Real life soldiers - how loud is a bullet crack?

[Sir.Grossi]

I'm no expert, but I believe the OP is referring to the sound of a bullet whizzing past your head
and the 'Sonic Boom' that can sometimes be heard when the bullet breaks the speed of sound.

And NOT the sound of the cartridge ignition/explosion

IN THEORY It depends on the speed of the projectile and your distance from the weapon,

So there are at least 2 elements to the sound.

1. The ignition of the charge (Muzzle Blast)
2. The sound of the projectile breaking the sound barrier (Bullet Bow Wave)
Apparantley this sound can be heard up to 100 m Gunshot Location Detection System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So then, If you are within 100m of the weapon (BUT NOT BEING FIRED AT)
you will hear 2 sounds (at least)
eg. The muzzle blast and the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier

If you are more than 100m of the weapon (BUT NOT BEING FIRED AT)
you may only hear 1 sound -

eg. The muzzle blast

If you ARE being fired at then you should hear 2 sounds as example 1

eg The muzzle blast and the crack of the bullet bow wave

or if you are a long distance away from the weapon then by the time
the bullet reaches you it may no longer travelling at the speed of sound
and therefore all you will hear is a whizzing sound as the bullet passes by
followed by the muzzle blast.

As mentioned before, So it all depends on your position in relation to
the weapon and the bullet.

If the bullet is travelling towards you then you should always hear the bullet first
(either crack or whizz) followed by the muzzle blast.

Does that make sense??

[Schneids]

If you play Bad Company 2, when a sniper shoots at you and you hear the crack, thats probably the most accurate crack i've heard, except that it doesn't only come from a high powered rifle. Even from 500 yards away a round going over your heard cracks pretty loud. I guess if you threw a firecracker above your head and it exploded maybe 10 feet away, that would probably sound damn close too it.

[T.A.Sharps]

Originally Posted by sudsy

its pretty close to as loud as a gunshot from about 10m

This sounds answered to me guys.

The only thing I can add is when I heard ricocheted bullet going by, high angle, to the side about 25 yards away or so they made a "wizzing" or "buzzing" sound. Sometimes quicker, sometimes slower depending on the round.

[Anderson29]

what are those little fire cracker things where u throw them on the ground and they pop on impact...poppers? thats kinda the best way i could describe it for those who have never been shot at.... a little story, my gunner in the hmmwv, we were sitting at a bend in the road that gets ied'd alot, so our mission was to sit there and deter them from placing ieds that day cuz a big wig was going to be coming down that road latter that day. well we eventually came under contact and the first rd was at the gunner in the turret, missed high. we all hear the crack and my gunner stands up and looks around and says "what was that?" i yank his ass down and say "ur getting shot at!" damn pvts....needless to say chaos ensued...but that's another story...
so its kinda hard to describe unless u have heard it before, but the game(pr) comes real close....imo.

[nater]

Hey guys here's a good video that will help imagine what it's like being shot at.
YouTube - Guy hit in head with .50 caliber ricochet

[Megagoth1702]

Originally Posted by Anguin

from some of your responses I'm guessing you want to know about all the sounds associated with firing.
[...]
it is 'quitest' when firing the rifle in my opinion. the sound is similar to a car door closing, but with your ear right next to it. you can hear the bullet fly but its something you have to concentrate on, usually you miss it. then you hear the echo come back. this all takes less then a second.

when standing 100m ish away from the firer and not in the line of fire, it's sounds like a really drawn out whip crack, it's like parts of the sound travel at different speeds.

when standing 1-5km away over open ground it kind of sounds like someone clapping their thigh

1-5km in urban environment causes only the high frequency parts of the sound to be heard, PR models this pretty well.

and i've never been shot at so I cant give you any help there.

I just care about the sound that you hear when a bullet passes the head, close and far. The sonic crack and it's volume.
But great explanations, they are gonna help me with something else, thanks.

Originally Posted by anglomanii

had a vetran tell me once it was like he felt it more then he heard it the first time that rounds were coming at him this was right before he soiled himself.

Putting some bass into the sound will sure make that crack "feelable". Thanks for the reply!

