Lever Action Blast Difference, 38 Special, 18" vs 24"

Not much.

Shouldn't be much from the 18" wouldn't think there's any appreciable difference stepping up to the 20". Especially if you're shooting lower powdered paper punchers there won't be much difference.

I hope your covering those valuable ears if you’re shooting! Indoors I use plugs and muffs now to keep what’s left of mine, outdoors at least one or the other... and sometimes both.

.38 Spl has minimal blast from 16” rifles. Since the muzzle is further away and more powder is burned in the barrel as it is lengthened, the blast will be less with longer barrels.

Even .357 loads in a 16” rifle aren’t that bad, certainly nowhere near as sharp and loud as a 16” AR 15 in 5.56-.223 or AR 10 in .308.

All the pistol caliber rifles I shoot (.38-.357, .44Spl-Mag, .45 Colt, 9mm and .22 LR and WMR) have less perceived blast than their corresponding pistols do.

Stay safe.

The amount of rumpus at the muzzle of a rifle depends on bullet velocity and propellant characteristics. Blast is the result of remaining unburned powder mixing with the ambient air outside the barrel, along with the supersonic crack of the bullet. A shorter barrel will bring this rumpus closer to the shooter's ears, but if you can live with a degree of reduced performance, the actual fireworks can be considerably mitigated through handloading.

I have quite a few short-barrelled rifles and carbines. I don't typically download pistol cartridges for rifle use, but were I to do so I'd likely pick a 'cowboy' loading using Trail Boss powder and a bullet that's on the heavy side, around 158 grains. I doubt you'd go supersonic with that combination, and in even a 16" barrel you should experience complete powder combustion, mild muzzle blast and virtually no flash. If you not into handloading yet, perhaps you can find someone to load up a test batch for you to try.

FWIW, I generally use IMR4198 or 4227 handloads in my bolt action milsurp carbines. Both are single-base powders that have worked very well for me in reduced-power rifle handloads. I use them for punching holes in paper at 100 yards and don't have to worry about terminal performance. Muzzle blast from shorter barrels, like the one on my little 8x50R M95 straight-pull stutzen, is downright pleasant with this ammo.

I don't know about different barrel lengths, but 38 special is quiet in a 20".
I prefer it to 17HMR if I don't have plugs in.
It will damage your hearing though.

I own the same rifle. Shooting cast hand loads with Clays, with cheap Caldwell muffs on, the loudest report is the primer. I loaded these several years ago for my dad’s revolver which he sold, and subsequently I inherited the ammo. I was positive I had a squib despite my eyes seeing a hole appear in the target.

Maybe this will give you an idea of light 38 loads from a 22" barreled single shot. You can jump to the 5:20 mark for the shooting segment. This video is one of the reasons I want a Henry single shot in 357 to go with my Marlin lever action. 38s are not loud from my 18.5" barreled Marlin.

We use pistol caliber rifles in cowboy action shooting. The most popular cartridge is .38 Special. I’d estimate that most shooters are using a 20” barrel. Some are 18 or 19”; my Uberti had a 20” tube but I had it shortened to about 17” to shave a bit of weight. My wife’s Uberti 1866 with the 20” octagon barrel and brass receiver was a little heavy for her so I had the barrel bobbed to about 16.5”. I can tell little or no difference in the sound level between these barrel lengths.

Some folks have 24” or even 30” barrels. They may be a wee bit quieter than a 20” in the same caliber but not enough for me to really notice.

I always wear good earplugs on the range. The pistol caliber rifles have very little report. Get the length you like.

No matter the load, I think the Thirty Eight would be burned, and perhaps on to deceleration in a sixteen inch barrel.

But even during deceleration there is still pressure behind the bullet.
At muzzel exit there will be a "pop".
A longer barrel will be quieter.

I was narrow when responding to your AR thread. I neglected to mention the gases that exit through bolt and at the gas key/ gas tube interface.
Those small holes in the side of the bolt exit pressured supersonic gas. Just to the front of your face on the opposite side of the rifle. Likewise, inside the receiver, next to your right ear, is the gas tube and the carrier's gas key. Both of which have loud stuff screaming out of them when they dislodge from each other.

