FX wildcat 22 sound level

I've read that more than once about the .22 Wildcat. Crazy how the .22 and .25 are very different in that regard. My .25 is whisper quiet. 

Post up when you get the baffles, will be interesting to hear if that makes a big difference. Hope you're enjoying the new gun, I sure am enjoying mine!

I go through this all the time with my friends. Everything is "whisper quiet" but then I hear the gun and I don't agree. This is the point where I bought a sound meter. The only way to judge sound is with a decibel meter. Without one it's just opinion. Where the gun is shot is a large contributing factor of how the gun's report is perceived. If you are in a walled backyard the report will always seem louder. If you are in an open large country area then the size and volume of the terrain swallows the sound. Describing how loud a gun is would be like describing a color. The only way to judge a color is to use a light spectrometer, in the same way a shooter must use a decibel meter.

I have a crazy neighbor so I have been obsessed with finding a quiet gun Most manufactured guns do not build baffles correctly. I am not picking on FX here I have been disappointed with every single airgun out of the box that is supposedly "mouse fart quiet". I have heard the .25 wildcat and it is not whisper quiet it is still over 100 db which is on par with every other .25 I have shot or logged.

Currently of the guns I have inspected only 2 manufacture's build their baffles correctly to keep the report below 90 db. A db reading in the low to mid 80s is mouse fart quiet. The two guns are the Colibri and the Taipan. If I owned a company I would make the sound a major factor in building the guns.

The good news is because FX guns don't ping so if you're not happy with the sound report it can be fixed.

I have heard the .25 wildcat and it is not whisper quiet it is still over 100 db which is on par with every other .25 I have shot or logged.

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All good points Keysersoze. I wish I had access to a sound meter to know what my gun rates. I have two other guns to compare it to, one being the FX Whisper and the other being a Marauder. Both in .25 and my Wildcat is substantially less noise than either of those guns. My neighbor who owns the Marauder agrees too. 

I'm wondering if the same model gun can vary in noise between guns??? There's something going on because for my Wildcat to be quieter than a model called the "Whisper"..... my gun is just stupid quiet.

If anyone is in metro Atlanta with a sound meter, I'd love to shoot with you!

I never those thought u would become so obsessed with sound. From the best I can tell shooting with a big group of guys we all hear sounds different. There have been 5 of us shooting together before and a friendly argument almost always starts regarding how loud something is. The maurader has a noticeable thud sound. I believe this is hammer noise. FX guns in general do not have a pronounced hammer thud. This might be why the sound report seems less. The real question is how does it sound to the observer. This is all debate airgunners are like art critics.

Shopping for my first PCP and this is very important to me. I'm glad you posted this.

There are decibel metering applications for the iPhone. Since lots of us have an iPhone, if we use the same application that would give us a good repeatable frame of reference. Then we could agree on a set distance from the gun in an open field for 2 more layers of consistency in measuring (No echo from a wall and the same distance from the muzzle) at a 45 degree angle, maybe 3 meters to the side and 3 meters in front of the muzzle and at the same height. I'm sure there must be similar applications for androids as well. While there may be differences in measurements from phone to phone and OS to OS, if each OS used the same app and measured from the same place then we would have a much more reliable frame of reference than opinion. I use one on my iPhone called Decibels. It was reviewed well by some audiophiles and while not perfect by any stretch, it's pretty good. 

.....and a friendly argument almost always starts regarding how loud something is.

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to continue our friendly argument .....my neighbor just walked out with his Marauder and we both took a few shots off our back decks. The Wildcat .25 is "whisper quiet" and I don't need a measuring tool to tell me that. The sound of the pellet hitting the target it louder than the gun plain and simple. The Wildcat, in .25 caliber, is a VERY quiet gun. 

Now how about giving me some credit for owning the gun we're talking about? You don't own this gun and the one you heard may have had something done to it. 

what app?

"scotty"Shopping for my first PCP and this is very important to me. I'm glad you posted this.

There are decibel metering applications for the iPhone. Since lots of us have an iPhone, if we use the same application that would give us a good repeatable frame of reference. Then we could agree on a set distance from the gun in an open field for 2 more layers of consistency in measuring (No echo from a wall and the same distance from the muzzle) at a 45 degree angle, maybe 3 meters to the side and 3 meters in front of the muzzle and at the same height. I'm sure there must be similar applications for androids as well. While there may be differences in measurements from phone to phone and OS to OS, if each OS used the same app and measured from the same place then we would have a much more reliable frame of reference than opinion. I use one on my iPhone called Decibels. It was reviewed well by some audiophiles and while not perfect by any stretch, it's pretty good. 

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YES! Good timing. I just downloaded the FREE app called Decibels on my iPhone 5s. Set the phone on it's side with the screen facing me and about 3 feet in front of the barrel and 3 feet to the side. And I did this in my basement and outside on the deck. Both times it barely registered past 60db. FACT. 

A rod I have a huge network of fellow airgunners we have already tested this Wildcat 25 so give me a little credit. I'm not one of those people that talk without personal experience. I like quantitative data not everyone does.

IPhone sound meters are not great they are designed for constant noise like those found in a factory. They don't do well with peak intermittent noise.

Thats awesome!

"keysersoze"

IPhone sound meters are not great they are designed for constant noise like those found in a factory. They don't do well with peak intermittent noise.

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This ^ we agree on. I don't expect a free app on a cell phone to be all that accurate. But it's what we have. When I shoot with my neighbor again I'll use this app for comparative purposes. 

