How loud is it?

[JohnR]

I have a dB meter app on my phone. I have no clue how accurate it is, but it's interesting to use. I've been at my kids' school functions where the loud music can hit well over 100dB. And naturally I've wondered what kind of reading it would give for gunshots, so... I brought some Blazer .357 and some reloads with just a primer in them, to compare. I was pretty surprised at the readings, though I know dB readings are not always as cut and dried as a raw number might imply.

Sitting here at my desk, I am able to clap my hands a foot or so away from the microphone, and it gets up to 104.7dB. At the range, the mic was probably 4 feet from the sound source, and with the .357 magnums, it read 120.2dB. The small pistol primer all by itself, a sort of .38 Colibri round without any projectile, read 109dB. With earmuffs on, that 109dB sounded like almost nothing, so the number was surprisingly high. A difference of 11dB is more than it seems, since it's a logarithmic scale. But also, the full blast of .357 is a whole bundle of frequencies letting off with a blam! sound, compared to the polite little pop of a primer. Kind of like a needle poking you vs. a sledge hammer.

Anyway, it means nothing, proves nothing, and I wouldn't fire a primer-only cartridge indoors or the back yard here in the suburbs. I'm not sure what burned primer gasses and chemicals get belched out the muzzle, gooking up the cylinder gap, and 109dB is too loud for inside, though I doubt the neighbors would think to call the cops. So there we are.

[yqtszhj]

Best I remember (which may not be right) every +3db is double. So +6 is twice as loud as +3, +9 is twice as loud as +6, etc... Of course I may be remembering wrong.

So +11 could be significant depending on where you start.

[BirdsThaWord]

Lol! Interesting “experiment” though. I’m thinking it was fun!

[Bawanna]

What did he say?

[JohnR]

Eh??

[wadu]

I have a dB meter app on my phone. I have no clue how accurate it is, but it's interesting to use. I've been at my kids' school functions where the loud music can hit well over 100dB. And naturally I've wondered what kind of reading it would give for gunshots, so... I brought some Blazer .357 and some reloads with just a primer in them, to compare. I was pretty surprised at the readings, though I know dB readings are not always as cut and dried as a raw number might imply.

Sitting here at my desk, I am able to clap my hands a foot or so away from the microphone (https://webcammictest.io/mic-test/), and it gets up to 104.7dB. At the range, the mic was probably 4 feet from the sound source, and with the .357 magnums, it read 120.2dB. The small pistol primer all by itself, a sort of .38 Colibri round without any projectile, read 109dB. With earmuffs on, that 109dB sounded like almost nothing, so the number was surprisingly high. A difference of 11dB is more than it seems, since it's a logarithmic scale. But also, the full blast of .357 is a whole bundle of frequencies letting off with a blam! sound, compared to the polite little pop of a primer. Kind of like a needle poking you vs. a sledge hammer.

Anyway, it means nothing, proves nothing, and I wouldn't fire a primer-only cartridge indoors or the back yard here in the suburbs. I'm not sure what burned primer gasses and chemicals get belched out the muzzle, gooking up the cylinder gap, and 109dB is too loud for inside, though I doubt the neighbors would think to call the cops. So there we are.

What factors could affect the accuracy of decibel readings on a smartphone app, and how do these readings compare when measuring different sound sources like loud music, gunshots, and hand claps?

[wyntrout]

Dang! I miss Radio Shack for electronic gizmos and parts. I used to go to those a lot.

You could just buy a db meter or whatever, then the prices got high relative to online prices, but overnight is not as quick as popping into one of the numerous RS stores.

On those Calibrí .22's, I got a Noble pump from the 60's with a 26" barrel to shoot those and even some .22 short CB's.

With Desiree gone shopping, I shot some of both in the house to see how they sounded and worked. They throw out a lot of powder debris and inside are pretty loud. I should have worn earmuffs or plugs... really had more ringing than my regular, well not so regular, but loud tinnitus. Anyhow, I sold the rifle and gave up on fooling with those things.

I had thought that the 26" barrel would really make those quieter. They rifle would be be a LOT quieter than a pistol.

[dao]

I had a battery a month card for many years. Spent hours in RS testing tubes and looking for switches and pots over the years. I miss them too!

[tokuno]

Dang! I miss Radio Shack for electronic gizmos and parts. I used to go to those a lot.

You could just buy a db meter or whatever, then the prices got high relative to online prices, but overnight is not as quick as popping into one of the numerous RS stores.

On those Calibrí .22's, I got a Noble pump from the 60's with a 26" barrel to shoot those and even some .22 short CB's.

With Desiree gone shopping, I shot some of both in the house to see how they sounded and worked. They throw out a lot of powder debris and inside are pretty loud. I should have worn earmuffs or plugs... really had more ringing than my regular, well not so regular, but loud tinnitus. Anyhow, I sold the rifle and gave up on fooling with those things.

I had thought that the 26" barrel would really make those quieter. They rifle would be be a LOT quieter than a pistol.

We shoot Calibri 22s out of a Henry lever, and it's quieter than the air rifle, even at low pumps. Originally bought the Colibri for ground squirrels, but they're clever little creatures and quickly adopted avoidance practices, so we have a couple cases of unused Colibri somewhere hereabouts.
Maybe someday when there's grandkids in the picture it'll be fun backyard target plinking . . . they'll learn firearms cleaning and maintenance, too - the Colibri's filthy.