Originally Posted by Sir.Grossi

I'm no expert, but I believe the OP is referring to the sound of a bullet whizzing past your head



and the 'Sonic Boom' that can sometimes be heard when the bullet breaks the speed of sound.

And NOT the sound of the cartridge ignition/explosion

Correct!

IN THEORY It depends on the speed of the projectile and your distance from the weapon,

So there are at least 2 elements to the sound.

1. The ignition of the charge (Muzzle Blast)
2. The sound of the projectile breaking the sound barrier (Bullet Bow Wave)
Apparantley this sound can be heard up to 100 m Gunshot Location Detection System - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So then, If you are within 100m of the weapon (BUT NOT BEING FIRED AT)
you will hear 2 sounds (at least)
eg. The muzzle blast and the crack of the bullet breaking the sound barrier

If you are more than 100m of the weapon (BUT NOT BEING FIRED AT)
you may only hear 1 sound -

eg. The muzzle blast

If you ARE being fired at then you should hear 2 sounds as example 1

eg The muzzle blast and the crack of the bullet bow wave

or if you are a long distance away from the weapon then by the time
the bullet reaches you it may no longer travelling at the speed of sound
and therefore all you will hear is a whizzing sound as the bullet passes by
followed by the muzzle blast.

As mentioned before, So it all depends on your position in relation to
the weapon and the bullet.

If the bullet is travelling towards you then you should always hear the bullet first
(either crack or whizz) followed by the muzzle blast.

Does that make sense??

Yes. Thanks for the reply!

Originally Posted by Schneids

If you play Bad Company 2, when a sniper shoots at you and you hear the crack, thats probably the most accurate crack i've heard, except that it doesn't only come from a high powered rifle. Even from 500 yards away a round going over your heard cracks pretty loud. I guess if you threw a firecracker above your head and it exploded maybe 10 feet away, that would probably sound damn close too it.

Oh really? I always thought the Bad Company 2 crack is too quiet and too weak... I will listen to that one more now. Thanks!

Originally Posted by nater

Hey guys here's a good video that will help imagine what it's like being shot at.
YouTube - Guy hit in head with .50 caliber ricochet

Nah - dude, this is just a video of a ricochet falling on the shooter's head, nothing about getting shot at.

If you wanna hear what it's like, watch this video, there are some parts where you can clearly hear the cracks but to guess their volume - thats the hard part.

Inside Afghanistan

[Ironcomatose]

Originally Posted by Anderson29

what are those little fire cracker things where u throw them on the ground and they pop on impact...poppers? thats kinda the best way i could describe it for those who have never been shot at.... a little story, my gunner in the hmmwv, we were sitting at a bend in the road that gets ied'd alot, so our mission was to sit there and deter them from placing ieds that day cuz a big wig was going to be coming down that road latter that day. well we eventually came under contact and the first rd was at the gunner in the turret, missed high. we all hear the crack and my gunner stands up and looks around and says "what was that?" i yank his ass down and say "ur getting shot at!" damn pvts....needless to say chaos ensued...but that's another story...
so its kinda hard to describe unless u have heard it before, but the game(pr) comes real close....imo.

I would describe it the same way, a firecracker. The closer it is the louder it is so you know when its real close and its time to haul ass. Ive never heard a no shit whiz before so i dont know where that comes from or if its even true.

[Schneids]

Originally Posted by Ironcomatose

I would describe it the same way, a firecracker. The closer it is the louder it is so you know when its real close and its time to haul ass. Ive never heard a no shit whiz before so i dont know where that comes from or if its even true.

I've only heard it from ricochets. It doesn't even have to be going in your direction or pass you. I've even heard a whizz from my pellet gun when a pellet ricocheted off a tree (damn squirrel got lucky > ).

The video someone posted earlier in the thread of the .50 cal is like perfect audio of what it sounds like.

[CroCop]

Originally Posted by Megagoth1702

Inside Afghanistan

Thanks for reminding me of the coolest sight I've seen on TV (when watching stuff over the netz wasnt feasible for me). The part im reffering to was when one of the ANA guy had his magazine shot off right after he loaded it into his AK.

[Anderson29]

come to think of it...could just just record the sound of a whip cracking.....same cause for both the sounds, the objects breaking the sound barrier.....