Combine that with the beloved Twang! and there is a cacophony of energy exploding next to your head for quite some time after the inital shot.

Lever actions do not have this.

Nor do turn bolts, stick shifts, break actions, pumps, rolling blocks, side levers( Mr. Bradshaw...), falling blocks or muzzle loaders.

All these actions are closed long after the bullet and all ejecta have exited the muzzle, taking the noise with them, and the barrel has regained ambient atmosphere.

Barring a catastrophic event, all the sound exits the muzzle. Then the shooter cycles the firearm.

A quieter system as a whole, for the shooter. But it is still a firearm. Enclosed spaces are murder, little by little, on your ears.
Double up ear pro.

Also a component of sympathetic response is tactile feed back disassociated and read in the brain as, in your case, sound, but it's different for every human.
Lessening the muzzle blast to your face with a neoprene warmer or ski mask (maybe when the range is not busy?) may help with the tolerance of the report.
Doing it more while "insulated" may get your body/brain accustomed to the blast in a way to help you shoot til your heart's content. Being double muffed and knowing you're not hurting your ears as well.


But that is NOT to say you shouldn't get a new lever gun. That would be silly...

Everyone should have a lever gun!

You may just love it, and it may be just what you were looking for.



(Hmm. I need a lever gun...)

Use some type of hearing protection unless you like the word "huh"?

On an AR you can eliminate or minimize the buffer spring noise with a JP silent capture or a flat wire spring sold by Tubb or Strike Industries.

Beyond that there are customized ear plugs with higher NRR than typical generic ones which also vary considerably. If you could up your NRR 3 or 4 dB on plugs, 3-4 dB on muffs, reduce report from spring and cut 4 dB at the muzzle then you’ll be experiencing a significant reduction. Remember that 10 dB is perceived as half as loud, and you may be leaving 10-12 dB on the table right now.

38 special in any long rifle practically sounds like a pop gun.

I don't know what black magic is happening with someguy2800, but my 38's still sound like 38's out of a rifle and require ear protection. No muzzle blast, but it's definitely a gunshot. One of the most pleasant gunshots, but still a shot. Now, when I screw my can on the end of my marlin and shoot subsonic 38's, that's pretty cool. It's not silent by any means, but I can shoot it without ears, any my ears are very sensitive to loud noises. Put a can on an AR, use it with ear muffs, and it is movie quiet. 22lr is also awesome. I highly recommend cans and cannot believe I waited so long to get a couple.

greyling22 said:

I don't know what black magic is happening with someguy2800, but my 38's still sound like 38's out of a rifle and require ear protection. No muzzle blast, but it's definitely a gunshot. One of the most pleasant gunshots, but still a shot. Now, when I screw my can on the end of my marlin and shoot subsonic 38's, that's pretty cool. It's not silent by any means, but I can shoot it without ears, any my ears are very sensitive to loud noises. Put a can on an AR, use it with ear muffs, and it is movie quiet. 22lr is also awesome. I highly recommend cans and cannot believe I waited so long to get a couple.

Click to expand...

At least you are able to buy them... the Sacto cabal that runs this state has kept them illegal for decades.
Stay safe.

greyling22 said:

I don't know what black magic is happening with someguy2800, but my 38's still sound like 38's out of a rifle and require ear protection. No muzzle blast, but it's definitely a gunshot. One of the most pleasant gunshots, but still a shot. Now, when I screw my can on the end of my marlin and shoot subsonic 38's, that's pretty cool. It's not silent by any means, but I can shoot it without ears, any my ears are very sensitive to loud noises. Put a can on an AR, use it with ear muffs, and it is movie quiet. 22lr is also awesome. I highly recommend cans and cannot believe I waited so long to get a couple.

Click to expand...

I didn't mean to make it sound like its hearing safe, it certainly does require hearing protection, but compared to any high intensity rifle round or even a 9mm pistol the report is incredibly mild.

Yes, you are absolutely correct there. As long g as you wear ears, it is as pleasant and soft as any rifle there is.

I wish I were the type to share reloading recipes but with the chance of someone not doing things properly I rarely care to. They would of course have to check for squib rounds and take care of due diligence.