Handgun noise: revolver vs. pistol

Welcome to the forum!

It probably has more to do with barrel length, and chambering, than the cylinder gap on a revolver.

For an apples-to-apples comparison, you would need an auto and a revolver with the same length barrels and chambered for the same cartridge.

The only revolver I have in an "auto" cartridge is a 7.5" .30 Carbine Blackhawk- and it is WAAAAYYYY louder than the same cartridge fired from an M1 barrel!

My belief is that revolvers are substantially louder, cartridge-for-cartridge, than autos. I find the .45 Colt to be louder in a revolver than the .45 ACP in an auto. I guess I haven't noticed a difference in volume between the Colt and the ACP in revolvers, which probably means there isn't much.

The gap certainly allows high pressure gas to escape laterally at the moment of firing, plus it’s a bit closer to the shooters ears... as these .357 magnum photos show:




And even a .22 Magnum shows a bit of spark at the gap:



As compared to a SA .45 ACP, which only has flame from the muzzle:



Of course the type of powder used, the amount of powder burned, the pressure generated, the bore size, barrel length and the size of the barrel/cylinder gap will all have an affect on the amount of noise the gun generates, so different rounds will make different amounts of noise.

As Nightlord40K posted: Shooting a .45 ACP in a 4” revolver, and then shooting the same ammo in a 4” auto, is much more of a “apples to apples” comparison (using a decibel meter) than my photos are.

Stay safe.

Welcome to the forum. To me a 357 mag without hearing protection is painful. Like a whip cracked by your ear. don’t do it.

Subjectively...

My 460 S&W Magnum full power is louder than just about any other handgun that I have.

I cannot say I notice much difference in noise from my 45 ACP (auto or revolver), 45 Colt, or 44 Special guns.

Full power 357 Magnum are louder than the above cartridges. Even though I have a couple 44 Magnum revolvers, they have not seen a full power loads yet.

Small caliber semi-auto rounds, 25 ACP, 32 ACP and 380 ACP, do not seem to have much noise.

I'm not sure how I can rate 32 H&R Mag and 327 Fed Mag. I have not shot much of those cartridges and so far my loads have not been approaching full power.

I have a couple rifles with muzzle brakes on them and they are louder than the equivalent rifles without the brakes. IO do ot have an hand guns with muzzle brakes though.

When you get to the decibel levels involved in any kind of small arm any difference between revolver or semi auto or a jet engine is going to be so small it's almost not measurable without very sophisticated equipment. As far as your ears are concerned it does not matter at all and they will all do serious damage to your eardrums. ALL small arms are well over 100 decibels and that is WAY over what human ears evolved to deal with in nature. Use the best protection you can afford. Human ears are EXTREMELY sensitive and they cannot be repaired if you damage them.

Regardless of caliber or cartridge I wear double hearing protection when at an indoor range. When shooting outdoors, like at a Cowboy Action match I wear very good earplugs. I do not toy with or treat one round any differently than another when shooting and wearing hearing protection. I wear the same protections for the .22 Long Rifle as I do for .45 and .357 rounds and for rifle rounds outdoors I wear dual hearing protection. Plugs and muffs. Good ones.

Last night at midnight New Year’s Eve I fired a 45 long out of a Redhawk with a 4.2 inch barrel and a 6inch Bond Arms .
The Deringer was very much louder.Earlier this year we were fireing a 44mag carbine and a 45long carbine plus some handguns I then shot my Big Horn Armory 460s&W mag 16inch barrel and people came running out to see what shook the house.
So maybe barrel length?

My 9mm M&P Shield is louder than M&P 9

Try to keep in mind that "perceived" differences in loudness are really meaningless. Your ears are not designed to sense a difference when the sound is THAT loud. Damage will occur without any regard to how loud your brain might think it is. I worked on flight lines with fighter jets and for years and our hearing was tested every 30 days. If you didn't use protective gear religiously then you lost your hearing and had to learn to sleep with loud shrill screeching from tinnitus 24/7. I have been exposed to gunfire most of my life. Take good care of your ears.

Since I (and most of you I presume) wear ear protection it is often hard to tell. The loudest pistols I have fired have been snub nosed revolvers.

The VA sends a direct deposit to my bank account each month. Part of the payment is for hearing loss. Pardon me what did you say, please repeat that again is my most use phrase uttered. I recall at Parris Island we were given cotton balls to place in our ears. Fast forward to the present day we utilize electronic hearing protection. When your hearing is compromised there are negative affects in your every day life.

