Sound Testing 22 ammo with a DB Meter

wayupnorth

wayupnorth

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i put this in the main discussion forum but wanted to put the specific 22 ammo test info here in the Rimfire section in case anyone is looking for info specifically.

so i went out and played this afternoon.

got a Decibel Meter (sound meter) from a local friend who is in enforcement - it has a setting for fast or slow sound and also for high or low - i of course set it for fast and high.

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i also brought along a few different speeds of ammo to test out for the 22.
Regular CCI Blazer, CCI Quiet (710fps), CCI SubSonic (1050fps), CCI MiniMag (1260fps) and some strange little Aquilla 20grain ammo that i was told was really no more than just a primer shot with little to no powder.

sound%20test%20Feb%202017%20003_zpsyfnocvwa.jpg


it was very interesting, it had no problem picking up all the 22 shots.
the graph above lists 22 at around 150db and im guessing that was in a small lab or lab testing tunnel with the mic at the barrel or something.
what i got for readings was this.
just having the meter on and running the forest was around 65db with the wind and the leaves and tree's rustling.

i had 2 22 rifles with me, one single shot and one semi auto.
we all know that single shots are quieter than the semi's so i wanted to see by how much.

the single shot (Chiappa Little Badger to be exact) with just plain vanilla Blazers was putting out numbers of 80-87db and the semi-auto (Ruger 10/22 to be exact) was doing 90-96db.
with the single shot, shooting 90' to the left or right was taking it down to 72-75db, shooting 5 feet in front of the meter knocked it down to 79db and putting the mic/meter right where the shooters head would be hit 87db.
with the semi auto i was getting 90-94db from the meter being 1 foot behind the gun, 78db from 90' to the side - around 2 feet, i went 6 feet 90' to the side and it didnt read it, the ambient noise of the forest was louder than the shot.

as for the different speeds of ammo this is what i got when shooting the single shot:
CCI Blazer - 87db
CCI Quiet - 75db
CCI Sub-Sonic - 89db
CCI Mini-Mag - 92db
Aquila strange small round - 70db
 
Great info wayupnorth! You don't happen to have access to any CCI CB long do you? That stuff is pellet gun quiet, I would be very interested to see the comparison. Rem Sub Sonic would also be very interesting. If you have use of the sound meter for awhile, I could send you a few rounds of each.
 
I have the Aquila stuff and love it. However, there is a couple things about it. First, I was told it was designed to be used in handguns and in bolt action rifles. Also should mention revolvers as there is supposedly not enough power to cycle the bolt. Also if used in single shot or bolt action repeaters, I was told to make sure that the bullet cleared the barrel as with the low/no powder content the bullet MAY stick in a dirty barrel. Now with that said, I have personally not ever used or tried it in a semi-automatic hand gun or rifle to verify what I was told. I have only used it in a single shot rifle and do love it. And lastly I will mention or ask you is which Aquila you have as there are supposedly 2 variations. First one is rated at 590 FPS, and the second is rated at 425 FPS. I have the 590 FPS myself and have also not ever tried the 425 FPS stuff.
 
Forgot to mention, thank you for doing the testing as it is nice to know the differences in the sounds of different bullets. And I just looked at your picture again and see that you have the less powerful of the two I mentioned above. The stuff I have is the Super Colibri.
 
neos said:
I have the Aquila stuff and love it. However, there is a couple things about it. First, I was told it was designed to be used in handguns and in bolt action rifles. Also should mention revolvers as there is supposedly not enough power to cycle the bolt. Also if used in single shot or bolt action repeaters, I was told to make sure that the bullet cleared the barrel as with the low/no powder content the bullet MAY stick in a dirty barrel. Now with that said, I have personally not ever used or tried it in a semi-automatic hand gun or rifle to verify what I was told. I have only used it in a single shot rifle and do love it. And lastly I will mention or ask you is which Aquila you have as there are supposedly 2 variations. First one is rated at 590 FPS, and the second is rated at 425 FPS. I have the 590 FPS myself and have also not ever tried the 425 FPS stuff.
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ive run it through semi rifle and semi pistol and you have to charge every shot because it dosnt have enough zip to cycle the bolt back.
other than that the stuff is fun to shoot.
im on my 2nd box so far this month!
i wonder if it has enough zip to kill anything?
anyone try them on gophers or rats yet?
 
