Wow! LOUD!!

[Smokey Joe]

Is it just me, or is it real? Seems that all of the AR-style rifles at the range I frequent, are REALLY LOUD by comparison with other rifles. I wonder why--most of 'em are shooting little .223 bullets; it doesn't take that much powder to move such a small projectile, and yet, even with my good 'muffs on (NRR 30) if there is an AR on the range with me its sound is the loudest.

Well, except mebbe for a big ported magnum.

(The other thing is that with an AR, the owner feels the need to burn up box after box of ammo. Big magnum shooters are much more Scotch with their rounds--But that's a whole nother issue. The question here is just the size of the bang.)

AR shooters--I have nothing against your using and enjoying your rifle of choice. I'm just wondering about the volume of sound they make.

 

[TexasRifleman]

It's the sonic boom that's so loud, not the powder igniting. That is from a very small bullet moving very fast from a relatively short barrel.


Yep, they are loud. Try one with an 11" barrel and no suppressor.... ouch.

Not much to be done about it really. One more reason suppressors should be sold at every gun store for $150.

 

[Ryanxia]

Granted I always have ears on but I've never noticed any real increase in sound from an AR-15.

 

[2WheelsGood]

It's the sonic boom that's so loud, not the powder igniting. That is from a very small bullet moving very fast from a relatively short barrel.

Yeah, remember that .223 is moving roughly three times faster than the average 9mm.

 

[25cschaefer]

The compensators that most ARs have directs the gases to the sides instead of out the front and with that you get the sound directed out the sides as well. Any gun with a compensator is going to seem louder if you are standing beside it.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Loudness is not preportional to the amount of powder burned but to the amount of pressure.

I shot a .69 caliber muzzleloader the other day that was loaded with over 100 grains of black powder and one shot was tolerable without ear protection. It was also nearly five feet long. If you had an AR with a barrel that long it probably would not be too unpleasant to shoot either. Another problem is that many AR's have some sort of muzzle break that blows a good bit of the noise and blast out to the side rather than down range and this is rough on bystanders.

 

[Leverb66]

I fired my DPMS .243 during deer season this year. I normally do not wear ear protection while hunting, and I couldnn't believe how loud it was. Years prior I've used a Ruger M77 in 30.06 and I don't think its anywhere near as loud. Glad to hear I'm not just getting older!

 

[rcmodel]

I agree it is more due to the common 16" barrels coupled with a high pressure cartridge, and the muzzle devices used on your typical AR-15.

More sound is directed to the sides where you are standing on the line next to it, and there is a lot of it coming out of a 16" M-Forgery.

I do not think the supersonic crack of the bullet plays into it.

If you have ever worked the pitts on a rifle range you know the "crack" or "snap" of bullets passing overhead are not loud enough to hurt your ears at all.

rc

 

[mortablunt]

It's the sonic boom that makes all the noise. However, a full power battle rifle in a carbine configuration is louder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkmNvDGE3U

The cracks are an AR-15. No prize for guessing what makes the boom.

 

[Bob M.]

Hahahaha

Love the towel shoulder pad!!

 

[Ranger30-06]

OP, You've never been next to someone shooting a 16" Saiga .308 with Russian ammo...

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I hear another "fun" round/gun is the .30 M1 Carbine cartridge out of a Ruger Blackhawk.

 

[essayons21]

Yes I've noticed that ARs are loud relative to their caliber. I think it is because of the reasons mentioned here, but also their barrels are relatively short for the caliber, especially with the popularity of M4gerys.

I was shooting next to a guy with a Miculek compensator on his AR a while back... it sure was a sweet shooting rifle but it was a bear to shoot next to.

 

[Lateck]

The Ruger Scout rifle with it's short barrel is LOUD.... (.308)
And it is fun to use up a box or two of ammo.....
I have had a few people comment on the GSR a few times even outdoors...

Always wear Good ear protection...

Lateck,

 

[ny32182]

The "sonic boom" is not responsible for the majority of the total noise. The muzzle blast is. If you are standing near the shooting position, the muzzle blast completely drowns out the sonic crack (it isn't really a boom at all); you need to have a suppressor on to take down the muzzle blast before you can hear the sonic crack at all.

Muzzle blast comes from pressure being allowed to rapidly escape, which is what happens when the bullet leaves the muzzle. The shorter the barrel, the higher that pressure is when the bullet leaves the barrel. .223 generates pressures right up there with any other mach ~2.5+ rifle cartridge I'm aware of, thus it makes a lot of muzzle blast.

Compensators that direct gas (pressure/sound) to the sides and/or back, will also of course ramp up the percieved blast in that direction relative to the shooting position, but "most" ARs are not equipped with them; most come with the standard A2 FS these days.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Yeah, it's all blast and nothing at all to do with the bullet being supersonic. If that was the case, a suppressor would do absolutely nothing. Unless it slowed the bullet to subsonic speeds. Shorter barrel + Higher pressure loadings = BOOM!! Plain and simple.

 

[W.E.G.]

The muzzle device is responsible for most of the unpleasantness from the lateral observer's perspective.

 

[Loosedhorse]

Muzzle blast comes from pressure being allowed to rapidly escape, which is what happens when the bullet leaves the muzzle. The shorter the barrel, the higher that pressure is when the bullet leaves the barrel.

Yup.

 

[Dr.Rob]

M-1 carbines are surprisingly loud to me.

 

[Eb1]

I agree with rc. I have worked pits, and the crack isn't like being near the rifle. It is the muzzle break on the rifle that makes the gases and noise disperse to the sides.

The is one exception to my answer. My Marlin XL-7 .25-06. It doesn't have a break on it, but it by far the loudest most percussive rifle I own. People next to me at the range think I am shooting some type of Magnum rifle when I shoot it.

 

[writerinmo]

I shoot mostly my Mosin 91/30 and Chinese type 53 carbine, never noticed anyone shooting an AR...

 

[Eb1]

You know at the range when I shoot the Lee Enfield No. 1 Mk. 3. Shooters beside me seem to complain (well discuss) the concussion that comes off that rifle as well.

 

[Nico Testosteros]

My two brothers in law each have ARs. We shot them both one time. The carbine was much louder than the 20" varmint variant.

 

[lono]

I have noticed and others have asked me about my AR being loud. It is a 16 inch barrel and seems to be louder than larger caliber longer barreled rifles. JMHO
Note: this is outdoor shooting in heavy forest.

 

[Ignition Override]

Eb1: Do you tell them that such noise is typical with a "battle rifle"?

The only two times I've been approached just outside the city limits by LEOs were when shooting an Enfield "Jungle C." in .303 (during bow hunting season, late Nov.).

The TN Fish & Game guy two years ago thought that the Enfield #5 was a "blackpowder rifle".
It might also have been during bow hunting season.