Does Rain muffle the sound of a gun or rifle shot?

[pbearperry]

Once hunting in thick fog,a friend of mine got a shot off.It sounded way off,but it was fairly close.

 

[230RN]

^

Once hunting in thick fog, a friend of mine got a shot off. It sounded way off, but it was fairly close.

OK, make my bet ten bucks now.

Trouble is, I've never heard any but my own shots in the rain/fog, so I was too close to make a judgement.

Terry, 230RN

 

[KINGMAX]

don't know

 

[JKimball]

I remember as a kid playing with an alarm on a digital watch. Leave it on the diving board and I could just barely hear it outside the pool standing by the shallow end. But, drop it in the deep end and go under water in the shallow end? Could hear it plain as day and I recall it being even louder than listening to it on my arm out of the pool.

I remember doing that as a kid too. But did you ever try listening for the alarm while it was sitting on the diving board, and you were underwater in the shallow end?

I've never noticed that going underwater amplifies the soundwaves in the air.

I voted yes. Companies that do soundproofing rely on the mass of the barrier material to dampen the sound, and isolating the materials from each other so the vibrations can't travel through them as easily. They will even wrap rooms in lead sheets. So I'm thinking the raindrops act like so many isolated curtains of mass to dampen the sound.

 

[stevemis]

I try not to shoot in the rain and always wear ear protection, so I have neither the scientific answer nor the experience.

I can say that the airplanes which pass by at 4,000 to 5,000 feet (we are about 20 miles from an airport) are MUCH louder on heavily cloudy days. I can only attribute this to the clouds forming a blanket between the ground and the airplane.

It would not be a far stretch to assume that if it's raining, it is also cloudy and that the clouds might also reflect that shot noise back to the ground.

 

[rfurtkamp]

What if I use one of my cans and subsonic ammo?

Is it quieter in the rain then?

 

[22-rimfire]

Sounds seems to appear to be more muffled when we are in a low pressure condition which would normally include rain and snow.

Just my guess based on listening to shots fired during deer season in public hunting land.

 

[hiker44]

Moisture aside, depending on how hard it's raining, the water falling on surrounding material -- roof, vehicle, leaves, etc. -- may tend to slightly mask the sound of a gunshot, but it's all relative. Have to get out in the rain and try it. Anyone wanna come along?

 

[bearmgc]

Shot my antelope this year in rain, and the muzzle blast seemed much louder and had a "crack!" to it.

 

[Creature]

Heavy rain, snow and even thick fog can partially mask higher frequency sound waves better than low frequency waves and, as a result, the distance that certain sound waves are able to travel is reduced.