Sounds of Silence – part two

Part one

Do you hear what I hear?

The best place to start is usually at the beginning, so why am I looking for a quiet air rifle?

Living just outside the city limits, I am allowed to discharge an air gun; however I prefer to draw as little attention to myself as possible. Nothing sinister, just looking to be neighbor friendly as it is often called.

At the time I begin my search, I am a Springer only man, and have learned that an increase in power usually means a like increase in noise level. Pretty simple stuff, but I am considering the dark side, and those rules need not apply.

I begin by e-mailing four of the large on-line retailers and get varying responses. I ask for the quietest without regard to cost. At the time I have yet to hold, let alone shoot a PCP. Unfortunately, when updating my PC, I lost many archived e-mails or I would share the responses.

Magazine is a pain to load

I asked this question on a few occasions that spanned a couple years. The results change along with the rifles in stock. Most humorous answer goes to Pyramid Air for recommending a Sheridan C9.

Seriously?

I think this was probably a result of their expansion, in contrast to the many dealers that are smaller boutique shops that are intimately familiar with the products, PA may have outgrown this for more of a Target type experience. This is further complicatedly by the fact dealers only recommend the brands that they sell.

I decide that apparently, I will need to figure this out for myself.

I'll admit I entered the PCP world like an old lady at a swimming pool. I dipped just a toe in with the oh so safe purchase of the used Webley Raider. At only $395.00 I could not lose. Next in my line up was a Crosman Discovery from FogDog at 50% off with free shipping.

While the two rifles shared very little in common, what they both did have was a loud report. Very loud. I like the PCP idea well enough, but certainly not the accompanying noise. The Raider was the worst, I guess partly due to the fact that it operated at a higher pressure with a shorter barrel.

In any case, liking PCP's but not the noise only further fueled my pursuit.

Little more power than I care for with this scope 

About that time I decide to invest in a sound meter. Now before you start typing some advice about how you need really high tech equipment and a lab or some other wisdom, my goal was to find out how my rifles compared to EACH OTHER because as the shooter it is difficult to tell. I was just looking for a buddy that can stand beside me and listen while I shoot. Having few friends willing to come over and stand in my basement at all hours, I pick this electronic device instead. I am not concerned if my readings cannot be used to compare with someone else’s results.

Sorry if I come off a little harsh, but I have already heard enough negative feedback on using sound meters.

Next comes the results.