Tom E Gun said:
Great info wayupnorth! You don't happen to have access to any CCI CB long do you? That stuff is pellet gun quiet, I would be very interested to see the comparison. Rem Sub Sonic would also be very interesting. If you have use of the sound meter for awhile, I could send you a few rounds of each.
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ive got about 30 different flavors of 22 ammo out in the shop, ill go look and see what i have.
i have very little sub sonic stuff, ill go take a pic of what i have and post it..... the CCI CB sounds familiar though.....
ill be back!
 
wayupnorth said:
ive run it through semi rifle and semi pistol and you have to charge every shot because it dosnt have enough zip to cycle the bolt back.
other than that the stuff is fun to shoot.
im on my 2nd box so far this month!
i wonder if it has enough zip to kill anything?
anyone try them on gophers or rats yet?
Click to expand...

I'll summarize. Shot a grouse in the side of the body after 2 missed head shots(windy). It looked back at its wing, gave it a shake, then walked away. When I used a standard short to take the bird, then I saw something that made me laugh while skinning it. The side shot was stuck in the feathers under the wing, and the breast had a cute little bruise on the side where the bullet would have hit it. Sounds too funny to be true, but it is, and I have a witness that was too busy laughing at the situation as well. The shot in which 'bruised' the brd was at approximately 50-60 feet.
 
As I understand it, gunshots are such short duration that to get an accurate reading you generally have to use a specialized DB meter that can handle instantaneous or impulse events, something like a SoundTrack LXT1-QPR. These generally put the true impulse of a 1200fps 22LR rifle shot around 140-143dB. The meter you have (even on "fast") is probably doing a bit of averaging rather than showing the true max.

It should still be useful for relative comparisons between ammo and firearms, just not for absolute numbers.
 
wayupnorth said:
i wonder if it has enough zip to kill anything?
anyone try them on gophers or rats yet?
Click to expand...
Aguila makes two 20 grain subsonic 22LR rounds. One gives an MV of about 420 fps (8 food pounds energy); the other an MV of 590 fps (16 fpe).

By comparison, in Canada a non-PAL air rifle (at 495 fps) in .177 with a typically-sized 8.4 grain pellet, yields 4.6 fpe, while a .177 air rifle shooting at about 800 fps with the same pellet gives close to 12 fpe. In the U.K., where air rifles are more commonly used than powder burners, the law allows air rifles up to 12 fpe without a Firearms Certificate (what they refer to as an FAC across the pond). Most U.K. shooters and hunters do not have an FAC because it is relatively onerous to obtain, yet they regularly and successfully hunt rabbit and squirrel with rifles having no more than 12 fpe. Of course shot placement is paramount.

The Aguila 20 grain bullet with the MV of 590 fps should be quite sufficient for grouse and rabbit, provided that you aim at the head or vitals and can hit what you aim at.

CCI makes a variety of .22 Short ammo, including a HV variant of 29 grains with an MV of 1080 fps and 75 fpe. The CCI low noise CB round, 29 grains, has an MV of 710 fps and 32 foot pounds of energy. Any of them can be effective on grouse and rabbit with proper shot placement.
 
That's an interesting test wayupnorth. CCI subsonics HP is what I have been using for grouse and squirrel. I am surprised that you show Blazer (~1200 FPS) not as loud as the CCI subsonic HPs (~1000 FPS). Any ideas why that could be?
 
I'd like to see the results from a Dlask 8" barrel.The first time I shot mine I forgot to bring ear plugs and after ten rounds my left ear was ringing pretty good.
 
Thumper69 said:
I'd like to see the results from a Dlask 8" barrel.The first time I shot mine I forgot to bring ear plugs and after ten rounds my left ear was ringing pretty good.
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so i popped out of town to the gravel pit and did 10 rounds through each 8" and 18" Dlask barrels...... and they both came up more of less the same on the DB meter?

strange, eh?

im gonna go back out tomorrow and give it another try to see what the heck is going on because i agree the 8" seems a lot louder.
 
wayupnorth said:
so i popped out of town to the gravel pit and did 10 rounds through each 8" and 18" Dlask barrels...... and they both came up more of less the same on the DB meter?

strange, eh?

im gonna go back out tomorrow and give it another try to see what the heck is going on because i agree the 8" seems a lot louder.
Click to expand...

Yes, the 8" barrel should be louder than the longer barrel.
 
OP, can you do us a favour, set it up with the meter near your left ear, to tell what the shooter will hear and what someone beside them would be hearing roughly, also there are a few free iPhone apps for decibel meters, maybe try one of those beside the decibel meter to see how close it is to being accurate
 
im planning to run out and do this again next week when i go on days off again.
ive already been thinking about the iphone meter and testing it against the DB meter.
ill let ya know how it goes.
 
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