VA overlooked my hearing loss but gave me 10% towards tinnitus. Go figure

A .22lr fired from a 6” revolver with no hearing protection is slightly painful, to my ear.

A .22lr (or 22 short) fired from a 1.5” derringer is even louder. Done that a couple of times with friends when younger.

A .22lr fired from a 16” single shot rifle is noticeably more quiet than the revolver. But still “loud.”

A .22lr fired from a cut down 18” Winchester 1906 pump is a touch quieter than the single shot. But they’re close. You can fire them without plugs without feeling pain/like it’s too loud, but it’d probably be a bad idea to do it for an afternoon or even a full box of ammo.

A .22lr fired from a CZ bolt action with a barrel of 24” is still more quiet. With standard velocity (subsonic) ammo it’s sufficiently quiet that I’d shoot it without qualms, with no plugs. But even then that’s a bad habit to get into.

I’m sure the cylinder gap on a revolver increases loudness. I’m equally sure that a long barrel (on whatever action) quiets things down. The problem is that optimal ballistics varies depending on caliber. For a .22lr, past about 18” the extra length just creates more friction to slow the bullet. So the magic answer isn’t, unfortunately, to just design a rifle with a 35” barrel. There are definitely calibers that are quieter than others. Best bet for quiet = subsonic with low pressure and a long barrel, locked breech action.

No matter which is louder they will all destroy your hearing if you don't use protection so I really don't care. I retain half my hearing ability and don't want to lose anymore so I wear protection even if I'm only shooting the lowly 22 short.. I don't wear hearing aids, just say "huh' or "what" a lot. I know several people that do wear them and none can hear as well as I can.

Autos have always seemed louder to me. A good example of this would be the .22Mag. Loud out of a revolver but it sounds like a cannon out of the Automag II. Same for the 9mm and .45ACP, although to a lesser extent. Out of a 6" Desert Eagle, the .41Mag is absolutely louder than an even shorter revolver.

Drail said:

Try to keep in mind that "perceived" differences in loudness are really meaningless.

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Not in this context.

doubleh said:

No matter which is louder they will all destroy your hearing if you don't use protection so I really don't care.

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True but every 1db counts. An increase of 10db represents an exponentially higher risk of permanent damage.

It would be interesting to have someone take a deci-meter to a 1911 and a 1917 (5+ and 5.5 inches respectively) shooting the exact same .45 acp.

9mm in a carry revolver compared to a micro-9 would be cool too.

Todd.

CraigC said:

True but every 1db counts. An increase of 10db represents an exponentially higher risk of permanent damage.

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That is why I use hearing protection with a high db rating to retain what hearing I have left.

I'm in agreement with you about the 22 mag. It's loud out of a revolver. I recently purchased a RIA XTM 22 and it sounds like a cannon also. It has a real thump to it wearing high db protection, even more so than a revolver, and that fireball even in bright daylight is amazing. I won't even consider shooting one shot with a 22 mag handgun without good muffs on. Of course, as I stated previously, I don't shoot anything anymore without hearing protection.

I do too and do as little shooting without protection as possible. Even with long barreled .22LR rifles. Not to mention that once you have tinnitus, it all hurts.

An interesting aspect of this is that if you ever have to fire your gun in an emergency / defensive situation you will be firing with no hearing protection and therefore are potentially inflicting harm not only on the aggressor but also on yourself (and possibly nearby family and friends) in the form of hearing damage. Hence, carrying a firearm or using ammunition that develops high pressure might not be such a good idea -- I wonder what would be good choices, i.e. what kind of ammunition / type and caliber firearm would be adequate but not overly loud or maybe just going to something like a .380 would be advisable. Thoughts?

The likelihood of firing a gun in a defensive situation is so low I’m not worried about the impact it could potentially have on my hearing.

IdaD said:

The likelihood of firing a gun in a defensive situation is so low I’m not worried about the impact it could potentially have on my hearing.

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Yeah, I could see how some would be willing to harm themselves in order to inflict greater damage on an aggressor, should the need arise to do so. Others are not so willing to accept that risk, particularly if there is a chance family members / innocent bystanders might be adversely and unnecessarily affected.

CraigC said:

I do too and do as little shooting without protection as possible. Even with long barreled .22LR rifles. Not to mention that once you have tinnitus, it all hurts.

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I'm not going to say that it will happen for everyone but my tinnitus has basically gone away. If something brings the subject to my attention like your post I can hear a very slight hissing noise in the background now. A few years ago the crickets began to chirp less until I never noticed them except when reminded and have now shut up. I must say it's nice not to have them around anymore.