Are pcp guns really quieter than rimfire?

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zebra

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Sep 29, 2015
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New York
I was reading about these quiet 22lr bullets from CCI that only out 68db without any type of silencer. There is no magic. The load is just reduced so they only deliver 36 ft lb of energy with 40gr ammo. That puts them firmly in pcp gun territory and allows a fairer comparison.


Normally powder burners are "louder" because they are putting out at least double the energy of your average PCP gun in an equivalent caliber. The few PCP guns that approach rimfire power are loud enough to wake the dead. what is interesting with this rimfire ammo is that it apparently makes a powder burner quieter without a silencer than most pcp rifles (with equivalent power) are with an LDC or shrouded barrel with baffles. 

I find this to be surprising. 

The CCI ammo puts 40gr ammo out at 710. If I try firing Eun Jin 43gr ammo from my 25 Cricket with the power wheel set to send them out at a similar speed without the shroud, it hurts my ears a lot. Like, I might be partially deaf for the next week....
 
These are the ones I am referring to:

http://www.cci-ammunition.com/products/detail.aspx?use=3&loadNo=960


They are marketed as "great for backyard plinking" and claim only 68db - quieter than you average hair dryer.

I haven't tried those bullets and I know that you have to allow for inaccuracy in sound measuring equipment and make some mental adjustments for marketing spin (aka lies and exaggeration). Still, it has made me open to the possibility that, when equivalent energy is put out, powder burners might not be louder than air guns.

I can't think of any air guns that put out 36ft lb of energy and are quiet enough for backyard plinking without an LDC or shrouded barrel. My Mutant is the quietest 22 I own but without the shroud, it is loud, like every other PCP gun. 

If any of you have tried those Quiet rf rounds, I would be interested to know if their marketing is complete BS or if there is a 22lr round that is quiet enough for backyard plinking without the legal hassles of a firearms silencer. Obviously air guns still have the legal advantage in most towns as there aren't many places where it is legal to plink with a powder burner in an urban environment, regardless of noise.

 
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I used CCI Quiet 22lr, CB 22 short, Aguila Super Colibri, Colibri in semi and lever action both 16" barrel. The semi is louder and lever quieter, think cause when the semi action opens noise escapes while the lever action stays closed by the time you cycle it noise is done. The Quiet 22 are loud still hear a bang. The CB22 short are lound still hear a bang. The Super Colibri sounds more like a strong PCP, 50fpe, like a nail gun loud. The Colibri sounds like a pcp around 30+fpe. These ammo groups aren't that tight, but could be the barrel/rifle too. My rim fire were Smith&Wesson 15-22, Browning BL-22, Henry 22 all 16" barrels. My Mutant short group size with JSB 15.89g about 27fpe is about half that of these rimfire at 50yards, the rimfires on a bench with sandbags and mutant with me sitting on the ground resting my elbows on my knees.

Basically with these rimfire there is no supersonic bang but there is the bang from the gun powder
 
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quiet_22_longrifle.jpg
 FEATURES & BENEFITS
  • Ultra-quiet plinking round in 22-caliber LR rifles
  • 75% reduction in perceived noise of standard velocity .22 LR
  • Standard CCI .22 LR case
  • Excellent accuracy and low velocity (710 feet per second)
  • Better performance than an air rifle with similar noise levels
  • No hearing protection required
  • Great for backyard plinking and introducing youth to the shooting sports
  • Ideal for legal shooting areas where noise may be a concern




Better performance than an air rifle with similar noise levels

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahagagagaghahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaha
I needed a good laugh
That's funny stuff
 
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If I take the LDC and the shroud off my 25 cricket the CB short short out of a very long barrel 22 is about the same sound level.
I did this test about two years ago,
LDC on and Shroud installed and the CB short is not even in the ball park with the Cricket,
You can not compare the accuracy of the two, That's a joke.
at 30 and 48 yards anyway, Maybe at 10 yards the CB would fair better, Not sure never tried it that close.
Mike
 
