Gun Sounds

Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Calibre44

Member
Joined
May 17, 2007
Messages
654
Location
United Kingdom
Like a lot of people who like guns I love the satisfying series of clicks a revolver makes whist cocking or the 'click clack' of an underlever or the sound of a bolt action rifle or pump-action shotgun loading a round etc etc.

The sound I love in movies is the 'phut' sound a silenced pistol makes - how true is this to a real silenced pistol being fired? ... just curious.
 
"Rifles and any handgun that can produce supersonic velocities will create a sonic crack, like the crack of a whip, but not a boom like a gunshot."

That's interesting. I've always wondered how much of the noise produced when a gun is fired came from the "explosion" vs the sonic boom of the projectile.
 
How about the "ricochet" sound that old west type guns always make in the Spaghetti Westerns ?
 
Here in the US I like the sound an AK makes when a round is chambered. Not so much when I was overseas... :uhoh:
 
I grew up shooting in rock quarries (that's just what everyone did back then), so I'm pretty used to that stereotypical ricochet sound, Doppler and all.

Along the lines of "silenced" guns, check out some you tubes of a suppressed Uzi, or a service sized .45; the gas escaping is mixed in with the sound of the action working.

Years ago, my wife asked me about movie silencers and if they could make a gun that quiet (some whisper thing on TV)... I responded by digging a Ruger P-90 out of the safe and racking the slide a few times. She agreed that it would be hard to miss that sound close by at night anywhere outside of, say, New York, Mexico City, Rome or Lagos.

Cycling a gun is mechanically loud; we just don't notice it when there are 230 grains being launched at almost 900 fps by gunpowder at the same time.
 
Calibre44 said:
Like a lot of people who like guns I love the satisfying series of clicks a revolver makes whist cocking or the 'click clack' of an underlever or the sound of a bolt action rifle or pump-action shotgun loading a round etc etc.

The sound I love in movies is the 'phut' sound a silenced pistol makes - how true is this to a real silenced pistol being fired? ... just curious.
Click to expand...
The delight that you describe above is part of what is called "object satisfaction."

It is the same thing that causes people to collect fine old cameras, with all those beautifully machined and knurled controls, and all that fine, precise, "click, whirr, click" sound that occurs when the controls are activated.
 
Depends entirely on the caliber and the silencer. A supersonic bullet still cracks even if suppressed, the sound of a subsonic bullet (again depending on the caliber and suppressor) can be materially reduced. I am experimenting right now with different calibers and cans, and the range of suppression is pretty significant, IMHO. The most significantly suppressed is obviously .22 LR - my ears hear a loud finger snap with my Gemtech Alpine affixed.
 
my ears hear a loud finger snap with my Gemtech Alpine affixed
Click to expand...

Yeah, but thats still not the whisper "pfft" that happens on the movies, which I think we can all agree is not realistic.
 
No experience with silencers, but I agree that there is something about the sound of a firearm's action being manipulated, even while empty. For me, it's the three-click hammer of a single-action revolver that I like more. I bet if I had a bolt-action rifle, that would be a close second.
 
I have heard some suppressors that were kind of loud. When shot inside they are quite a bit louder than you would expect. Suppressed machine guns make some racket from the bolt slapping home too (more than you would think). Most of the noise a 22lr makes is actually the sonic crack. When you take that away they are very quiet.

I really like the sound an SA revolver makes.:)
 
I've seen some videos comparing the sound of "dry" suppressors as opposed to "wet" suppressors and there is usually a significant difference --the "wet" ones being quieter. Also, the supressors are generally more effective after the first shot, apparently for similar reasons.

There seems to be some debate as to the reason for these wet-versus-dry and first-versus-second shot effects.

I've fired standard velocity .22 shorts out of a 25" barreled rifle and they're pretty darned quiet, but there's still a mild report.

I also tried some Aguila sans poudre rounds in a .22 rifle and the sound of the firing pin and the impact are both louder than the report: Click-pop...whack. In a handgun they do make a bit of a bang indoors. These have very light bullets in a long rifle case.

Warning: these rounds can get stuck in a long or dirty barrel. The CCI CB caps actually do have a small amount of powder in them, but the Aguilars are only driven by the primer composition.


Terry, 230RN
 
Last edited:
There really IS something "magical" about the "4 click Colt single action" hammer. I have an old Ruger with that mechanism.

The sound of the lever action, . . . sure!

AK chambering and firing is quite distinctive.

For those firearms that can shoot the 22 short, Colibre, or any other low powered round, . . . the sound of them being shot [when others are shooting large caliber rifles nearby] is hillarious.
 
I saw a Hickock45 video on Youtube and he was shooting .300 Blackout out of an AR platform with a supressor, that was about the closest to the pew pew sound of the movie supressors.

I think that sound could've been from the ricochettes too but i'm not sure, it is cool though.
 
Here are some short clips of my daughter shooting a 300 BO and 260 Rem both suppressed from indoors. The blackout is subsonic at about 30yds while the 260 are full power loads at about 400yds shooting steel.


In the 260 bolt gun you'll the swish of the air escaping the suppressor and the sonic crack of the bullet then the bullet strike. With the 300 BO in the AR platform the action is heard cycling and bullet impact. You be the judge.........


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggDUCLqJE-0

http://youtu.be/cAE6szrFB8U
 
The delight that you describe above is part of what is called "object satisfaction."
Click to expand...
"It went "zip" when it moved and "bop" when it stopped,
And "whirr" when it stood still.
I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will."

The Marvelous Toy by Tom Paxton (1962)
 
I can attest to the classic ricochet sound. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while it does - and is a little disconcerting. If you're close enough to hear the whirr you're close enough to get hit (something else I can attest to :( )
My favorite is the "THWACK" from a .223 smacking a rock or something really solid downrange. Makes me laugh every time!
 
Last edited:
Texan Scott's description is very accurate for the ones I've been around, at least for the most part. It's not a pistol, but I fired a suppressed .38 lever gun that was scary quiet. The hammer falling was the loudest part.

I wouldn't call it my "favorite," but the pump of a shotgun is probably the most recognizable.
 
The first time I worked the pits at 600 yards, I wondered how come everyone was wearing their "ears."

At the first volley from the firing points I found out why.

The CRACKs of the bullets going over were about like a .45.

CRACK...boom. CRACK CRACK CRACK... boom boom boom.

Then the bits of target paper floated down in the sunlight, turning like leaves in the fall, showing first white, then black.
 
Every time a gun appears on TV or in a film, there has to be an audio cue to make it obvious to the viewer that there's a gun.
Click to expand...

Like when the good guy has just cleared the entire abandoned building using his Glock, and then as he happens upon the room of bad guys and is about to bust in you hear "chick chick," and he's just standing there holding the gun. It's my favotire movie mistake. Always makes me go "huh?"
 
Almost as bad: when after a lengthy close range foot chase, often involving missed shots, and after cornering the guys, the guy with the gun (good guy or bad guy) decides it's a good time to finally rack the slide. :scrutiny:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

C
  • Locked
The WWII gun sounds greatest hits CD.
Replies
20
Views
777
Ian
I
L
  • Locked
Biggest surprise you experienced with guns
2 3
Replies
57
Views
3K
chrishick
C
D
  • Locked
Why Do Old Guns Feel So Solid?
2
Replies
28
Views
2K
CGofMP
C
H
  • Locked
Range report - Gem-Tech Outback II silencer, Ruger 10/22
Replies
10
Views
1K
mattw
M
J
  • Locked
Bought my first gun today!!!
2
Replies
38
Views
2K
jlbraun
J
Back
Top