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Pesting "backyard friendly" impact noise

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MushroomPsyche

MushroomPsyche

Member
Jul 18, 2020
157
35
GA, United States
When I first got into airguns, the only concern I had was the sound coming from the gun itself. I underestimated just how loud the impact sound is and it never even crossed my mind to consider it. Indeed, with my .22 TX200 shooting the JSB Hades, I could shoot a rodent from inside the window and with neighbors about 60 meters off to the side, they didn't even have any clue of what's going on. I got a .22 PCP a few months ago and tuned it to shoot the Hades at 950 FPS or 31 FPE. The gun, a Taipan Veteran long, is very quiet (especially when shot from inside a window) but the impact the pellets make is loud. I don’t shoot when neighbors are out in their yards unless there is someone making more noise with a lawn mower or a leaf blower. We keep to ourselves and I haven't really had any problems with the neighbors but I'm trying to keep it that way as much as possible. I know people can be sensitive to anything projectile or animals getting shot so close to human habitation. I don’t want to give the neighbors even just a hint that I even own guns (firearms, airguns).

The 31 FPE .22 is all I need for now but I’ve contemplated on getting a .25 caliber PCP later on just because. With a larger frontal profile, I’m thinking the .25 will be louder than the .22 even if I down tune the .25 to the same FPE. Realistically though, if I get a .25 I will tune it to full power (i.e. ~940 FPS or 52 FPE for the 26.54 JSB Hades) to get a similar trajectory with my .22 caliber. If I have to down tune the .25 to the same power as the .22, I’d rather not even get it at all. I’m sure the issue will be that the 52 FPE .25 will have a much louder impact sound than my .22 caliber. What are your thoughts and experiences on this?
 
I can't wait for my Veteran long to get here. What was yours shooting out of the box. I added a DonnyFL with my order because I had them put a power plenum and a Huma regulator in. Probably didn't need either one on 22cal. I haven't had a mod since my Cyclone 7 years ago and it needed one. Those old FX shrouds didn't do much. I would like to have one as quiet as possible. I wonder if the ODB's are better? 
 
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...that is the issue I ran into with my .25 TalonP/Escape rifle...

...I got the gun quite enough with Donny FL Emperor but I really can't shoot it in the back yard except for Special Occasions...

...the ballistic potential and impact noise make this so...

...I had run into this issue before with a Daystate Fire Fly I owned...

...it was a .22 that was quite enough from the factory for the back yard but the pellet strikes were still loud enough to attract unwanted attention...

...the nosey neighbores went and stood in the impact zone but could not locate the shooter...


 
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francisfaustino,

I am the same situation as you. I want to shoot in my backyard but I don’t want my neighbors to know I am shooting. My PCP is quiet but the pellets hitting the target are not.

I bought a $7 bag of “Rubber Mulch” from Home Depot. The mulch is made from ground up tires. I put it in a plastic box and cut an opening in the lid a little smaller than my 8” X 11” targets. Before putting the lid on the box I put cardboard over the rubber mulch to keep the mulch from dumping out when I set up the box. The rubber mulch is heavy and stops the pellets. I am sure the pellets hitting the rubber is quiet but the pellets hitting the cardboard is not quiet.

Maybe I will try putting cloth in front of the cardboard to deaden the sound of the cardboard. I don’t want it to stop the pellets and them come flying back at me.
 
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Try setting up a compost pile using hay bales. It looks like a really environmentally friendly thing to do. 6 bales shaped like a big U, 2 in the back and 2 on each side. PLace your target on the back of the hay. The side bales help deaden the impact sound. The impact is inside the hay walls so that helps diffuse the sound. You still hear it, but its not as clear or easy to locate where its coming from. Hang a rubberized door mat over the back if you are afraid of pass thru shots. I dont have to worry about that with an HW30 and R9, but I still have it just in case.
 
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The report from the muzzle is never an issue for me as I shoot from inside my garage, but the pellet slap is. I have my firewood stacked in front of a 6' fence, and 9 bags of left over wood mulch in front of the firewood. 48 yards away in the garage, I can still hear the pellet slap the paper and cardboard targets. The targets area is surrounded by pines and bushes. I asked my neighbor to sit on his patio and listen while I shot. He said he never heard the report or the pellet slap. We switched roles and this time he heard it and I did not. We concluded the shooter is anticipating the slap and therefore hears it, while the bystander may hear it, but it doesn't register. Metal spinners we were able to hear in all the surrounding yards.

note: We were shooting JSB 18.3g out of a 30fpe .22 Daystate Regal XL with the stock Reflex moderator.

During the spinner test, a pellet ricocheted and hit my shed. I no longer shoot at anything metal in the yard and none of my .22 rifles that shoot above 15fpe.
 