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My guess is there is a linear progression as the energy rises, so do the decibels. It doesn't matter what the propellant is, whether burned powder or compressed gas. The rapid release of the pressure behind the projectile as it leaves the barrel is the source of the noise. Pop a balloon and you get a rapid release of stored air pressure. Since we are comparing both sub sonic projectiles of approximately the same weight and traveling at approximately the same speed, you should, IMHO, have equal noise levels. The advantage would then go to the PCP with a reducer, over or quieter than the non suppressed powder burner.
Now having said all that, I have shot, if memory serves, CB longs out of a BL22 and a Browning Buckmark. These were also made by CCI but probably close to 20 years ago so I'm not sure if they have the same powder charge or not. Again, relying on my memory, the sound as I remember it was equivalent to a pellet gun. Which at the time I thought was pretty cool. My last experience was probably close to 9-10 years ago and I shot a couple mallards that took up residence in our neighborhood pool that were building up a visible collection of feces in one corner of the pool about 3' deep. I normally took care of the plumbing issues at the pool so I just took the Buckmark up in a tool bag and remedied the problem. Very quiet and discreet, a perfect use of the CB long's. So long story short, I think they are about the same. The advantage cost wise would go to the PCP. I don't know what the the CB's go for now but most assuredly they cost more than an equivalent weight pellet.
 
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Theres no comparison between the cb and my pcp rifles. I have shot them from my 10-22 which dont cycle it and they have a pop to them. The ones you listed are running the same speed as the cb does so I would guess the same noise level. I can shoot my pcp inside a closed up room 10 x 10 with no hearing protection but I wouldn't do it with the cb load.
 
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"LDP"Theres no comparison between the cb and my pcp rifles. I have shot them from my 10-22 which dont cycle it and they have a pop to them. The ones you listed are running the same speed as the cb does so I would guess the same noise level. I can shoot my pcp inside a closed up room 10 x 10 with no hearing protection but I wouldn't do it with the cb load.
Click to expand...
There is no PCP gun at that power that isn't loud without an LDC or shroud with baffles. I would need hearing protection for all of them if they weren't shrouded. 

I haven't used those 22lr quiet rounds so I have no first hand experience to draw from. I just know that none of my PCP's put out as little at 68db. Most are louder than that even with an LDC. 

I am assuming from the feedback from people who have used them that the marketing on those CCI rounds is somewhat optimistic. It doesn't sound like people can use them without their neighbors knowing. 

You would have to do the test with a PCP gun and 22lr with the same length barrel and the same LDC (or no LDC) to do a fair comparison. Even then, powder burner barrels are twice as thick as PCP barrels. 

 
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Zebra in your original post you said compared to a pcp with a suppressor and no suppressor on the 22 lr just the low noise rounds . Of course the pcp is going to be loud without a suppressor. They do not stack up to a pcp with a good suppressor attached. If you added a suppressor to the 22 lr then yes they should be just as quiet. My guess is they used a pcp with a poor suppressor as a comparison. 
 
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Allow me... 


Of course that's comparing an unsuppressed .22LR to a suppressed Mrod. But Mrods are suppressed anyhow, so for real world conditions that the average shooter is going to find himself, its a fair comparison. An Mrod will virtually always be suppressed. A .22lr will more often than not be unsuppressed. Also note I'm using a longer barrel on the .22LR than normal (normal is 16 inch barrel, this barrel is at least 20 inches). 
 
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Also, I should add that since I tranferred Uglrod's innards over to my brother's gun and added Bob Sterne's SSG, a WAR shroud extension, and mixed the baffles between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 baffles, the gun has become the quietest .25 in its power range that I've ever heard. BB gun quiet. So quiet that when I first heard it shot after my brother had it for several months, I thought it had lost its tune and otherwise had broken until I ran the shots over the chrony. 

I'm planning on making a video with it soon. Its freakish. 
 
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I shot some CCI quiets recently at the range through rifle and pistol. Pistol, of course is louder. The CCI's through a rifle are very similar in noise level to an unmoderated, out of the box disco. I realize that is subjective, but I don't own equipment to provide accurate comparison. But I was shooting the quiets with no hearing protection and wasn't bothered with it. (Again...very scientific...)
 
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The CCI CB Longs significantly quieter than the CCI Quiet-22's out of my .22 LRs. The CCI CB Longs (which I haven't seen for a long time) are in the range of bullet hitting target being louder than the gunshot. I shoot them out of bolt action .22's as they don't even have enough evergy to cycle the action on my semi autos, They are loud out of short pistols though.

My .22LR with CB Longs is much much stealthier than my Airwolf w/o a silencer (37 fpe). Silencer on and they are about the same with an edge to the Airwolf.


 
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