Sounds of Silence - part 4

Sounds of Silence
Part 3
Part 2
Part 1

Petey bringing in the latest news on airguns

I have to admit I am hesitant to actually post my dB results. I cannot stress enough that you can’t take these numbers and use them to compare the dB ratings Straight Shooters uses, PA posts or anyone else. What you can do hopefully is not be surprised by a future purchase.

That said, I divide my results in categories with a representative example of each.

Group 1

This category hurts in the confines of the basement without hearing protection. I take one for the team to learn this. There is a momentary numbness after you pull the trigger, you hear nothing until your ears recover. Any PCP that has an unaltered barrel and fires at over 20 ft lbs should be assumed to be similar.

CB long from a revolver is 113 dB

Webley Raider at 22 ft lbs is 107 dB

The reason I decide on the CB long in the rimfire category is it has PCP like energy at around 30 ft lbs.

These are on the high end of the scale

Group 2

The Crosman Discovery at 24 ft lbs is at 102 dB

This faction is what I like to call really loud but not painfully so. The Disco sits alone here due to its unique low pressure fill, and is the exception to the above rule in number one. Some high powered CO2 guns come close to this level.

The all in one Disco

Group 3

These are the high powered spring rifles. The range from the mid 80 dB's to just over 90 dB. Keep in mind even the pellet used makes a difference, and since a large part of the sound is mechanical, moderators like the one included by the factory on the RWS 40 make for little change.

The Beeman R1 .22 cal carbine at 18 ft lbs is 91.4 dB

RWS 40 in .177 at 15 ft lbs is at 86.7dB

The RWS 40 came with a factory muzzle brake, but it makes little difference

Group 4

This category is any of the mild shooters under 10 ft lbs that have a spring. I find most Springer’s terribly predictable. More power means more noise. Light for caliber pellets also are louder. A dry fire will bump it up to the next category.

The Beeman R7 at 7-8 ft lbs ranges from 76.1 dB to 76.6 dB

This Diana 27 is in the same group as the R7

Group 5

This is the group I have dreamed of. I mentioned the other day that I asked a few retailers for input, what I left out was that I also asked FX directly. While the English was not perfect, they responded quickly with a recommendation that the FX Whisper in .177 was by far their most quiet air rifle. Since I have posted numerousness photos of it, obviously I took their advice.

OLD STYLE FX Whisper .177 was 69.3 dB at over 21 ft lbs

The FX Whisper accomplishes this with an oversize shroud and built in baffles. With almost 3 times the energy of the R7 and less noise, it is an eerie feeling shooting it. “Ping” is the only sound and then a smack at the target. They even sell “de-pingers” if you want to take it down another notch. I have to speculate that any rifle that is also endowed with a large shroud ending in 6 inches of baffles will be in this group too. That would include some of the BSA's and the relative newcomer from Crosman, the Marauder.

Sadly, the new FX Whispers have a shorter shroud without the baffles, but at a lower price. I think they are missing the mark by changing the rifle in this way; it’s called the Whisper after-all.

Whisper quiet

Group all its own -The FX Cyclone

Because the Cyclone offers 3 power settings and ½ threads on the muzzle it spans groups 3 – 5. It has a small diameter shroud, so once again these results should apply to similar products.

Needless to say power varies with the pellets used, but with Kodiak's I get:

Low – 14.2 ft lbs at 73.5 dB

Medium – 22.3 ft lbs at 84.8dB

High – 31.8 ft lbs at 88.3 dB

High and no pellet is 89.5 dB.

Needless to say, more muzzle energy means more noise.

Cyclone's little shroud helps keep the noise down

As you can see the simple thin factory shroud is effective, the middle setting offers the same power as the Webley Raider with much less noise.

Now if I were to hazard a guess at what an LCD could do for it, I would estimate 68.8, 72.9, and 75.8. WOW. That would be something else to have 30+ ft lbs that comes in with less noise than an R7.

Need really quiet? Just look for a PCP with a fat shroud that extends well beyond the actual barrel and find out if factory included bits and pieces in that extra length.

In the end, nothing beats the PCP noise \ power ratio.