"arod2000"

"scotty"Shopping for my first PCP and this is very important to me. I'm glad you posted this.

There are decibel metering applications for the iPhone. Since lots of us have an iPhone, if we use the same application that would give us a good repeatable frame of reference. Then we could agree on a set distance from the gun in an open field for 2 more layers of consistency in measuring (No echo from a wall and the same distance from the muzzle) at a 45 degree angle, maybe 3 meters to the side and 3 meters in front of the muzzle and at the same height. I'm sure there must be similar applications for androids as well. While there may be differences in measurements from phone to phone and OS to OS, if each OS used the same app and measured from the same place then we would have a much more reliable frame of reference than opinion. I use one on my iPhone called Decibels. It was reviewed well by some audiophiles and while not perfect by any stretch, it's pretty good. 

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YES! Good timing. I just downloaded the FREE app called Decibels on my iPhone 5s. Set the phone on it's side with the screen facing me and about 3 feet in front of the barrel and 3 feet to the side. And I did this in my basement and outside on the deck. Both times it barely registered past 60db. FACT.

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I am not doubting that your app said that but I have been using an app called db meter pro on my iPhone 6. I can snap my fingers and it will read higher than 60db
, the inside of my house with absolutely nothing on complete silence is 50 db you can slightly hear my pool pump running, I am doing it as we speak. Let me give you an example of different sounds and what they are db wise:

​quiet whisper from 3 feet is 30 db
a quiet home 40 db
quiet street is 50 db
Normal conversation is 60 db
inside of a car 70 db
singing from 3 feet 75 db
automobile from 25 feet 80 db
motorcycle 30 feet 90 db
diesel truck from 30 feet 100 db
Power tools are at 110 db

This is a great app, I can't remember if it was free or not but it is very sensitive and has average and peak values, also has 4 different frequency settings for the reading of sound. Check it out if you have an iPhone, I am guessing that even if it is whisper quiet it is still going to read in the 70-90 db range. Just my opinion.

Kgb I'll make one correction what you posted is not an opinion. You are posting facts.

"keysersoze"Kgb I'll make one correction what you posted is not an opinion. You are posting facts.

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Thank you, I have a little experience with this as I went through the same thing with my Cricket and the quest for the quietest AG possibly, with that much air being released and the mechanics of the AG it's going to make some noise. It doesn't make it bad, but lets be real, it may help someone with a purchase.

edit: I left out a couple words

"keysersoze"Kgb I'll make one correction what you posted is not an opinion. You are posting facts.

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We agree on this too. Maybe we have more in common that it seems?  

The dB meter reads approx 58db on my deck with two ceiling fans operating. In my basement it reads around 55 with the HVAC humming. I shot twice more in the basement and 6 more times on the deck, each time 3 ft in front and 3 ft to the side, with the iPhone 5s on it's side and the bottom of the phone facing the gun side and I get consistently readings right around 67dB. Apologies for saying "barely above 60dB". It's blowing 60dB out of the water with an obnoxious 67dB. If you use this app and place the phone 3 ft to the side and 3 ft in front, i'm sure you'll experience it's not the easiest to read. Anyway, I'm going with 67dB as my official half-assed non-scientific sound reading for MY Wildcat .25.

And just for fun....me operating my Hill MK3 pump registers about 70dB. My pump is louder than my gun! 

I said early on in this thread that maybe noise levels vary between guns. Same models could produce different noise when you consider it's VERY early in the production of this gun. Maybe the regulators are different? Who knows, I'm just trying to play devils advocate and offer possible explanations. hopefully another owner will provide his/her input soon. 

Does your app have a sensitivity setting? You may want to turn it up if it does, especially if you are looking for peak readings. Try the app I suggested I found it to be the best one when I was on the same mission as you. 
If you clap your hands what does your meter read? I am just curious, not trying to say you are wrong, I just find that a considerably low reading. I think my cricket .25 reads in the high 80's or low 90's I can't remember but it is very quiet as well. I am friends with my neighbors and ask them is they hear me shooting as I don't want to disturb them, and none do.

Edit: I just downloaded the app decibels: do yourself a favor and download db Meter pro, I was just banging on my desk as hard as I could and it was only reading 71db, the noise was so loud it made my ears ring almost like a .223 rifle. Same noise with db meter pro was 99 db and 100 db, just give it a try, it's a much nicer user interface

"steppenwulf"ok don't know how all this mouse fart stuff got started. what I expressed WAS an opinion, it is what it is. anyway the second baffle made the WC as quiet as my other 4 guns, and that satisfies my my criteria.

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Ok, first off, if I sounded condescending or dismissive then I apologize. That was very much not my goal. I'm sure the gun is quiet and I believe what you say, I never doubted it.
I am a flashaholic. Not like that, I keep my clothes on but I really like powerful flashlights. (scottyhazzard on budgetlightforum.com my lights burn through heavy paper sacks) The kind that are way more powerful than what you can buy at a specialty store. We rate the lights using ANSI Lumens ratings and Kelvin ratings of the hue or spectrum of white. A picture does not usually convey how bright a light is. Trying to decide between light emitters etc. a clear and common standard of rating is very helpful. Oh, also I'm a geek so quantifying things in a standard and repeatable manner means more to me than most. So I was proposing that since so many people here frequently fur chase or may be shopping for a new PCP and maybe they are Misophonic like me and want a balance of power accuracy and silence. If so a cheap, common standard of sound measurement could help. 
The added baffle, how much longer did it make your gun?