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I use a 18x18x16" box with 3 rubber pavers and a 1/8 steel plate in the very back and fill it with the rubber mulch. Aluminum didn't work. As Stoti cautioned after time shooting in the same spot my 30 cal went right through an alum back plate and through a wall!. Shag rugs are great at absorbing sound as well. We used them hanging from the ceiling of our covered 5 stand range to deaden the blast from shot guns.



Dennis
 
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Thank you for the replies everyone. I'm currently using a box of rubber mulch with an old frying pan at the back for backup incase it goes through. The frying pan should also cause a loud noise if a pellet hits it to let me know that they've punched through. No issues so far after I think already a tin's worth of pellets. I'm also using a small box with Duct Seal for outdoor targets. It's just about the size of 3 Duct Seal strips side by side. Again, I'm trying to keep it as small as possilbe to be discreet. The impact on the Duct Seal doesn't seem to be loud to my ear. What I'm really asking in the post is the impact noise on rodents. I think I'd rather be caught by the neighbors shooting paper targets than shooting rodents.

1597549539_16800456245f38abe3ca6d81.28949772.1611087137.jpg


Backyard friendly ballistics should be first. Can your yard contain the projectiles your shooting? I can shoot very far in my yard but would not consider anything over .22 for what I do. The energy levels of the pellets down range is often overlooked with terms like "mouse fart" quiet or "backyard friendly."
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I agree with this which is why I'm really in no hurry to get a bigger caliber and why I chose the .22 in the first place. I just became curious because people are so concerened about the muzzle report of the gun but my experience has showed me that it's actually the impact noise that I need to worry about.
 
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Well, one thing we can’t ever get around, though politicians will try...the laws of physics. We can try to control one side but mass x acceleration = impact noise (pellet slap). You can put a “cushion” to minimize the noise of the impact, but energy dump is energy dump.

My Taipan Vet Compact in 25 cal with the DFL Sumo is super quiet until the pellet impacts the target.
 
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Well, one thing we can’t ever get around, though politicians will try...the laws of physics. We can try to control one side but mass x acceleration = impact noise (pellet slap). You can put a “cushion” to minimize the noise of the impact, but energy dump is energy dump.

My Taipan Vet Compact in 25 cal with the DFL Sumo is super quiet until the pellet impacts the target.
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I had my bsa .25 down to 440 FPS and the pellet slap on standard printer paper target is super loud still. I rarely shoot my pp700 .177 at 800FPS because pellet slap is loud, at 650fps is very day time quiet but at night only 450fps seems passable. 


the cool thing about shooting at 450fps is you can watch the pellet fly and because of the arch or lob the pellet drops into scope view at 34 yards like Matt dubber with his 100+ yard shots, freaking hilarious! 


 
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Francis,

you are of course right: Silencing the gun noise is only part of the deal.

We also need to silence the kill noise.

And that is a little harder — because we can hide the gun behind a window and a silencer — but the critter is usually in the open — visible to the prying eyes of the neighbors.... 🙄



To lower the kill noise:

▪Build a sound barrier (hay bales, hanging carpet, bricks, wood) around your bait station — if you have one

▪Shoot smaller calibers (.177 kills just fine)

▪Shoot at slower velocities — a pigeon or squirrel is dead with a regular lead pellet placed in the right place, no matter if it's hitting the critter with 500fps or 900fps.

▪Shoot domed projectiles (pointed is OK — if they are precise in your gun) — and avoid hollow points or wadcutters. They create more noise when they hit.



Happy backyard critter removal! 😄

Matthias
 
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Francis,

you are of course right: Silencing the gun noise is only part of the deal.

We also need to silence the kill noise.

And that is a little harder — because we can hide the gun behind a window and a silencer — but the critter is usually in the open — visible to the prying eyes of the neighbors.... 🙄



To lower the kill noise:

▪Build a sound barrier (hay bales, hanging carpet, bricks, wood) around your bait station — if you have one

▪Shoot smaller calibers (.177 kills just fine)

▪Shoot at slower velocities — a pigeon or squirrel is dead with a regular lead pellet placed in the right place, no matter if it's hitting the critter with 500fps or 900fps.

▪Shoot domed projectiles (pointed is OK — if they are precise in your gun) — and avoid hollow points or wadcutters. They create more noise when they hit.



Happy backyard critter removal! 😄

Matthias
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Thank you for all the advice everyone. I think I will stick with the .22 for the forseeable future since all I do is shoot in the backyard. I also shoot at my parents' backyard (they have a bigger chipmunk issue than we have at our house) and their backyard is a really long wooded area. Over there, I also shoot towards the ground from an elevated position of about 5 to 6 meters high and I think a .25 would be safer there than at our house. Even still, their neighbors to the sides are relatively close and I already worry about the pop noise of the impact with the .22 caliber. I would imagine much so with a .25 caliber. For me, I think the .25 would be better suited as a "go out in the woods" hunting gun but that's not really something I plan on doing.
 
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