel and don't need hearing protection. Although I wear it if I'm shooting at the range for obvious reasons :).

Chris.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
the rounds are "quieter" for 2 reasons: less gas pressure upon exit and physically further away from you.

It would never be as quiet as a pellet gun unless the rounds were slowed down to subsonic speeds upon exit.
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The above is the right answer...

In my lifetime I have had the opportunity to fire a suppressed .22 LR a few times... they can be so quiet the impact of the bullet is what you hear the loudest. It's a shame they are prohibited.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
the rounds are "quieter" for 2 reasons: less gas pressure upon exit and physically further away from you.

It would never be as quiet as a pellet gun unless the rounds were slowed down to subsonic speeds upon exit.
Click to expand...

The noise associated with a gunshot kinda - sorta depends where the ear or microphone is located. The MIL Std specifies 1m to the left of the muzzle. Any decibel numbers you see published will have been collected from that position.

The shooter's ear will typically experience 5-7 dB less than the MIL Std reference location.

When it comes to supersonic flight noise, the noise travels perpendicular to the direction of travel and it takes a few feet to begin to be generated. Therefore the shooter never directly experiences the sonic crack or flight noise of the projectile.

Thus, to say that a .22 rifle could not be as quiet as a pellet gun, from the shooter's perspective, unless it is subsonic, is not true. There are large bore airguns that are quite capable of exceeding the speed of sound and they are a long way from being extremely quiet.



guntech said:
The above is the right answer...

In my lifetime I have had the opportunity to fire a suppressed .22 LR a few times... they can be so quiet the impact of the bullet is what you hear the loudest. It's a shame they are prohibited.
Click to expand...

Yes it is. The ban also violates federal OH&S law and requires shooters to damage their health, which potentially violates our Charter Rights.
 
Jahnj0584 said:
If you're hoping to not having to wear hearing protection, no barrel length will do that. I've shot 13 and 24" barrels and its all the same - loud
Click to expand...

I don't now about a 13" barrel but a typical 18-22 inch 22 rimfire rifle will produce 140 dB at the muzzle with high velocity ammo. The OSHA limit for hearing damage from impulse noise is 140dB. As the noise level will drop 5-7dB at the shooter's ear, it is in fact, perfectly safe to shoot an average 22 rimfire rifle without hearing protection.
 
Interesting. Only real noise difference I find is between semi and bolt guns. I have barrels from 16” up to 22”. And don’t feel I hear much of a difference.

But that being said shooting rim fire pistols does seem to be significantly louder. So I’m sure there’s some truth to longer barrels being quiter I just feel with rifle lengths the difference is hard to distinguish to the ear especially with ear pro on.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
I don't now about a 13" barrel but a typical 18-22 inch 22 rimfire rifle will produce 140 dB at the muzzle with high velocity ammo. The OSHA limit for hearing damage from impulse noise is 140dB. As the noise level will drop 5-7dB at the shooter's ear, it is in fact, perfectly safe to shoot an average 22 rimfire rifle without hearing protection.
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Ok osha, but I've had tinnitus for 15 years and don't want to ever intentionally add any more.
 
Tinybear said:
Interesting. Only real noise difference I find is between semi and bolt guns. I have barrels from 16” up to 22”. And don’t feel I hear much of a difference.

But that being said shooting rim fire pistols does seem to be significantly louder. So I’m sure there’s some truth to longer barrels being quiter I just feel with rifle lengths the difference is hard to distinguish to the ear especially with ear pro on.
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Semi-auto 22's are straight blowback, which will bleed a fair bit of sound out the ejection port.

Of course a much shorter barrel will produce more noise. A semi-auto 22 pistol (ca. 6" bbl) will produce approx 155 dB. Not sure how a revolver would meter.
 
slinkylegs said:
No, this was not my intention, at least not a primary one. This whole idea originated when I had a conversation with a gentleman at a gun shop a few years ago. He was talking about how his son had a CZ Jaguar (I think), with the 28" barrel. He said if you shot that with standard velocity rounds (like CCI Standard's), it sounded more like a pellet gun than a regular rimfire. Now, I shoot CCI Standard's, and they always crack fairly well (18-20" barrels). Is the extra 8-10" really going to make that huge of a difference? Perhaps he was overselling the story, but I've recalled that conversation a few times since then, and I've always wondered if there have been tests done on reports from 22's in various barrel length's.
Click to expand...

I had a Rolling block with a 33" barrel and sub sonics it was a bit louder than a pellet gun. But shorter you go, the louder it will get.

https://youtube.com/shorts/0SK3yTXCros?si=_0n8slV4gstfhk5O
 
Jahnj0584 said:
Ok osha, but I've had tinnitus for 15 years and don't want to ever intentionally add any more.
Click to expand...

I do as well and I generally never shoot without ear pro, or run any type of machinery/power tools without ear pro. That said I have a .22 pump action that is so quiet I can shoot without it and not experience and pain or ringing, I’ve tested it with another .22 bolt gun with a similar barrel length and the same ammo. The bolt gun is noticeably louder, I haven’t measured the barrel lengths to see what the difference is but I’m guessing it’s a couple inches due to length difference between the actions of the two. Theirs OAL are the same. I shot squirrels this summer with the pump gun as I could just grab it and shoot when I saw them vs dealing with ear pro if I had my bolt gun, the wife says she barely notices the shot if I’m out killing tree rats.

So in my case I definitely notice the decibel variation between barrel lengths in .22’s, it’s a nice change to not wear ear pro. Bloody stupid we can’t use suppressors in this moronic country.
 
I Dont Care About You said:
I don't now about a 13" barrel but a typical 18-22 inch 22 rimfire rifle will produce 140 dB at the muzzle with high velocity ammo. The OSHA limit for hearing damage from impulse noise is 140dB. As the noise level will drop 5-7dB at the shooter's ear, it is in fact, perfectly safe to shoot an average 22 rimfire rifle without hearing protection.
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Actually 90 DB is when hearing damage can occur. So while it doesn't leave your ears ringing. It still is damaging to your hearing. As someone that had hearing damage since their early 20s. I regret not taking better care of my hearing.
 
There has been some interesting food for thought in this thread thus far. I wasn't sure how much less noise (decibel wise) there is behind the trigger as opposed to at the muzzle, so the 5-7 dB fact is good to know. I know I do enjoy shooting CCI Quiet's, although they aren't horribly accurate for me.
 
OkayShooter said:
Actually 90 DB is when hearing damage can occur. So while it doesn't leave your ears ringing. It still is damaging to your hearing. As someone that had hearing damage since their early 20s. I regret not taking better care of my hearing.
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You are confusing constant noise with impulse noise, which is very different. The limits for impulse noise are much higher than for constant noise.

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/stan...t for impulsive,to impulsive or impact noise.

[FONT=&quot]The OSHA limit for impulsive or impact noise is also 140 dB peak sound pressure level. This limit is independent of the duration of the noise impulse. There is no OSHA limit for number of exposures to impulsive or impact noise.[/FONT]
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Measured to the MIL Std for noise, dry firing would greatly exceed 90 dB.
 
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