Gunshot Went Off Near Me Today — Please Help Me Sort This Out...

[linearb]

As a European I continue to be amazed by the gun culture in the US.

It's like you cannot outrun noise there. Either you live in a city, which is always noisy, or in the countryside surrounded by gun freaks.

Pretty big misconception really. Granted, American gun culture is insane, but we are a huge and diverse country. Actual ownership rates vary wildly from one part of the country to another; additionally, a small number of really rabid "collectors" who have hundreds or thousands of firearms, skews per capita numbers a lot.

My wife has a couple firearms; we live in the woods and we have varmint pests that will attack our animals to contend with, as well as rabid animals of various stripes, Lyme-vector animals, etc.

Also, if a gun is really 160 dB, why aren't there so many more people with tinnitus? Even with protection that's EXTREMELY loud!

Because they aren't anywhere near that loud except under exceptional conditions (.50bmg out of a 4" barrel inside a concrete room, maybe?)

125-140db is often given as the reference range for .22lr ammunition, but from experimenting with multiple .22 weapons and a pretty good dB meter that goes to 130, I have never even managed to provoke a 120 reading with the muzzle right at the meter. Remember, 120db at the muzzle, is going to be significantly less than half that acoustic pressure at the shooter's ear.

 

[Badger19]

I realize that was a big generalisation, I apologise.

 

[Josh1994]

On Sunday, I was out on my bike with my mates.

We were messing about on a hilltop for around 2 hrs. During that time I noticed there were gunshots in the distance.

When I got home I did some research and found out there was a clay pigeon shooting range 1.7miles from where we were biking.
I found out what guns they were using and did the math. By my calculation, I believe the maximum dB level from the gunshots where we were would of been 81dB max.

It's been about 42 hours since the event and I haven't had a spike, nor any ear fullness. Should I be worried or am I just being paranoid? Or maybe I've not done the calculation correct. It wasn't that loud, although I think i thought it was louder than it was due to it being gunshots.

Can anyone give me some wise words and put me out of my panic.

Many thanks.

 

[linearb]

I realize that was a big generalisation, I apologise.

Oh no. I just realized I've become That American who defends our insane gun situation in any capacity (not really kidding). I can tell you some awful stories, too, like some idiot rednecks down the street pulling a gun on lost tourists, or the time I saw a guy with his kid with a pistol in one hand a a 1.75l bottle of whiskey in the other (and of course no ear pro)... but rest assured there are reasons for the stereotype.

On Sunday, I was out on my bike with my mates.

When I got home I did some research and found out there was a clay pigeon shooting range 1.7miles from where we were biking.
I found out what guns they were using and did the math. By my calculation, I believe the maximum dB level from the gunshots where we were would of been 81dB max.

I'd like to see your math; I have a sandpit about 2000' from me that people use as a firing range, and I generally am unaware it's in use unless my window is open, in which case I vaguely am aware of gunshots in the distance. I have trees bolstering me, but even if you were directly above the sound with no barrier, at 1.7 miles you're not getting anywhere near 80db unless they're shooting off tanks.

It's been about 42 hours since the event and I haven't had a spike, nor any ear fullness. Should I be worried or am I just being paranoid? Or maybe I've not done the calculation correct. It wasn't that loud, although I think i thought it was louder than it was due to it being gunshots.

There is nothing magical about gunshots that makes them any more or less loud than any other loud thing; it sounds to me like you're having a textbook anxiety reaction.

I've stood 50' from people dumping magazines out of AR-15s and stuff a good number of times; as a general rule I don't shoot anything bigger than .22 myself anymore, but if I'm comfortable at 50' I think you're good at 8,976 feet, especially since birdshot loads in a shotgun are probably not as loud as personkiller centerfire rounds.

 

[Josh1994]

Yeah I'm sure I am just overreacting due to anxiety.

I've attached what the results were

 

[linearb]

Yeah I'm sure I am just overreacting due to anxiety.

I've attached what the results were

I don't know what that app is doing, but here's a memo from a gun club that attempted to assess this with real instruments, and says

The acoustical measurements recorded Sound Exposure Levels (single event or SEL values) between 35 dB and 52 dB at a trap range sightline location 1,594 meters (one mile) from the Gun Club. Average annual shooting activity produces a CNEL value of 44 dB at this measurement location.

That's much more in line with my own observations; I am less than a mile from a sandpit, and I'd be pretty surprised if it's breaking 50db here; it's quieter than when the guy way across the street is using a chainsaw deep in his woods, for instance.

http://www.sccoplanning.com/Portals...ssment_Report_1.pdf?ver=2012-12-18-093900-460